Hobart

29th November

I had booked the return bus to Hobart to ensure I got there in time for the start of a 5 day tour I've booked around Tasmania. I thought this would be the best way to see Tasmania without a car, as the public transport looked a bit 'iffy'. Also, the tour goes to places I wanted to see and it's with a small group of people, so, nice to have company. All trips, transport & hostel accommodation is included, not meals. 

The bus was efficient - I was glad I had booked as the driver was turning people away - with a stop in Launceston, but no change of bus......it just stopped to be serviced.

I stayed one night in a place called 'The pickled frog' - which was like staying in a very large pub (I think it was once) - a friendly vibe, loud & chaotic......maybe that was due to it being Saturday though. There were cool frog pictures and models everywhere - quite quirky.

The room I was in I have named it 'The waterfall room' since there was a constant sound of trickling water in there and it smelt kind of mouldy, but great for frogs I guess! It was OK - I watched a film on Netflix with some other people there - Sully, about the plane landing on the Hudson river in 2009.

30th November 

Next day I had a wander round the shops and strolled down to the port. 

Its odd, because they say Hobart is the 'gateway to the antarctic' mainly because most of the antarctic exploration missions sailed from there and they say its the best place to see the southern lights.

Why this is strange is that its not really that far south (I know land mass near Antarctica is limited to just a few islands) The equivalent, in the northern hemisphere, to it's latitude is northern Spain, certainly not a place you associate with seeing the Northern lights! I realised, however, that this was the furthest south I had ever been on the planet.

I visited the Royal Tasmanian Botanic gardens - which felt like a nice relaxing (& free) thing to do on a Sunday. It was nice, despite the rain showers. There were plenty of lovely trees to shelter under.

As I walked back along the river bank, it had cleared up at first, but then it started raining, getting heavier and heavier.

I passed lots of AFL (Australian football league) fans with their 'Tasmanian Devils' football shirts on (must have been a home match), getting steadily wetter and decided to duck into the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery for a couple of hours.

It was nice. I learnt the difference between butterflies and moths. That there used to be a creature called a Thylacine - a marsupial wolf/dog with stripes on its rump, known also as the Tasmanian Tiger - which is sadly now extinct due to hunting and competition from farmers etc. 

More aboriginal culture, crafts and discrimination from the colonists, despite the pretence of equality

shell necklaces

water carriers made from kelp

and how there is an important research station on a place called Macquarie Island - which is actually an exposed part of the mid-ocean ridge where the two tectonic plates - Indo-Australian & Pacific - are pulling apart. It's the only place where the earth's crust is above the sea. You can sort of see it on google maps:

It has allowed scientists to study the composition & structure of the oceanic crust. 

It is also an important place for many birds to breed including penguins, albatross and petrels. 

There was information about it at the botanic gardens too - as there are unique sub-antarctic plants there, some they are trying to preserve - with 320 days of rain a year & only 2 & a half hours sun each day, barely getting above 4 degrees - it sounds pretty grim, but the penguins seem to like it. 

I have to say - It feels like Hobart weather at the moment!

Devonport

Had a nice lie in then a walk around Devonport,  which was like a ghost town as lots of the shops were shut.

I found out later that today is a public holiday in Australia.

It was a bit windy & cold, but I found some sheltered spots to sit and watch the sea and when the sun shone it was lovely. 

I saw a seal, in the water but he's quite hard to spot in this video 

A walk along the coast to the lighthouse

and nice views over the beach

It started raining so I went back to the hostel & watched a film on my laptop - 28 years later- it was really good. I thought Ralph Fiennes was excellent in it. And Jodie Comer. In fact the whole cast were great. 

Danny Boyle was director.  It was shot mostly on IPhone 15s, surprisingly, due to their portability & low impact on the filming locations. 

Amazing to think that you can get such good quality filming from a mobile phone!

Later when I was in bed I noticed some straps sticking out of the bottom of the wardrobe......there was a rucksack in there.....I was a little freaked out, I have to say, after watching a zombie film.

She turned up later at 11pm & left early in the morning so I had a room mate for a few hours.

Spirit of Tasmania

27th November

The 26th was spent reading & moving to the airbnb in Geelong, close to the port for the ferry to Tasmania next morning. 

It was luxury to have my own room - the room in the little drifter had triple decker bunks and I was on a top one, in a mixed room of twelve......with someone snoring all night. It was also disappointing as all the gas hobs were being serviced & out of action - they had multiple slow cookers, air-fryers & microwaves but I had pasta to cook! - and they send about a million messages & emails which gets incredibly annoying. 

