Impromptu Travel

It was late February.  By this point, Jason was back at work.   Somehow, he still managed to avoid putting in five consecutive days since leaving North Carolina back in October.  Although it may have looked like he was easing back into it, he was, in fact, studying hard to learn the F-18.

 While it doesn’t always happen like this, we wouldn’t mind if it did.  Just as Jason was getting back into the swing of things, his Commander cut the Exchange Officers loose for a 3 week break due to low instructor manning.  That afternoon Jason came home from work with stacks of travel brochures.  He more or less handed them to Becky and said, “Pick a place.”  Her grabby hands didn't waste time in asking questions.  In a few hours we settled on Tasmania.

In keeping with the idea of immersing ourselves in Australian culture, we hired a campervan to tour the island.  We chose the “hi-top” which came fully stocked.  It slept 2 and housed a fridge, microwave, 2 gas stove burners, and a sink.  There’s nothing more convenient than eating, sleeping and changing on the same four wheels.   The best part was rolling into a campground each night to plug in the van for a recharge.  It’s brilliant.  This may open a whole new set of doors for us when we come back home…

   We started out in Hobart.  Naturally, the first stop in our travels was the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.  It only made sense to stock up on chocolaty goodness before a serious road trip.  We recommend Cherry Ripe, Caramello Koala and the Mint Chocolate bar.  We might have tasted a few. 

While Jason worked out the kinks of shifting the van with his left hand, we continued on to Something Wild; a conservation wildlife sanctuary for orphaned and injured animals.  This is where his Tassie vacation dreams came true.  He watched Tasmanian devils run around for far too long in Becky’s opinion.  He took a gazillion pictures of them, too.  Then, despite having been on the island only 3 hours, he deemed the trip a success when he spotted a duck billed platypus swimming in a nearby stream.  He out did himself by taking even more photos of the platypus.

Tasmanian Devil

Duck-billed Platypus

Wallaby

Achievement smile

After Becky managed to drag Jason out of Something Wild, we hit up one of Tasmania’s oldest national parks, Mt Field National Park.  Coming in behind the California Redwoods, the second tallest trees in the world grow right here.  It wasn’t until after we finished our hike when we learned the largest of these trees were growing when Abel Tasman first discovered Tasmania in 1642!

The Swamp Gum

As we hiked along, we came to Russell Falls. The falls are about 2-3 times larger than what’s shown in the picture.  Our shot was taken from the lower curtain of the falls with the upper tiers visible in the top of the image. 

Onto Horseshoe Falls…

We really enjoyed Mt. Field.  Hiking through the shaded forest made for a comfortable afternoon.  Shown below are the confused “fern palm trees” that made it possible.  Turns out they have a proper name, but are commonly called Man Fern.  Travel is so educational. 

 The next stop according to Jason’s spreadsheet was Cradle Mountain.  The mountain is situated in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.  It’s normally inundated with tourists, but school was back in session.  We basically had the place to ourselves.  The day’s activity was hiking.   Jason, the tour guide of the family, chose the trail for the day.  That alone should have been Becky’s warning.  However, the red flag came after seeing the park ranger’s face when Jason told her we were doing the summit hike.  Her response was something to the effect of, “Mate, that’s a strenuous 7 hour hike and it’s nearly half past one.”  Jason smiled and off we went.  Not too far into the hike we reached our first snow of 2011.  It was melting under the summer sun, but there was enough for a quick snowball fight.  The last ascending section of the hike involved scrambling over huge boulders for several hundred meters.  It was tricky at times, but worth the effort.  From the summit, there were magical 360° views.   As always, pictures don’t do it justice.  We wrapped up the hike in 6 hours and returned to the car park just before dark.  There was even an Echidna waiting for us in the lot.  Fun fact:  An echidna's tongue is long and sticky; perfect for catching hundreds of termites and ants that make up their staple diet.

Cradle Mountain behind Dove Lake

Echidna

The next day we parted ways.  Jason went on a canyoning adventure which turned into the highlight of his trip.  Becky, not wanting any part of jumping off waterfalls and such, kept her feet grounded with more hiking.  Later that night, we went on a successful wombat hunt.  Fun fact: wombats, native to only Australia, are marsupial nocturnal grazers (and super cute)!

