Hello
again!
I’m so
sorry I haven’t been posting regularly.
It’s been almost a month since my last post, and over a week since I got
back from Tasmania, so I’m sorry for not updating this sooner! As soon as I got back from the trip, I was
thrown right back into real life really
quickly. With classes here, scheduling
classes at home, and projects and mid-semester exams coming up, things have
gotten hectic real fast! But tonight I
finally have time to sit down and write a bit. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to
properly describe the entirety of our Tasmania trip in one post, but I’ll do my
best!
So, as
I said before, me and 8 other girls—some I knew, some I didn’t—all flew down to
Tasmania for 10 days of hiking, camping, and driving across the little
island. We hailed from all over the
world; US, Japan, Denmark, Holland, and Korea, and none of us had any
experience camping.
That’s
us! (One of our members brought a selfie
stick along for optimal picture-taking.)
Our
brave leader was Sarah, who planned and coordinated this entire trip, and to
whom we all owe a huge thanks! She was
like our mom/tour guide/navigator throughout the whole trip. And she made sure we were always busy. Sometimes a little too busy, but in the end, we got to see literally all of Tasmania,
so I’m not complaining!
Alright,
I’ll try to summarize everything we did here, without making it too boring!
Day 1
We
arrived in Tasmania at 9AM, and Sarah had packed a whole day in for us in the
city of Hobart. We picked up our rental
cars, checked into our hostel early in the morning, then hit the city.
The
first thing we did was hit up the famous Salamenca markets; a huge open
marketplace that takes place every weekend in Hobart.
People were selling all sorts of handmade
soaps, jewelry, plants, crafts, you name it.
It actually reminded me of a souped-up version of the French market back
in Wheaton! But of course, as weary travelers,
our favorite part was the food.
I ended
up trying food from three different places, but my favorite was probably this
one.
Yep, a
wallaby burrito! Freshly hunted from
Bruny Island, where we actually stayed during the trip. While I felt a little bad eating it, it
tasted just like pork, and the burrito was really good.
Next we
hit up an art museum in the middle of Hobart called the Museum of Old and New
Art (MONA) that is apparently famous for its weirdness. It was definitely really weird. There isn’t much else to say other than a lot
of it was really creepy, but we had a great time wandering around and pointing
at every little thing asking “is this art?”
Around
sunset, we all piled into the cars again and drove to the top of Mount
Wellington, in a national park just outside of Hobart! While it was absolutely freezing up there at the top, featuring frigid gusts of wind, we
had a great time romping around and enjoying the views.
Day 2
After a
much-needed sleep in a hostel (the last real bed we would see in a week,) we
got up early to drive then ferry to Bruny Island. Now, Tasmania is a very rural place. Outside of the two main cities, there is
basically nothing but farms and wilderness.
Bruny island was like that, but somehow even more rural.
Apparently
the island has 600 residents, but I have no idea where any of them were. The whole place seemed just like one big
camping ground/national park, which I guess it technically was.
The big
attraction at Bruny is The Neck, where the island thins out, leaving ocean and
beaches on either side with less than 100 meters in between. We climbed to the top of a lookout area there
and were able to get some sick views.
On the
beaches, we also spotted a wild fur seal, and were able to get pretty close to
it before it ran away into the ocean. It
was still really cool!
Around
sunset, after setting up our camp, we came back to The Neck. This area is a natural habitat for
Fairy Penguins and
Little Penguins, who spend their days in the ocean and rush back
to their burrows at night to sleep. We
were hoping to catch a glimpse of some of these guys as they ran up the beach
towards us—there was even a special observation area set up for people to
watch!
Sadly,
we didn’t see any. We did see some other
birds, though, that we thought were penguins.
They gave no shits about us; they even let us poke them with long blades
of grass while we were trying to figure out what bird they were.
The
best part of that excursion, though, was that it was our first view of the real
Tasmanian night sky. My camera wasn’t
powerful enough to take pictures, but it was the most amount of stars I’ve ever
seen in my life. The Milky Way was
completely visible every night there, and it was so amazing—almost terrifying—how
many stars there were up there.
Day 3
Our next destination was
Tasman National Park; one of many parks we’ll be staying at on our
journey. We ferried from the island and
drove the 2 hours there early in the morning again.
Tasman—like
the rest of Tasmania—was nothing but beautiful views, sheer cliffs, and oceans.
We also
had our first encounter with a Tasmanian Brushtail Possum while we were there!