The other thing is they have a key system through the phone, but always seem to change it the following day & then you can't just tap the number in - which I prefer. It gets confusing. In the Canberra one I tried for 10 minutes to get in the room before someone finally let me in........then I realised I had the wrong room!

I cooked my pasta, and later met the people staying in the other room, a lovely couple from Chile, Joaquin & Rosario. They were also getting the ferry next morning, to go to Tasmania for work. They had bought a car and were driving to a place called Bothwell where they had accommodation and a job on a golf course that ran events like weddings & conferences too. They kindly offered me a lift which was great!

Next morning, I noticed the tree in the front garden of the airbnb was a lemon tree - I was tempted to pick some and I did try and pull one off but it didn't come off easily. It was fortunate it didn't.......I'll explain in a minute.....

We all got into the car, packed high with all their stuff, and arrived at the port with plenty of time to spare. You're supposed to check in from 2 hours before - I was pleased that Rosario was like me and didn't like to leave it to the last minute! We were chatting and joking around, they are really fun & we got on well. I was wondering if I needed to check in separately, as a foot passenger. They laughed and said, 'You could hide under the stuff on the back seat'.......😂 'I have my own ticket guys!'

At the check in the guy was trying to guess their nationality - he thought they were Spanish. He guessed that I was Australian......everyone always assumes I am. I keep getting asked for directions to places! ha ha

So........back to the lemons......this is how my life seems to go:

When I was shopping in Aldi the day before, I was in a state of indecision about whether to buy some honey. I had bought natural yogurt a few times & I love it with a squirt of honey, but didn't want to carry another bottle around with me. I've already been lugging the huge jar of Vegemite around, plus coffee and now olive oil so was reluctant to get the honey, but in the end I went for it.

At the port they asked us, 'Do you have anything to declare?.......any fruit or salad?'

'No' we said........good job I didn't pick those lemons, I thought. It seems there are certain things like fruit and vegetables that you aren't allowed to bring into Tasmania from the mainland!

'No honey?' he said......

 .......wait....what.....No!?......really, 

did he really say honey?

you can't bring honey! but why?

I confessed to Joaquin and Rosario that I had honey in my bag - they then had a discussion about how I shouldn't declare it as I'd have to give it in and lose it.... meanwhile the guy at the port was asking Joaquin if he could check the bags in the back. 

Typical! after all that quandary about whether to buy it!

Anyway - we all got through - illegal honey stowed away in my backpack. 

I googled - 'You can't bring unfiltered honey into Tasmania because it poses a bio-security risk, potentially carrying pests and diseases that could harm the state's unique environment and beekeeping industry'

- oh well, rather than bring down the entire bee population of Tasmania, I will keep the honey safely inside my rucksack until I return to the mainland!

Being driven onto the ferry was wonderful & I left my bags in their car, while we found somewhere comfy to sit for the 10 & a half hour journey across the Bass straight. It is renowned for being rough, but I think we were lucky with the weather 

It took us 3 hours just to get into open sea, since Melbourne is so enclosed in its port

It was quite windy, and I have to say, I didn't feel too great, trying to sleep as much as possible, but it was great to have company. I tried to read my book, but it was making me feel worse. 

We chatted about books - Joaquin had read Walden by Henry D Thoreau, which I started reading in the summer. I didn't finish it as I left it in Cornwall, but I bought it again to read. I had decided not to bring it travelling though as it's a big book. 

They were both Lawyers in Chile, but had quit their jobs to travel, and not regretting it so far. He's 32, she's 29. He said he felt that to be a successful lawyer you have to live and breath it, and he had friends who were really good lawyers. He was clearly wondering if it was the life he wanted...

Like me in 2025, and Henry D in 1845, they both decided to leave the rat race for a while.

Above you can just about see the Sister ship to ours, passing in the distance.

Below you can just about see Joaquin & Rosario.....I think the light from the window was too bright.

They gave me a lift off the ferry, insisting on taking me right to my hostel! They were so lovely.....I almost wished I was going down to Bothwell with them.

They were such warm, kind, fun and full of life people - it made the beginning of my trip to Tasmania really special.

The hostel wasn't bad either. The kitchen & dining area overlooking the port

My room was for only two sharing, but no-one else arrived so I had it to myself.....

Bliss!

Le Clique

In some hostels I have been aware of the cliquey group. 

