Small town Tasmania!

There was still 2 more hrs. of sunlight when we landed in Hobart. We knew Hobart is a much smaller city and public transport is not as well connected as Sydney. So we had booked for a rental car prior to our arrival. It was a smooth drive to our hotel, inspite of having to get used to driving on the left.

For folks familiar with cricket, David Boon is the first person that comes to mind when you say Tasmania. I used to think he looks a little different from the rest of the Australians and now I know why. Tasmanian's are a little different in the way they look. They look more rugged, yet friendly and believe in big moustaches. A perfect Texan would feel right at home if you leave him there. Get the picture?

It was a Saturday and the Salamanca market is the most happening event in Hobart on a Saturday morning. The market sold dresses, hats, local food, candies, fruits and many more. It was scorching hot that day(~36C) and I remember the first thing we bought ourselves while at the market - a cap, and a big scoop of icecream.

Mt. Wellington was the next on our itinerary. The mountain is at a height of 3000ft. and on a clear day you can watch the whole city of Hobart and the Derwent river running in the middle of the city. We drove all the way up. It had some good views of the city and a lot of trail heads all along the drive. We didn't particularly go on a hike but stopped at various places to catch some good sights. We drove back late evening and headed straight to the harbor area also called the Salamanca square. The harbor area is the place to be on a Saturday night and it has a big array of bars and restaurants minutes walk from the water.

After a day in Hobart we planned to drive out the next day to a small town by the sea called Bicheno. It is a 2 hr. drive NE from Hobart. Before we drove upto Bicheno we wanted to go on a scenic drive south of Hobart and then make the trip all the way north. The drive had access to trails along the route. One such was the Snug Falls trailhead. The hike ends at the Falls, and at this time of the year, the falls was merely a small stream of water flowing from above. It was still worth all the fresh air and the feeling of being amidst trees in a forest!

Going further south from here we stopped at a small town called Hounville, well known locally for its apple orchards, before proceeding to Bicheno out final destination for the day. We roughly spotted about 10 cars on the entire road trip from Hobart to Bicheno and that's when you know you are in countryside! Towns were few and far between, and every now and we would see signs for a beach, a ranch or a berry farm. The beaches here are untouched and beautiful! We stopped at one called the....beach and I can't forget the sight of the straight lines of waves coming at you for miles and miles ! It was exactly how you would picture a beach and not to mention we were the only ones on the beach!

We had booked a cabin at Bicheno and the cabin and the one we stayed in had the 'sea-view'. It was perfect! There were trails which would lead to the waters of the bay that we had views of. Here we learnt about the 'blow-hole'. This is created when the waters hit the rocks and the gap between the rocks creates a base sound similar to that of a base drum. It was mind blowing the first time we heard it and we would wait for a big one to crash on the rocks and there goes again...! It was also spectacular to see the water splash all over the rocks with such force.

The next morning we left to a town called Coles Bay, which is the entry town to the Freycinet National Park. One of Freycinet's popular hike is the 'Wine Glass Bay Lookout' hike. This hike had about 600 steps all the way up and we could see the Bay shaped like a wine glass and the spectacular blue waters of the bay. We heard later that the beach itself is voted one of the Top 10 beaches in the world by Condenast!

Tasmania is known for its harsh weather, severe weather conditions and gusty winds blowing from the Antartic. The Tasman sea is also one of the roughest here. What else could you expect in a city that's the closest to Antartica in the Australian continent? It was particularly windy on the day we went on the hike. The waters were so rough, the trees were literally shaking, and we couldn't miss the hissing sound of the wind around us. By the time we got back in the evening we heard reports of gale wind advisory for our area and the surround and we could feel the mighty winds from inside the cabin. The other danger in Australia with heavy winds and dry summers were the bush fires! We were about 90 kms away from the closest bushfire. I remember sleeping with the radio on to get frequent updates on the weather! That's how unpredicatable weather can be in Tasmania. It was quite an experience!

Tasmania is a nature lover's paradise. It has endless hikes and untouched beaches all along its eastern coast. There is nothing urban about this state, and that's the reason it is so popular among local tourists. There is one major two lane highway connecting the big towns of Hobart, Davenport and Launceston. While on the road, you can see cattle, sheeps, goats grazing on the vast empty lands on the sides of the highway. I was particularly excited when I spotted a wallabie cross the road. I wished we could have stopped, but at 70km/hr, it was long gone before we could stop and catch a picture of it.

We had quite a bit of a travel to do before we would settle in Airlie Beach and get started on the third leg of our vacation - the Great Barrier Reef! We flew from Tasmania to Brisbane, and the following day we had a flight from Brisbane to Proserpine. The town of Airlie Beach is a 40mts bus trip from the airport and is the gateway town to the Whitsunday Islands.

Contd..in my next post.