Tasmania (Hobart and road trip)

In total, I spent 10 days in Tasmania (which is the island off the coast of Southern Australia AND the closest land to Antarctica).  Tasmania’s slogan - think license plates - is “Your Natural State,” and it was definitely a whole different world than mainland Australia.  Not many people think to include Tasmania in their travels when in Australia, (I am glad that I did!) which makes it one of the last places in the world that is not heavily influenced by tourism.  Many mainland Australians have not even been across the Bass Strait to Tasmania themselves, but they still joke that Tasmanian people are inbred and “bogan”.  BTW, bogan is a term that Australians use a lot to describe someone who would be America’s equivalent of a “redneck” or “hick.”  I did not find this to be true - in fact, the Tasmanians in general were all really friendly and helpful for the most part.

The start to my Tasmania trip began in Perth’s airport where my original 1AM flight (it was the only flight available!) was delayed until around 3AM.  Even though we were given $8 food and drink vouchers by the airline which had to be spent at the airport (I was able to buy breakfast for the next morning), I was very tired and cranky by the time I got onto my flight.  I did not realize that it was only a little over 2 hours before we would be landing in Melbourne where we had a layover for 3 1/2 hours before flying into Hobart, the capital of Tasmania.

Unlike all airlines in America and probably everywhere else in the world, JetStar (Australia’s equivalent of Southwest Airlines, although not as good) does not check your bags through to your destination.  Rather, you have to retrieve your bags during your layover and re-check them through to your final stop.  After not getting much sleep on the flight to Melbourne, I somehow managed to get my bag but found out that we could not check-in our bags to the Hobart flight until 2 hours before departure!

Jack and I took this opportunity to take a nap on benches outside the baggage check area and we were given weird looks by passersby and security.  We woke up when we could check-in our bags and continued on from Melbourne to Hobart.  This part of the flight was only an hour, and even though I slept the entire flight, I was still exhausted and out of it when we landed in Hobart.

When we exited the gate at Hobart, we were greeted by a beagle sniffer dog who checks for fruit from other Australian states.  They are really strict about bringing food from one state to another, and they fine you if you do.  I had a few apples in my bag that I was able to throw out before getting caught - phew!

From the airport, we took a guess after looking at a list of hostels and asked to be taken to the one we chose.  We had been warned that the hostels in Hobart were not great, so we were a little wary about our selection.  The room we ended up getting was tiny and had 6 bunk beds crammed into it, and they were all taken once we arrived.  We were still really tired after sleeping only a few interrupted hours on the flights, but we wanted to make it to the Salamanca Markets before they closed at 3PM.  The markets are only open on Saturday, and they sell fresh vegetables, fruit, and souvenirs for cheaper than can be found elsewhere.

After spending a little time at the markets, we headed back to our hostel to take a nap and did not end up waking up until dinnertime.  We were not too worried about missing out on anything, because we still had 2 more days in Hobart.

One thing to know if you are ever planning on going to Hobart - you should definitely make dinner reservations on weekend nights.  Our first night was a Saturday night, and we seriously went to about 12 restaurants and were turned away by every single one because they were fully booked.  We ended up eating at a pub, which served ramen (random, I know) and then went to go check out the other hostels in Hobart.

We ended up booking our other 2 nights in Hobart at a place called Montgomery’s Private Hotel and YHA.  The Lonely Planet guide said it was the safe and conservative choice - it was definitely the most clean of the options we visited, even though it was the most expensive.  There is a pub connected to Montgomery’s with karaoke, where I watched my first AFL game!  AFL=Aussie Rules Football League which is a really popular sport in Melbourne that involves dribbling, kicking, and points are scored by kicking the ball through poles at the end of an oval-shaped field.  It was very confusing for me at first, but I think I am starting to understand the rules!

On our second day in Hobart, we decided to do a walking tour of the city.  Hobart is a very interesting city - like all other major cities in Australia, it is right on the coast.  You can actually buy fresh fish straight from the docks and they cook it for you (we did this for lunch).  There was a really cute part of town called Battery Point, and it overlooked the rest of the city.

When we finished the walking tour, it had started to rain, so we decided to go to the casino (it was actually the first in Australia!).  I did not win again and have decided that maybe I should stop going to casinos on rainy days...