Then it was on to Wallaby stalking.  Fun fact: the main difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo is their size.  Wallabies are smaller.

Leaving the mountains behind, we drove into the city of Launceston.  What makes Launceston so interesting is the Cataract Gorge Reserve.  It’s a beautiful river canyon within a two-minute drive of the CBD (Central Business District).  The Gorge has a lot to offer.  There's a restaurant, swimming pool, footbridge, chairlift, bushwalks, and wildlife; definitely an alluring urban reserve.  

The Tamar Valley is Launceston’s backyard and that’s where we headed next.  It’s known for its riverside villages and vineyards, both family-owned and the larger enterprise.  We took the afternoon to taste at 3 wineries.  Knowing nothing about Tassie wine, Becky took a shot in the dark in choosing the first stop.  In the wine department, it was a total bust.  We pulled into the empty driveway of the business/house.  A very old and sweaty, but extremely nice man greeted us.  He praised our timing as he just finished mowing the grass.  We moved into the stifling tasting room.  His pride and joy was a Cabernet Sauvignon.  Being Becky’s favorite, she was excited to taste it.  The verdict: If you enjoy heaps of black pepper in your wine then you’d love it. Actually, none of his wine pleased our palates.   However, it was a combination of him being friendly enough and Becky feeling bad enough for him that caused us to buy a bottle anyway.  We bought a chardonnay, not the liquid pepper.  Before leaving we took a picture at that winery.  The grapes vines in his front yard should have been our first clue.  Don’t let the photo give you the wrong idea of the Tamar Valley as a whole.  It is gorgeous; we just failed to capture it in the only picture we took of the region.   

Our next stop was another park.  This time it was Frecyinet National Park.  Unfortunately, our hiking day turned into a rainy day so we missed out on some spectacular views.  We did manage to get to Wineglass Bay before the bottom dropped out.

Thankfully, the sun came back out just before setting to give us a nice sunset from Honeymoon Bay.  All’s well that ends well.

More views from the park…

Nearing the end of our trip, we signed on for a world class eco-adventure cruise along the spectacular coastline of the Tasman National Park.  One of the highlights of the cruise was Tasman Island, a great landmark of the (very rough) Southern Ocean.  Thankfully, the ocean was no match for Becky’s Dramamine and ginger.  It was a good thing, too.  Just before entering the raging waters, the people at the front of the boat (where Jason lead Becky) were asked of any neck or back problems.  Then we were advised to hold on and stay relaxed.  (Tough combination).  It was definitely worth the ride.  The harsh climate and rough seas of southern Tassie have created some amazing rock formations along the coast.  The dolerite rock forms massive pillars and is found almost nowhere else in Oz.  -Very impressive.

Port Arthur was our last stop before returning to Hobart.  Port Arthur was a Nineteenth century penal colony.  The site was home to convicts from Britain who were sentenced to “transportation,” a fate deemed worse than death.  Prisoners were shipped from Britain to Australia to build the colony’s economy.  Those prisoners who found trouble on the Australian mainland were then transported to Port Arthur.  A typical stay wasn't intended for life, but most prisoners never left.  Although the ruins are pretty, it had to be a miserable place back in its prime.

Finishing our trip, we drove back to Hobart.  It’s no secret that the weather in Tassie is variable.   In fact, we experienced it the whole trip.  The last day took us by surprise as it was the most extreme.  In a matter of hours, we encountered the elements of sun, wind, rain, snow, and ice.                                                                      

A “must see” in Hobart is Mount Wellington.  Mt Wellington is an incredible vantage point for panoramic views of Hobart.  Correction: In good weather, without fog, snow, and ice, it’s an incredible vantage point for panoramic views of Hobart.  Maybe next time….

At the base of Mt Wellington sits Australia’s oldest brewery, Cascade Brewery.  We wrapped up our trip with a tour and tasting. 

The best gifts are always unexpected.  That’s exactly what Tasmania was to us. Wherever we are, may be continually welcome impromptu travel.