Hey ho! Here we are in Devonport awaiting our ferry back to the mainland so I thought I'd give you a run down of everything we've been up to in Tasmania.
We started off the journey aboard the Spirit of Tasmania in our (not so) comfortable ocean recliner seats. I had heard that the Bass Strait is a really rough bit of water to cross so we were armed with sea sickness tablets but the waters were calm and we had an ok night of sleep.
Our first stop was Cradle Mountain National Park... unfortunately we couldn't see any mountains because of the thick cloud cover but it was a lovely walk around Dove Lake anyway. We saw lots of wombat poo (it's square!!) but unfortunately we have never seen a wild wombat in Tassie.
The next day we visited caves at Mole Creek. It was still quite cold so we treated ourselves to hot soup for lunch, flown all the way from Scotland by my lovely friends <3
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We saw glow worms in these caves but obviously couldn't get any pictures of them |
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Driving away from Mole Creek we stopped by Alum Cliffs - it was BEAUTIFUL! None of my pictures quite capture how stunning it was but I could have sat up there for hours. |
At Mt Field National Park we went hunting for platypus but again had no luck :(
We did, however, see the amazing Russell Falls! For a second day in a row I was left gobsmacked by the beautiful nature around this state.
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Sometimes we picked up fans |
There were plenty of things to enjoy in Tasmania's capital, Hobart...
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Like fish and chips |
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And whiskey |
Before we drove on to Port Arthur for a bit of history. Port Arthur was a penal colony back in the day and a lot of the ruins still remain (although the biggest building was under renovation when we were there)
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Mathias went to court... |
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It didn't work out too well for him |
All the inmates at Port Arthur had been transported to Australia for crimes committed in the UK but had then offended again in Australia. Those that misbehaved whilst at the prison were put in solitary confinement, kept in the dark for 23 hours per day. There was a cell that you could go in to see how it was. Mathias lasted over 2 minutes but I walked in and walked straight back out.
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A "normal" cell |
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Some of the prison ruins |
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The area where the commander and guards lived was really lovely and didn't feel like it was part of a prison at all |
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Of course a prison is a great place for a romantic pic |
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A nice view for a lunch time stop |
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One of these mountains is called Mount Graham! I can't remember which :P |
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The 1 million steps I had to climb up on the walk to Wineglass Bay |
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We camped at the beach overnight and had the whole place to ourselves the next day |
The weather here is quite British - one minute we were sunbathing on the beach and the next we were back in the car sheltering from the rain. Oh well, it was nice whilst it lasted!
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Pretty gardens at Launceston |
We decided to use the tent in Launceston - we had been sleeping in the car every night before that - it wasn't the best decision we ever made as the temperature dropped below zero that night. I was SO COLD.
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Doing some gardening to make room for the tent |
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The next morning with the frost on the ground |
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Leven Canyon |
The next night we slept in the car at Leven Canyon. They had a picnic and barbecue area so we made a fire to stay warm and Chef Gilli sorted out some cheese toasties for us.
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Yummers! |
Our last full day in Tassie was spent driving along the north coast hitting all the little towns there, such as...
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...Penguin! |
We drove as far as Stanley so that we could see "The Nut". By the time we got there I was knackered so I had a sleep in the car whilst Mathias walked up it. I win.
Fingers crossed for a calm crossing tonight and then we're off up towards Adelaide and beyond!