That night was the season premiere of a popular show here called “Underbelly.”  It is in its third season and based on true events that either happened in Melbourne or Sydney.  In a way, it is the real-life version of the HBO series, “The Sopranos” and features murders, drug deals and the like.  This season focuses on an area in Sydney called King’s Cross (where we had gone out when I was there), and it was really interesting to see the things that happened there in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s.

For the third (and final) day in Hobart, we did a brewery tour of Cascade, which is a local beer in Tasmania.  It is actually the oldest brewery in Australia, and it was interesting to walk through the factory and we got some samples at the end.  The mascot of the brewery is a Tasmanian Tiger, which is actually believed to be extinct.  No one has record of seeing any for many years, but we were still hopeful that we would be lucky (ha!).

From Hobart, we rented a car for a week to drive around the entire island of Tasmania.  And yes, that means I learned how to drive on the opposite side of the road and car (check it off the to-do list!).  We also rented camping equipment, because as I said before tourism has not made its stamp on Tasmania in a big way yet and camping is the only option in a lot of places.

We began our Tazzy (what Australians nickname Tasmania) road trip by driving up the east coast, stopping to go wine tasting along the way before making it to Freycinet National Park where the famous Wineglass Bay beach is located.  It is one of the most photogenic beaches in the world, and it is really beautiful.  We hiked for nearly 2 hours down to the beach and back up.  We were lucky because the weather was perfect and we got some great pictures of the clear, blue water.

From Wineglass Bay, we continued north to the Bay of Fires which is a string of beaches that are characterized by the orange rocks.  This area was actually named the Bay of Fires, because when explorers first found it, there were Aborigine fires lining the beaches.  We parked at one of the beaches and climbed over the orange rocks for some amazing views.

Besides Hobart, the other main town in Tasmania is Launceston, where we spent a night.  Other than our first few nights in Hobart, “Lonnie” would be the only other place where we would stay in a hostel.  Every other night we camped.  In Launceston, we could have done another brewery tour of Boag’s Draught (the other local beer of Tasmania).  Instead, we decided to hike Cataract Gorge for gorgeous views overlooking the city.  In fact, we went on at least one hike each day - usually more.

On one of our hikes (in the small town of Sheffield) to a place called Kimberley’s Lookout, we had to stop halfway and turn back when we crossed paths with a snake.  We took pictures of the snake and showed the man at the visitor’s center who confirmed that yes, it was a tiger snake and yes, they are very poisonous.  Good thing we turned back!

After Launceston, we went to the Cradle Mountain National Park in central Tasmania and did a hike around Dove Lake.  The morning that we set out to do this hike was foggy, and even though we could barely see the mountain peaks through the fog, the 2-hour hike around Dove Lake was very picturesque.

From Cradle Mountain, there is a 6-day walk called the Overland Track to the southern part of the National Park called Lake St. Clair.  Since we did not have enough time to actually do the 6-day hike, we drove our car around to Lake St. Clair.  On the drive to Lake St. Clair, I saw my first wombat in the wild!  I also hit an animal with the rental car (ah!) that Jack swears was a Tasmanian Devil (I don’t think so!), and we saw a quoll in the wild which we incorrectly thought was a Tasmanian Devil...

Before we could drive to Lake St. Clair from Cradle Mountain, we had to stop in the town of Strahan which is the only major town on the west coast of Tasmania.  In the town of Strahan, Jack and I became obsessed with spotting a platypus in the wild, and we spent hours looking in all of the creeks and lakes with no luck!  We also went on a hike at Lake St. Clair to a place called Platypus Bay, but we still did not see any.  The best times to see platypi (is that the plural of platypus?) is either at dawn or dusk.

Next, we went to Mount Field National Park which is home to Russell Falls, one of the many waterfalls in Tasmania (but probably the most well-known.)  At dusk, we went on yet another hike to look for a platypus, and we finally saw one!  We watched it swim downstream for about 10 minutes, and it was an incredible sight!

The following day, we drove a little out of our way to do the Tahune Forest Airwalk which is actually a series a bridges that were built among the tall eucalyptus trees in the middle of the forest.  These eucalyptus trees can grow to be around 90 meters, which is only second to the redwood trees in California.  The Airwalk was a little scary, but I am glad that we did it.  There were signs posted everywhere about an older man who had gone missing from the Airwalk in the beginning of March.  I do not understand how he had gotten lost from his tour group, because all of the bridges have high sides.  Wouldn’t someone notice if he fell over and into the water?  Anyway, no one has seen any sign of him since...

