Next stop: Tasmania!

Hello again! I'm writing this at the Melbourne library, we have been here for a week, and tomorrow it's on to Tasmania! We met 3 other people on a ridesharing website, and the 5 of us are renting a camper van complete with a custom paint job, table, bed, and camp kitchen inside, and we will spend 10 days road tripping around Tassie seeing (hopefully) everything there is to see!

I'm really excited, I've heard amazing things about the island. It's supposed to be very scenic and a little rugged, the maps I've seen make it look like at least a quarter of the island are parks, so there will be plenty of walking and hiking around. There are also supposed to be a ton of wildlife parks, so hopefully we will get some long overdue cuddly animal encounters! I've been in Australia almost a month, and still have yet to see a kangaroo! I'm not sure I'll actually believe I'm here until I do...

As if road tripping with strangers wasn't enough of an adventure, for at least three of us it will be the first time attempting to drive on the left. Yikes!!! The good news is that Tassie has a pretty small population, and no big cities, so we are hoping that it will be pretty simple going with little other traffic. Luckily we got insurance on the van! We will have one Englishman in the group as well, so whether he knows it yet or not, he is the official driving coach of our expedition!

Melbourne has been fun, but it's less of a tourist destination than Sydney and the weather is definitely not as nice. The first and only rainy days so far on the trip have been this week! Because of this, we haven't done nearly as much sightseeing and walking around, but there have still been some highlights. There is a huge market near the hostel that is open four days a week with dangerously tempting stalls selling everything from food to jewelry to didgeridoos. Seriously tempting, although I have no idea how I would get one in my bag if (when) I do eventually cave. I got a few good pictures:

They have more than just your average steak...

 

More proof of the horrifying prices here.

 

I even got to meet Herman's extended family! Who knew they'd been hiding out in Melbourne?



 

 We also spent a day in St. Kilda, which was pretty, but the water was WAY too cold to get in this time. I think we got a little spoiled in Bondi...

At least the sun was shining!

Here's the Melbourne skyline from the pier

And here's the beach from the pier.

 

I looked really hard, but didn't see any of the little penguins the pier is famous for. I guess they are supposed to be easier to find the further south you go, so we are almost sure to see some in Tassie!

 

It's a total unknown if we will have any internet access on our road trip, so if there's no post next week rest assured there will be as soon as we are back on the mainland, with plenty of pictures to boot! I think I might be getting the hang of this blogging thing...