I don’t
know why this guy was out during the day, or why he was so friendly to people,
but he was just wandering around eating dandelions, so naturally every tourist
in the area crowded around to take pictures.
We would later learn that these possums are way too common to be worth a
picture.
We set
up our tents at night, and because we were low on food, went out in search of a
grocery store to stock up before we had to leave at 4AM the next morning.
Google
maps led us an hour away from our campsite to the nearest convenience
store. We rushed to it, because it was
supposed to close within the next hour, only to find that it was closed due to
plumbing issues. It would open the next
day. Great.
The
next open grocery store was hours away, so we drove around the area in search
of somewhere—anywhere to eat. It was
8PM, and for some reason Australians are very fond of closing early. Everywhere we checked was closed.
While
driving back to our campsite in hungry defeat, we spotted a restaurant with its
lights still on inside. The sign said
they closed hours ago, but we saw people inside, so we knocked and pleaded with
them to sell us something to get us through tomorrow morning. The first guy to talk to us was very nice,
and said there might be some extra muffins left that we could pay for, but he
was interrupted by a very disgruntled woman.
She told us that we were out of luck (we know) because everywhere in the
area was closed (we know) and so we would have to wait until morning. She closed and locked the door in our face.
Tasmania
is not famous for their customer service.
So we
drove in defeat an hour back to our campsite over dark, rural roads. All of our nerves were fried as they were
from the hunt for food, but driving along these roads at night when wallabies
were infamous for hopping directly in front of cars just wrecked us more. We ended up getting to bed around 10PM, with
a very early morning ahead of us.
Day 4
We woke
up before sunrise, packed up our tents, and left the campsite (without having
to pay because the rangers didn’t come around until 7! Woo!) to catch the 9AM
ferry to Maria Island. Getting there was
a harrowing experience, but we found a convenience store on the way to finally
stock up on food before we left civilization for the day.
Maria
Island is one big nature reserve and campground, and is only accessible by
ferry. There aren’t any stores on the
island, no electricity, and no good sources of drinking water, so we all had to
stock up and put everything on our backs before going.
Somehow,
all the stress of finding food and getting to the ferry on time was worth it,
because Maria Island is just beautiful.
We
spent the day hiking around the different trails pointed out to us by the
lovely lady at the information desk (one of the first nice Tasmanian people we’d
seen on this trip.) We ended up covering
25 kilometers in a day (about the distance of a half-marathon,) which some
people weren’t happy about, but we got some great views along the way! And because the whole island is made for
hiking, all of the local wildlife are so used to people. We even got close enough to touch some of
them! We saw herds of wallabies,
countless wombats, and even an elusive Red Kangaroo while hiking.
Nighttime
on Maria was probably my favorite part.
We finally had access to hot showers for the first time in 4 days, so
everyone’s spirits were a little higher because of that. There was also a shelter and fireplace, where
a group had already started a fire, and left it and extra firewood with us to
use.
Nighttime
is also when Tasmanian Devils are most likely to appear, so Sarah and I did
some hunting around the campground with our flashlights. Under the stunning night sky, we wandered in
our flip-flops around the meadow where everyone’s tents were set up, slowly
scanning for movement. Once in awhile,
we would find something, and sneak over to it excitedly, only to find it was
another wombat. It was kind of funny to
be so used to the wilderness that we were jaded to the sight of a wombat
standing a foot away from us. That’s
where my favorite quote of the trip came from, when Sarah spotted her first
Tasmanian Devil: “I was trying to pet
this wombat, but then I got distracted by a Tasmanian Devil!”
In the
shelter, we were also accompanied by countless more possums. I think they’re pretty cute, considering American
opossums are horrible mega-rats, but some of the other girls were terrified of
them. Thus, I was tasked with the job of
scaring them away every time they came near.
It was actually a lot harder than I expected, since the possums were so
used to humans. They really didn’t care
how much I flashed my flashlight at them, they wouldn’t move!
Day 5
In the
morning, before the 12 o’clock ferry to take us back to mainland, (but is it
really mainland if it’s an island off of an island?) a group of us got up early
to hike to the famed Fossil Cliffs, where David Attenborough purportedly did a
segment for one of his nature documentaries.
Of course, the hike itself was beautiful, and the cliffs were amazing.
These
entire cliffs rose from the ocean in prehistoric times, taking with them
millions of years of oceanic fossils, and lifting them into the air. The result is these cliffs made entirely of
shellfish fossils, dating waaaaaay before even the dinosaurs! Cool stuff!