After completing the Tahune Forest Airwalk (without getting lost), we drove our rental car onto a ferry for the 15-minute ride over to Bruny Island.  There was a beautiful sunset that night, and we spotted fairy penguins just after dark on the beach!  The next morning, we did an awesome 2 1/2 hour hike called the Fluted Cape (which is 272m above sea level) overlooking some dangerous looking cliffs and beautiful, turquoise water.  We also spotted some white wallabies before taking the ferry back to Tasmania!

To recap on all of the animals I have seen in the wild, please see below:

• kangaroo (x 20-30)
• koala (x 15ish)
• emu (x 15ish)
• wallaby (x more than 1,000)
• fairy penguin (x 10ish)
• echidna (x 1)
• dolphin (x 10ish)
• wombat (x 1)
• quoll (x 1)
• platypus (x 1)
• white wallaby (x 2)

For our final day in Tasmania, we were back in Hobart and we visited the Cadbury factory where all of the Cadbury chocolate sold in Australia is produced.  We tasted a lot of different chocolate and learned that Cadbury actually invented chocolate as we know it (or at least that is what they told us...)

The one disappointing thing about Tasmania is that we never saw a Tasmanian Devil in the wild.  They are currently inflicted with a facial tumor disease and are nearing extinction.  For the most part, they can only be spotted in the northwest corner of Tasmania which is basically the only part of the state that we skipped.  Some scientists on mainland Australia have started a sanctuary where they are breeding healthy Tasmanian Devils.  When the infected population dies, the plan is to release the healthy ones into the wild so that they do not actually go extinct.

From Tasmania, I am flying back to Melbourne for 6 days and then heading back to Sydney when Humme comes to Australia!  Jack is headed for New Zealand and then South Africa for the World Cup.  We had such a great trip traveling across the entire country from Sydney to Perth and then spending 10 days in Australia’s “Natural State,” Tasmania.

Perth/Freemantle/Rottnest Island

Let me start off by saying that Perth is an interesting place to visit.  It is definitely different from the other major cities in Australia that I have been to so far (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide) because of its laid-back attitude and unique location.  Perth is the only major city in the state of Western Australia, and in fact, the closest city is on another continent - Singapore.

On the first day in Perth, we checked into our hostel after the train ride to discover that the pipes were being repaired and we would have to wait until 3PM to shower.  After 3 days of waiting, a few more hours wouldn’t be too bad...  To kill time, we walked around to check out the other hostels to see if we would want to book in one of them for another night and ate brekky (or breakfast).  If anyone is interested in visiting Perth, I can definitely give you my take on pretty much all of the hostels located there.

After showering, we did a walking tour of the Perth City Centre that was recommended by the Lonely Planet guide.  It was interesting to see some of the architecture and interesting fact - the Town Hall in Perth was actually built by convicts.

By coincidence, one of the guys who I had met at my hostel in Melbourne was staying at the Britannia (our hostel in Perth).  He is from the Netherlands and very social, so he was able to introduce us to a lot of fun people.  One of the people was an American (Marlon from Florida, ha!) which I thought was interesting because I have not met many American travelers so far.  Most of the people I have met have been from Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, and Canada.  They taught us a drinking game called “Not up in here!” which is apparently named after the scene in The Hangover at the police station.  Very fun...

On the second day, we decided to explore around King’s Park which is on a hill overlooking Perth.  The park is enormous and we were tired after walking around just a bit, but we got to see a few of the major attractions there, including the Lotterywest Walkway (yes, it is sponsored by the state lottery) and the DNA Tower, which had 101 steps!  After King’s Park, we took the bus to Scarborough Beach because we wanted to go swimming in the Indian Ocean.  However, by the time we got there it was too windy and cold to actually go in the water, so we just watched the kite boarders for awhile.

I officially became a backpacker on the second night in Perth when we went to Mustang Bar for the $5 Backpackers’ Special.  It included 2 sausages on a roll, a piece of steak, potato salad, a Tooheys New beer, (basically equivalent of a Coors Light) and a drawing into a $100 raffle that would be drawn later in the night.  We later learned that the $100 raffle was a scam, but that is a different story.

