Tasmania - 1st leg of the tour!

Population: half a million people. Tasmanian devils. Hobart, the capital city. Cadbury chocolate factory. James Boags beer. Cascade beer. And the beautiful sceneries of the Tasmanian island, the only island state of Australia and the main reason tourists visit this pristine land. I've got pictures to prove!

I joined a one week tour of Tasmania (from west coast to east coast) with Adventure Tours Australia (free advertising!!!). Twelve people in the first half of the 6 day tour (including our tour guide, Bruce) then 18 people in the second half. In the first group, I was surprised 5 females, including me, had joined the tour by themselves. Go women!


1st Day: I arrived in Hobart on Saturday, day before the tour started. Saturdays are Salamanca market days, showing off one of the best arts and crafts, food, and flowers produced in Tasmania. Salamanca Place is the entertainment hotspot with tons of restaurants, cafes, shops, pubs, craft shops and galleries. This will also be my last stop before I head back home to Sydney.

After a stroll and lunch, I did a cruise around Derwent river (I was the only passenger and got to drive the ferry!!!) - featuring sceneries of beautiful homes situated along the river (homes range around $600-$800k AUD - expensive!!!), Mt Wellington from afar, Cadbury Chocolate factory, seacat ferries, etc. Then I made my way to Battery point (the "old town" part of the city similar to the Rocks in Sydney).

2nd Day: 645am pickup by the tour guide, Bruce! Unfortunately, I was the first pick up = not much sleeping time! And what a bad day to start - RAIN!!! First stop, Mt Fields National Park to see Russell Falls. A nice walk (in the rain) to see a beautiful waterfall. We then headed to Lake St Clair, the deepest freshwater lake in Australia, had a picnic lunch after a short walk along the famous overland tracks.

Did I mention about four people asked me if I was German this day?

3rd Day: Montezuma Falls...3hr hike rountrip. Gosh, did that take forever, but worth it! A suspension bridge hangs just infront of the waterfall. Best view you could get is standing in the middle of the suspension bridge...if you dare! Tasmania is all about nature! From waterfalls to beaches, our next stop for the day was Ocean beach (the edge of the world...in the horizon, the next beach would be in Argentina). Si! Still more of nature, we went to the town of Strahan, which boasts plantations of Huon pine (only found in this town), a softwood similar to teak hardwood that is not vulnerable to termites (PT Tika team members, remember this is college? - Teak wood!!!).

4th Day: Supposedly the highlight of this trip. Climbing up OR seeing Cradle Mountains. Unfortunately, it was snowing this day. So as consolation, we got to walk around Dove Lake, on the foot of the mountain. But still, it was freezing cold. Not to mention, all I've packed for this trip were summer clothes. Big mistake!!! Good thing the tour guide had leftover raincoats from prior tours who'd left them behind.

Cradle mountain sort of looks like a cradle with a baby in it. The weather was just too bad. Sorry, no pictures to share here. Just look it up on wikipedia. After, we went to a lodge where we got our shoes and socks dried up infront of the fireplace and had some nice coffee/tea. Then a stopover at the House of Anvers, a chocolate factory, for some free tasting and another set of warm coffee/tea, before heading for the night at Devonport.