The
second half of the day was spent at Wineglass Bay, which is a famously
difficult beach to get to. Okay, so we
didn’t actually go to the beach, we just got to a lookout to see it, but it was
still pretty cool.
That
night we camped out at Friendly Beaches, which is an adorable name, and is
literally right on the beach. We had a
lot of free time in the afternoon, so of course, shenanigans ensued. We danced on the beach, wrote a silly song
about wombats, and did whatever this is.
At night, we laid out our mattresses under the
stars and talked for hours before going to bed.
Mosquitoes were somehow nonexistent there, so the weather was perfect
and nothing was there to bother us.
Day 6
Today’s
destination was the Bay of Fires, which is a huge coastal national park, named
for the weirdly red rocks along the shore.
We spent the day there hiking and climbing on all the rocks, and of
course, being goofballs.
Later
in the afternoon, we drove up to Liffey Falls, where we would be camping for
the night. This involved a lot more
driving through fields of sheep and woods.
Yep, that's pretty much what all of Tasmania looks like.
Liffey
Falls is situated in the Southern Hemisphere’s only temperate rainforest, which
is super cool for a nature nerd like me!
It was also the first test of our tents’ water integrity. Some weren’t willing to take the risk, so
they set up a cozy little nest in the back of the car to sleep.
Turns out, the tents were completely
waterproof! And the car is not
comfortable at all!
Day 7
The
main attraction for this day was Mole Creek Caves, where we took a guided tour
of an underground cave system. The whole
system was carved out by a river over millions of years, and the high calcium
content in the rocks has dripped and evaporated to form really neat rock
structures! Taking pictures is hard in
cave lighting, but I did my best!
On our
tour, we got to see a colony of glow worms in one of the huge caverns, which
looked like tiny green stars all along the walls and ceiling. It was such a cool experience—definitely one
to check off the bucket list!
We also
walked through “the cathedral,” which is a huge open space in the middle of the
cave system. Apparently concerts and
weddings are held there sometimes, even though it’s kind of a creepy place for
a wedding. We sang our wombat song in
there, to the embarrassment of some of our group members.
After
the caves was Cradle Mountain National Park, which was the setting for our next
round of hikes. We dropped our cars at the entrance and took a free shuttle bus
to the rest of the park. We hiked to the
top of Glacier rock, and through the Enchanted Forest. We even saw some more wombats along the way!
The
park had a shop/café/gas station at its entrance, meaning we were able to fill
up the cars before we left for the hour drive to our next camp site. Or at least, that’s what we should have been able to do.
We
finished our hikes with 30 minutes to spare before the café closed, but the
shuttle bus taking us back to the entrance was painfully slow. We got back at 4:55, 5 minutes before the
store closed, and rushed to the entrance.
At first, all the lady inside said was that they were closed.
While
some of the other girls gave up and went to give the bad news to the drivers, I
knocked some more on the door and pleaded with the café worker inside to please
give us some gas, we’re very low and do you know how hard it is to find gas on
this stupid island? The lady just
ignored me and continued cleaning her dishes.
Why is customer service so awful in Tasmania?
Finally
a nicer woman, probably the manager, heard our pounding on the door and came to
tell us that the pumps were turned off for the day—apparently before the store
even closed—and we would have to drive an hour to get to the next station.
We did
end up making it to the next station with gas to spare, but it still wore heavily
on all of our nerves. I’m honestly not
sure how anyone lives in Tasmania—everything is so spread out, food and gas are
a rarity out there.
Luckily,
our campsite that night lifted our spirits.
The place we wanted to camp at was full, so we drove a little ways to
another place we knew was open. We
caught the owner—an adorable chubby old lady—before she left for the day to ask
if we could stay. She gave us some
prices ($12 per person) that were a little higher than what we were used to,
($0 per person) so we deliberated for awhile.
To make the deal, she reminded us that there was a cheap pizza place
down the road to get some food, and her campsite was equipped with unlimited
free hot water for showers.
Both
cars erupted in ecstatic screams.
I think
the lady was a little worried that we got so excited over such basic things as pizza
and showers, but after a week out in the wilderness, that was the best news we
ever heard.
So we
all got to eat some good food, shower, and sleep. It was a really good night.
Day 8
We got
to sleep in today, and take our times with the hot water washing our faces and
hands and everything else that hadn’t been washed in a week. Breakfast was a feast of leftover cold
pizza. Then, when we were ready, we set
off on our longest drive yet to the next park where we would be hiking.