Side story - we had heard that we should make it a point to visit Rottnest Island for a day which is off the coast of Freemantle, a nearby town to Perth.  After going to a few different places to inquire about Rottnest Island tickets, we booked with the cheapest place.  Our tickets included a ferry ride to the island and bike and snorkel hire once we got there.  However, at the time we were booking, there was a queue ahead of us with the reservation center, so we were given a receipt (we paid cash!) with no booking number.  We were told that we would get a call later that night with a reservation number, however that call never came.  When we checked out of our hostel the next morning and headed to Freemantle for the day, the shop where we had booked our tickets was closed.  This was not too shady yet though, because the hours posted on the door were 11:30AM - 5PM and it was 10AM.  However, the phone number that they provided on the receipt was non-working which made us suspicious.

Since we were not going to be going back to Perth (we booked a hostel for the night in Freemantle), we had our friend’s aunt who lives in Perth go by the store during their “working hours,” but the door remained closed.  We started to worry that we had fallen into a tourist trap, but then we had our friend from our hostel also walk by.  At this point, a sign had been hung on the door saying, “We are temporarily closed due to renovations needed after damage from a hail storm” - when this hail storm happened, we don’t know! - but there was a name and number to call.  Of course I called the number from the sign, but after getting through and explaining my problem, the call was cut short and then the number was non-working.  Since we thought maybe they were using caller ID to screen my number, Jack used his phone and was able to get through.  He was told that the reservation was still in the process of being made (keep in mind this was the next day!) and we would be called when it was completed, in about an hour.

Instead of waiting because we were growing ever more suspicious, we decided to go directly to the Rottnest Ferry office and see if they could give us actual tickets.  Surprisingly, they printed us tickets (not sure if they took pity on us after we told them the above story or there was actually a reservation made) and we were so relieved that we did not fall prey to some tourist trap - phew!

In the meantime though, we were in Freemantle (add Liora, Jack’s friend from Bondi who was in Perth visiting her aunt) and decided to do a brewery tour.  Freemantle is a very cool place - it is known for its live music and breweries as well as having an artsy vibe.  Little Creatures, one of the breweries we went to, was on the water and reminded me of Sam’s in Tiburon (fond memories!)  We also tried chili mussels which is the specialty of Perth.

On the third day, we also went to Cottlesloe Beach from Freemantle and watched the sunset from the Ocean Beach Hotel (definitely recommended!) then headed back to our hostel.  The hostel where we were staying in Freemantle was built in what used to be a fire station and it had a unique personality.  Apparently, you are not allowed to slide down the fire pole although they do make an exception at Christmas.

We did make it to Rottnest Island on our last day in Western Australia, and it was definitely worth all of the trouble.  The bike ride (22km in total) boasted spectacular views, and we stopped at a few beaches along the way to snorkel.  We spent the entire day circling the island and even ventured to the farthest west point before completing the loop. Rottnest Island is actually named Rottnest because when explorers first went there, they mistook the quokkas that lived there as rats (Rat’s Nest).  They look a little like big rats but they are marsupials, or have pouches, like kangaroos.

After such a great day we were exhausted, and good thing, at 1AM we would be flying from Perth to our next stop, Hobart in the state of Tasmania.  Tasmania is an island off the southern coast of Australia, and is the only thing between mainland Australia and Antarctica.  We will be spending 10 days in “Tazzy,” as it is commonly called and are excited because we have been hearing great things...

Train Ride Across Australia (Sydney to Perth)

So this next part of my trip does not really make sense, so it is not advised for others to follow in my footsteps.  I had already planned with my friend Jack before I left the states that we would travel together for most of April.  He had been in Australia for almost a year on a Working Holiday Visa, and he had to leave the country before April 20th.  Since he had been to most of Australia already, we decided to travel to Perth and Tasmania together.

The part that does not make sense is that I was already in Adelaide after I got back from Kangaroo Island.  However, I flew to Bondi in Sydney (which is East of Adelaide) to meet up with Jack only to catch the train from Sydney to Perth (far west Australia) that would pass through Adelaide about 24 hours into the trip.  If it had been planned better, I could have just gotten on the train in Adelaide (and missed one night sleeping on the train!)  Oh well...

