Time flies and we are already in our last days here in Tassie. After leaving the remote east coast we drove to Hobart where we had booked a hotel already back home in Norway. You can imagine how much we enjoyed a hot bath, a good bed, TV (Robin), breakfast buffet and a solid roof over our heads when it was pouring down outside on Saturday. Nevertheless, we enjoyed Australia’s second-oldest city and southernmost capital. It’s a beautiful place, rich in colonial architecture, good museums (especially MONA), lively markets like the famous Salamanca Market, and top-notch food.
On our second day the weather was pleasant, which was especially nice since I was running the Cadbury Half Marathon early Sunday morning. I must admit that I was asking myself several times why I would bother getting up at 4.30 on a Sunday morning, only to be freezing for the next hour waiting for the shuttle bus to take me and lots of other crazy people to the start. But once running, with the sun in my face and feeling the spirit, it was a great experience!
We could easily have spent several more days in Hobart, there’s plenty to see. But there’s many other places we want to visit before leaving Tassie, so Monday morning we drove eastwards to Port Arthur.
One of the 11 Unesco World Heritage Australian Convict Sites, Port Arthur Historic Site on the scenic Tasman Peninsula was a brutal convict prison in the early 1830s. We joined a short guided tour and then wandered around by ourselves, trying to imagine how life must have been here as a convict sent all the way from Europe. The remains of different buildings like the penitentiary, asylum, hospital, cottages for the admirals and church are situated in a beautiful landscape and it wasn’t easy to figure out what a harsh place this must have been.
The next day we booked a three-hour long cruise around Tasman Peninsula. We all got long red coats against the wind and water when entering the small powerful boat. The weather couldn’t have been better and we enjoyed the hours on the sea. The coast is famous for its cliffs, caves and rock formations. At Cape Pillar at the south end, the sea cliffs are 300 metres high! Can you imagine that some people climb on these rocks?! They must be out of their minds… On the way we saw seals, dolphins and all kinds of sea birds. It was really amazing. Check out the little film here https://vimeo.com/130409494 to get a good impression.
Another highlight was our trip to Maria Island, a short ferry ride off the east coast. We rented bikes on the island and had a great time exploring the impressive scenery on well-maintained dirt roads. There are quite a few famous spots on the island, like the Painted Cliffs, absolutely stunning sculpted sandstone cliffs, stained with iron oxide in many colours. White sand beaches and the azure sea reminded us of Greece and we spent an hour or two collecting shells and watching small black crabs. And just before we had to catch the last ferry at 5, we finally saw our first wombats. They look like cuddly big teddy bears and were not shy at all.
The last three days will try to fit in two more famous sights: Wineglass Bay and Bay of Fires. Cradle Mountain we won’t be able to see, so there’s a good reason to come back another time!
Our ferry back to the mainland leaves Sunday morning at 9.
RCD on Walkabout 