Tassie

G’day team.  This post is pretty long because man oh man am I a Tasmania fan (unintentional rhyme but what am I gonna do change it??).  Aiden and I spent about 5 full days on the island.  We decided to rent a car and road trip - arguably the best way to travel to most places in Australia.  This gave us the freedom to travel where we wanted, and being the budget queens we are, it also acted as a free place to sleep (score!). 

We came into the trip with some amount of an itinerary but also left some time open to talk to people there to see what they recommended.  We had to be somewhat strategic with how we tackled the trip, but nothing crazy. For the size context of Tasmania, you can drive the entire east coast in about 6 hours. The west coast gets pretty remote and is great for multi-day hiking, and since we didn’t have time for that, we generally stayed central/east.

Here’s how it went:

Day 1:

We started by picking up the (much smaller than anticipated) rental car, picking up food and a goon, and starting our trip up the coast.  We made a stop halfway at Wineglass Bay where we encountered our first of many wallabies, then continued to Bay of Fires where we cooked dinner and had an early night. 

Day 2:

After exploring the gorgeous beaches of the Bay of Fires, we began our drive to Cradle Mountain.  We stopped in Sheffield for gas and took an extra few minutes to explore the town of murals. Upon arrival at Cradle Mountain, we made our way to the hike we had planned where we immediately encountered a couple of wombats.  Not sure what they were doing there. Aiden and I think they were planted.  In the evening, we went to Devils@Cradle for a Tasmanian Devil feeding tour.  I’m obsessed with them they’re so cute and just like me.  Kind of crazy yet bashful.  Excited to share food with friends, but will not hesitate to scream at them playfully. We drove halfway to Hobart and spent the night at a carpark that was a gorgeous lookout.

Day 3:

City day! I’m not typically a city girl.  We started at the Saturday Salamanca markets where we got some good grub and I bought a new ring.  I have many opinions regarding the Tasmania merch…so much untapped opportunity.  In the afternoon, we went to MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art) which we were so excited about and had been recommended many times.  Disappointing to say the least.  Maybe we just didn’t get it but like…all of the art just seemed so random? Like as if someone just found a bunch of things and put them in a place? In my opinion not worth the $32. We recovered by having a pint at the oldest brewery in Australia. We walked around the city a bit, then drove North from Hobart for about an hour and found a horse and some chickens to park next to spend the night making TIkToks over a couple of cups of goon.

Day 4:

Maria Island!  I was particularly excited about this. Why? Because I saw on Instagram that Robert Irwin had been there a month ago and that meant it had to be cool. We took a 30-minute ferry over to the island that just about consisted of a visitor center, toilet, and abandoned convict sites.  The nature and wildlife here did not disappoint.  Plenty of wallabies and colorful birds, a few wombats, and first kangaroo sighting! We saw the painted cliffs and fossil bluffs where Aiden’s drone will live out the rest of its days (a devastating loss).  Upon return to land, we headed to the Tasman Peninsula where we had two 4-hour hikes planned for the next days.  I cooked up some burgers with a mama wallaby who pulled up a seat at the table.  

Day 5:

Final full day.  We woke up early to hike to Cape Hauy.  We beat the crowd and were first to see the incredible rock formations at the end.  We knew we had to be on a somewhat tight schedule to fit in everything we had planned for the day, so we hiked quickly but still took time to enjoy the sights.  We ended up doing the 4-hour hike in less than 3 hours and were just about incapacitated the rest of the day.  The second hike was to a surf break that is one of the largest in Australia, but when the surf forecast said the surf was flat that day, we decided to head immediately back to the Hobart region to Mount Wellington.  We checked that off, then finished our trip with a celebratory McDonald’s.

Living in Sydney can be interesting in some regards.  I came to Australia to experience the people, the culture, and the nature.  I get plenty of beach days in, and I love working in hospitality here because I meet new people with new stories every day.  At the end of the day, however, Sydney is arguably the most cosmopolitan city in Australia which is not why I am here.  It’s a great base point to live and make money and again don’t get me wrong Sydney is one of the best places I have ever lived.  I guess this is all to say trips like this to Tasmania remind me why I am so excited to be living in Australia for this year and I can’t wait for what this year will look like as I continue to travel.