The train trip that we were on is called the Indian Pacific, and it is really an experience.  For all of you who asked me why I did not just fly, it was really for the experience that we decided to take the train.  In fact, we were given the option of getting sleeper cars or just sit in reclining chairs, and we chose the latter because it was 1/3 of the cost, and again, we were doing it for the whole experience.  Our “Red Service” car was filled with a lot of old people and a few other backpackers like us.  The seats actually did recline quite far and there was a ton of leg room!  There was also a diner car where we could purchase food or just hang out in to get away from our seats for a bit.

From Sydney, the train wove through the Blue Mountains and we made a couple of stops in small towns to pick up a few passengers.  After eating the dinner I had brought on the train (I actually did not eat at the diner at all during the trip!), I fell asleep in my seat.  It was not the best night sleep I ever had, but it was actually a lot better than I thought.

That is until we were woken up at 6:30AM to announce that the train would be stopping in a mining town called Broken Hill and we had about an hour to walk around before the train would depart again.  I should mention that it was Easter Sunday at this point and really early in the morning, so nothing was really open in Broken Hill (although it looked like a sleepy town so it may not have made a difference).  I picked up some food for later and we got back onto the train.

The next stop would be in Adelaide at 3:30PM for about 3 hours, so we had plenty of time to stare out at the scenery.  I even got cell phone reception at some point (I have no idea how since there was absolutely nothing around!) to talk to my parents for a little while.  I was excited about this stopover in Adelaide because Renee was home for Easter (that is where she is from), so she picked up Jack and I and took us to Glenelg, a beach town, for much needed food and drinks at a pub.

We made it back to the train station with plenty of time, and it was at this point that I realized the difference with the Gold Service (sleeper cars) and Red Service (low-class where we were sitting).  There were mats rolled out for the Gold Service passengers and we caught a glimpse of their bar/diner car where all of their meals were included.  Also, as we started walking towards the Red Service cars, there was definitely a disgusting smell in the air...

There were no familiar faces on the train when we boarded.  In fact, I think Jack and I were the only braves ones to travel the whole distance from Sydney (or crazy ones!)  The good news is that the average age of our rail car was down and there were a lot more young people for the rest of the trip.  Even the staff on the train was different, and they offered us sleeper cars at a discounted rate.  We considered it but decided that the cost was not worth it and we were doing it for the experience!

On the third day, we were again woken up early by the annoying PA system announcing that breakfast was being served in the diner car.  I should also mention at this point that after using the restroom on the train on the first day, I decided to strategically plan my breaks for when the train stopped.  The smell was overpowering and there was a non-flushing urinal (that Jack swore went down the drain when the train turned!)  Both Jack and I decided against actually showering on the train, and I used my dry shampoo regularly.  After all it was only for three days...

On this day, we entered into the longest straight stretch of railroad in the world - 478kms!  This basically means that I took a long nap while the train continued straight ahead through the desert.  Our next stop was in a township called Cook that has a population of 4!  Actually though, we think the population should be increased to include the over 1 million flies that also live in Cook.  They were so annoying that Jack and I decided to get back on the train before our 45 minute stop was even over.  Even though the train crew insisted that the flies don’t like air-conditioning and would not get back on the train with us, about 100 did.  They provided entertainment for some people who made it their mission to kill each and every one.  The township of Cook is actually a funny place that had a lot of little jokes, such as the Cook Country Club which was actually an abandoned building that was condemned.

Our next stop would not be until later that night, after we passed into the state of Western Australia, at a place called Kalgoorlie that is known for 2 things: mining and skimpies.  Skimpies are female bartenders that serve drinks in their underwear, literally.  Of course, Jack and I had to go see them for ourselves, so after dinner we went to a place called the Wild West Saloon.  There were 2 girls dressed in skimpies and they (along with me) were the only girls in the bar!

We continued on from Kalgoorlie into the night and would be arriving at Perth in the morning.  All in all, we spent 3 nights and 2 1/2 days on the train.  I am really glad that we decided to take the trip because it was definitely an experience.  We made it safely to Perth and were anxious to take showers.  Ask me someday if I would ever take the Indian Pacific again - the answer for now is “not for a looooooooong time...”