Tasmania Tour

2nd December

Today was the first day of a 5 day & 4 night trip around Tasmania. I had an early start as I wasn't entirely sure whether pick up time was 6:30 or 7:30 am, as it said 7:30 right up until a late message from 'Get your Guide' saying 6:30......I didn't want to risk it so I went to the Travelodge, where pick up was, and sat outside with my coffee & snacks, prepared for an hour wait.....luckily it wasn't raining!

Not too long after I got there a couple from the Netherlands turned up, also on the same tour, and it was the start of a beautiful friendship. Ilse, 19 & Ramon, 24 - who were not a 'couple' - just friends. They are such sweet & lovely people. Ilse is working in Australia doing a job with horses - back home she 'breaks in' horses for riding. Ramon has family in Australia and has just finished is first degree studying Psychology, and taking a break to travel.

We were the last to be collected and bundled into the back seat. We had a wonderfully diverse group of people in the group, both in age, personality and country - 18 in total.

Me, from England and also Tim, who is English but lives in Australia & Pushpa & her husband, both from England too. Ilse & Ramon from Holland, Fabienne from Germany, Vanessa from Switzerland, Nicole from Hong Kong. She was my room mate and she's an absolute sweet heart! She's studying in Bath at the moment. Mun from South Korea, Aloy from India, Yasushi & Katsu from Japan, Ali & Behrad from Iran, Issac from Israel and Joyce and Aster from Singapore - lovely ladies, giving me tips on travelling round New Zealand.

Our tour guide was Joe. A 27 year old who is half English. (his Mum is an English Doctor & his Dad is from Australia, not sure what he did but he's into surfing) He's from Perth but moved to Tasmania, giving up an Engineering degree to do guiding - which he loves! He was brilliant. Such energy and enthusiasm - a really lovely guy!

Tasmania, he told us, runs on 100% green energy, 70% of that from hydro-electric dams. This has come at a cost, however - with areas of wildlife being flooded and so the last & only river not to be dammed is the Franklin river which we crossed over. Joe told us the story of how this river was saved and along with a large area of natural beauty, diverse species of plants and animals.

The first day was quite a lot of driving to get from Hobart, all the way over to the 'Wild West Coast' and it truly is wild - particularly the weather, being bashed by the 'Roaring Forties' - powerful westerly winds that batter the coast, creating a wild, wet and rugged environment with dense rainforests, dramatic coastlines and unique wildlife, making it one of Australia's most extreme natural areas, famous for its high winds, isolation and incredible landscapes.

This was the day's itinerary:

Our first wilderness experience begins in Mount Field National Park where we walk amongst some of the world’s tallest trees and the cascading Russell Falls. 

The Eucalyptus forest needs the fire to spread its seed, so in wetter conditions like this the rainforest takes over.

Some were lucky enough to see a Pademelon, a Tasmanian Wallaby 

Continuing west we visit Australia’s deepest freshwater lake, Lake St Clair, before traversing the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. Here we enjoy some short walks along the tannin-coloured waters of the Franklin River and Nelson Falls. 

I love these mossy trees! - I've never seen anything like it before. The forest walk was so calming.

We learn about Tasmania’s mining history in Queenstown......below, you can see the devastating affect of unregulated mining on the environment. This mining was for gold, copper & zinc. 

Then arriving in the harbour-side village of Strahan where we spend the next two nights.

The backpacker place at Strahan was nice, with cabins and a kitchen where Ramon cooked for us (that's me, Ilse, Fabienne & Vanessa) - later Ilse, Ramon and me went out to the 'rivulet' on the nearby campsite to try to spot platypus. We spotted a rat and a cat, but sadly no Platypus. 

These are one of two Monotremes, which are mammals that lay eggs. The other is the Echidna.

The Aboriginal name for Tasmania was Lutruwita then the dutch named it Van Diemens land given by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642 after Anthony van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, and used by the British for their penal colony from 1803 until it was officially renamed Tasmania in 1856.