Usually its the people either working there and/or those staying long term, very often French - which makes sense I suppose, as its their word - and I have to say, this is just an observation and NOT a rule as I have met and chatted to many really great, friendly French travellers and staff and long term people too.

I suppose I really felt this in my last hostel.

(Although a young lad there who started chatting to me and was so nice was French, from Normandy. He had been travelling for 10 years! Its bad to label people! If everyone believed the labels no-one would go near an English person after all!)

The German boy at the Bundaberg hostel, (where actually, the group of French guys were lovely - which is why I hate when people stereotype) Mortitz described it perfectly. He said 'they are a closed off group & there's no way in.' which is the actual definition of a Clique. He must have felt it too and he is a young guy.

So particularly for an old lady like me there's really no way in!.....not that I care....their conversation is usually extremely boring & predictable.
And everything they've done or said I've already done or seen myself.

I think travelling alone has made me focus my mind a little and, perhaps, enabled me to cast out some demons.

I have experienced this a lot throughout my life. At secondary school - I felt I had nothing in common with the big group of 'trendy' girls. One of them actually said they didn't really want me in their group.

And there was the Cassington Clique - now I think about it they'd be called yummy mummies today - the B's ......and others.

'I am an Island' - somebody told me I was, not in a nasty way, and I think it's a good thing. 

Better to think for yourself and have your own ideas. It makes you stronger too.

I prefer the 'freak'...... be different....the outsider...do your own thing.....be more interesting.

What I have come to realise is that the people outside the clique ARE more fun & interesting. The people in Cassie were. You even see it now in television & comedy - like in Motherland. .......most of the main characters are the 'outsider group' - they are the heart of the show - with the exception of the head of the clique mums - Amanda.

The sheep mums don't really play a part and are just extras......

.......who wants to be an extra in your own life!

I was once called 'Boring' at school because I was fairly quiet and not good at small talk.....saying nothing....talking for the sake of talking......funny, isn't it, because, really, that kind of talk is whats boring.

But that comment upset me for years.

I'm actually, now, quite good at it - small talk that is - but that has grown steadily with age and also having the ability to find 'my people', and perhaps not to care so much.

I think my life has been 1000 times more interesting than the person who called me boring.

In fact, the very same person, years later (but more than twenty years ago now) said to me, 'wow, you always have such interesting jobs!'

And the guy at Argos who said I was 'non-descript'....this upset me for ages too....now I think....well if he couldn't 'describe' me that's his failing. His ignorance and inability to see or describe beyond the boring obvious. The stereotypical........but actually he was just a thick, ignorant little dickhead.

I'll leave it there and leave you with porcupine tree - this song - about an outsider - maybe someone they would call neurodivergent now......not really me - but it's a great song anyway

Half Moon Bay

Today I had the perfect beach day!

I was a little reluctant at first as the top temperature for the day on the forecast said 22 degrees and it was quite windy & cold when I ventured out, but it was clear blue sky so I got a tram & train out to a place called Black Rock along the coast.

The helpful guy I met on the tram when I first arrived had said that the water at that part of the coast is lovely and clean & to check out Half Moon Bay.

When I first got to black rock it was really windy & the sea looked rough. There was a coastal walk along the beach & up on the cliff.

There were a lot of flies buzzing round, trying to land on my face and eyes etc......

.....now I know why the stereotypical Australian hat has corks hanging from it..

An Australian lady passed me and said something like 'you need a hat'.....I didn’t quite catch the rest.

It's funny, I find that with Australians they are not only direct but they are not afraid to interfere in your business in order to be helpful.....a bit different to British who would probably find it an intrusion.

With my hat & sunglasses on & my mouth shut it was fine and the walk was nice.

The beach was lovely & sheltered with a slight breeze & I had a chilled day listening to music, sunbathing & swimming in the sea - which was cold at first but nice & refreshing once you're in!

I'd taken some food and was expecting to get ambushed by the seagulls, but even they were chilled out, mainly catching little fish from the water and worms in the sand.

There was a guy with his two young sons next to me who was not having a chilled time, spending all day wrestling & fussing with nappies and suncream & buckets & spades.......

.......ahhh, those were the days 😁

It is a shame sometimes, as a parent, we don't relax more and not worry so much about the dirt & sand on everything and just enjoy the time with our kids.....it goes in a flash....

On the way back I walked along the coast back to Sandringham train station....funny all the repeated names!

Getting used to the Christmas decorations. 

In Sandringham there were posters for the Carol concert saying, "Bring a picnic'

....and yet