Hello !I'm writing to you from the Narra Backpackers in Hobart. It's a cozy place near the centre of town. Its been overcast and 12-20c, not too warm but not exactly Baltic. I took a hike out of Penguin last Thursday towards Mt Montgomery in the Dial ranges in Northern Tasmania. I made it about a quarter of the way up before I had to rush back to base with an icky tummy. Its safe to say I took the rest of the day easy, getting a beer and some chips overlooking the sea in Pengin.  Looking out towards Penguin   All the bollards in Penguin are penguins!  No, I didnt get a cocktail, that's a sour beer That night I took a bus to Forth, a small town of 700 people, to test out my camp gear on their campground. All went smoothly, it got down to 8c but I was plenty cozy, maybe a little too warm!  The view from my tent Friday morning saw me rise early to catch the only bus before 2pm and head to Launceston, where I would stay until Monday.
 A cool train in the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston. Shame they don't have any more passenger rail here :( On Saturday I rose early to make it to the Saturday farmers market. I was so glad to be back surrounded by amazing produce, its been one of my favourite parts of the trip. It was such a nice vibe. I got some Kombucha & Quince Mead from a lovely bloke on one of the stalls.  My repeated visits to markets have made me a very bad budget traveller  Coffee Club: The coffee has been Okay for Aussie standards, still better than the UK. I'm still enjoying my Piccolos. I'm not Melbourne enough to order Magics yet. (My tassie mate said they think the coffee hear is better than the mainland :o)  A lovely court backing onto two arcades. I find it funny how I dislike consumerism & shopping centres, but put them in an old brick building and I go crazy for it After the markets, I hiked up to Cataract Gorge & on to the old hydro power plant. Luckily the hike didn't suffer the same fate as last time  Looking back to Launceston  Someone liked their woolies trolley enough to liberate it from its chains back in the shopping centre & bring it a considerable way along this trail. Run free little trolley!    There were so many little lizards out getting their sun. Most of them had the instinct to run away before I snapped a pic, but this one knew I was not capable of doing them any harm and stayed a while.  The suspension bridge heading over to the old hydro plant. I didn't expect it so be so wobbly. On Sunday I had a lie in after finishing my Mead (it was 9% and very much a homebrew, but I enjoyed it) and heading to the pub with a friend from the hostel. Later I went to the other half of the Queen Victoria Museum, which had a lot of weird hyperrealistic sculptures that I found a bit uncomfortable.  The only sculpture I liked (I didnt like the 8ft tall spider)  Not a sculpture, but a templte donated to the museum. Chinese tin workers came over in the 17th century & would set up temples wherever they settled. This one was move here for preservation. After the museum I wandered over to the park. Unbeknownst to me, they had a free swing band playing in the park with a period appropriate (old) couple dancing along. Things like this would be amazing to see in our parks in the UK, but they so rarely get put on for free!  Monday saw me depart Launceston for Hobart. I spent about 2 hrs on the bus listening to a woman scroll Facebook reels out loud on her phone before they got too loud and I asked her to stop. I can't wait to bring this newfound skill back to the UK to shout at kids on the train doing the same thing. The weather in Hobart has been overcast but no rain, so I shan't complain.  I'm not much of a boat person, but this was a cool boat  The best view I've had all trip. The fish n chips were good & I discovered Hartz's sodas. They seem to be Tassies answer to Bundaberg sodas (We don't do fizzy drinks like the Aussies do)  I found a hippie food store near the hostel and was delighted. I went and bought a bunch of overpriced hippie stuff, including a new toothbrush. Little did I know I got a children's size pink toothbrush. Because I am a super macho man I was most displeased at the pinkness of the toothbrush, as you can see. I went for a run to the Botanic gardens and along the river on Tuesday.  The Japanese garden  The view back north, 1/4 of the way across the Tasman Bridge. Much like the chicken, I was only crossing to see what was on the other side. Given this was a busy road bridge I hated it and turned back early. We'll never know what's on the other side  That's a lot of logs. As they always do, logging companies have been ravaging Tassie forests with little respect to the land. Luckily there are lots of groups protesting and stopping them from doing so.  The view over to Mt Wellington. My challenge for Wednesday was to hike to the top. And here we are on Wednesday! I hiked up to the top of Mt Wellington & caught the bus down to meet my friend at the pub. 10km with 1235 meters climbed. I'll sleep well tonight!  Where there are ferns there are leeches. Luckily I escaped with all my blood today.  Spot the wallaby  The view from the top was mental. You could see Hobart, Bruny Island, the Tasman Peninsula and up to Cradle Mountain in the north. (That's about 180kms away as the crow flies). We're about 1.2km above the city below here.  From what I overheard from some Aussie, Cradle Mountain is big peak on the left of the image on the horizon. I'm enjoying Tasmania a bit more now. Ive got rough plans to head over to Freycinet and Maria Island for some overnight hiking trips in the coming days. Bye for now! P.S. P.P.S |