After
days of hiking, the long drive was just what we needed. And of course, because it’s Tasmania, the
side of the road offered plenty of majestic views worthy of their own titles.
So we
drove into the park, following Google’s instructions, and before we knew it,
found ourselves in the middle of a torrential downpour on a mountain on a
gravel road in the middle of nowhere. At
this point, we started to question our decision of hiking here. We had been driving for hours, and there was
no sign of a parking lot, or welcome center, or any hiking trails.
Sensing
that something was amiss at this park, we pulled over to the side of Nowhere
Road to talk to each other and figure out a plan. The weather was quickly worsening and Google
seemed to be taking us nowhere.
Luckily,
a huge jeep rumbled past us while we were talking, and we waved it down. The couple inside were two very nice kayakers
on their way to a big river in the park.
When we asked where we were, one of them pulled out a huge, detailed map
and pointed to the tiny white streak that was this gravel road. He told us that this road literally led to
nowhere (as we feared,) so we might as well turn around now, before the gravel
roads wash out and our 2-wheel-drive rental cars are left stranded until the sun
comes out.
Thanking
him immensely, we turned right around and got the hell out of there, passing
plenty more scenic views along the way.
That
night was our last night in tents, so we stayed up for awhile, marveling at our
smelly selves, and asking each other how the hell we did all this. Honestly, it really was kind of amazing that
I could now say I’ve camped my way around Tasmania, living out of a backpack
and the trunk of a car. It’s something I
never ever thought I would do, but I’m so glad I had this experience. It actually wasn’t even as hard or scary as I
thought it would be! Sleeping on the
ground actually isn’t so bad, and after a few days, you kind of stop noticing
how badly you need a shower.
I also
got to know some of these rando girls that I was pretty wary of at the start of
the trip. As a mostly introverted
person, I thought I would quickly get annoyed and snappy at everyone I had to
live with in a car for a week, but I actually ended up liking all of them!
Day 9
The
last day was really chill. All of us
were so tired from the trip and relived to be going home, that we basically did
nothing. We checked into our Airbnb that
we rented, which was this adorable manor house with an open room to rent
out. The other residents of the house
were twentysomething travelers like we were, and were super welcoming. They even let us use their kitchen to cook
mac and cheese with some ingredients we splurged on at the supermarket.
That
night involved another hot shower, lots of time spent on our phones (we finally
had access to both power outlets and
WiFi!) and them forcing me to watch a rom-com with them. It was Crazy,
Stupid Love, and it actually wasn’t that awful. I’ve been converted.
Day 10
was just the flight home, which was not nearly as exhausting as the flight
there. As soon as I got home I fell onto
my bed and took a long nap. It was an
amazing trip, and I’m so glad I had enough courage to go do it. Honestly, if you told my younger self that I
would one day backpack through Tasmania, I would laugh in your face, then ask
where the hell that place even is. On
this trip, I developed some outdoors skills, valuable camping experience, and improved
my tolerance for the unknown and uncertain.
Some of the best things on this trip just kind of happened without being planned, and it was really cool. Lots of things went wrong, but somehow I
never freaked out about it. It was a
really neat way of kind of gauging my own growth. I pretty much feel like I can do anything
now. (That is not true. I would never do this where big spiders or
scary wildlife would be present.)
That
pretty much sums up the major events of the trip, but there were also some
little things along the way that made it that much cooler!
Some of
the cool stuff we did in between those big events included:
- ·
Petting a wombat
- ·
Driving through a cloud
- ·
Eating a kangaroo burger
- ·
Learning the conversion between liters and
gallons
- ·
Discovering new music
- ·
Getting lost
- ·
Seeing new constellations that don’t exist in
the Northern hemisphere
- ·
Getting lost again
- ·
Finding the Southern Cross in the sky
- ·
Getting lost a
whole lot
- ·
Fitting 9 people into a 3-person tent
- ·
Seeing how long a human can survive on peanut
butter sandwiches
- ·
Eating a lot
of crispy M&Ms
- ·
Trying a Danish tongue-twister
- ·
Learning the Japanese word for “hungry” (peko-peko!)
- ·
Grading public bathrooms on an A-F scale
- ·
Feeling like a homeless bum
- Encountering an operational Blockbuster Video Store
I’ve done some other things since I’ve been back home, but I’ll
save that for another post! I’m alive
and doing really well! I hope everyone at home is doing great. I'll try to update more frequently, but in the meantime, please message me on Facebook! I love hearing from everyone.
