Tasmania, Part 2

Ok, let’s see, where did I leave off last time? That’s right! I was eaten alive by mosquitos the night after we hiked Wineglass bay. I finally managed to get my pictures transferred over, so here are a few more from that day:

Wineglass Bay from the lookout. See, I really was there! Herman too. He likes to hitchHIKE. Get it?!

Wineglass Bay again, we had lunch on the beach

Herman and I taking a break. I didn't like the way that seagull was eyeing him though...

Hazards Beach

A hidden bay we found, just peaking through the trees

We named it Stingray Cove and claimed it as our own

We were much braver around the wallabies after the hike. I'm making friends with Mama, hoping to pet her Joey

She let me :)

My personal favorite! This little guy was so friendly! 

After we left the Freycinet Peninsula we headed Northwest. We spend most of the next day driving to get to Launceston, one of the bigger cities in Tasmania. We stopped at Cataract Gorge, which has a river running through and a chairlift you can see everything from. It was pretty, but I was having a tough time appreciating the view, as itchy as I was. I had also gotten almost no sleep the night before due to all the itching. Pierre was putting Tigerbalm on his bug bites, I had never heard of that but he swore it worked. I had packed a small tin of it, and a tube of Afterbite, so that morning I had tried an experiment to see which worked better. I put Tigerbalm on all the bites on the left side of my body and Afterbite on the right side, then waited to see which side would be less itchy throughout the day. As it turns out neither one works all that well, and the four other people in the car were not crazy about the combined stink of the two. Tigerbalm will clear your sinuses with a whiff or two, and Afterbite has a strong ammonia smell. Not very pleasant, but I found it matched my mood perfectly.

Cataract Gorge, and this cool wooden suspension bridge that was built in the '30s

The Gorge again...

And again! The rock formations in Tasmania are really cool.

The Gorge with King George (I think) Bridge and Launceston in the background 

That night we camped in a free caravan park, which was a nice surprise. We had to stay close to Launceston, because Pierre was planning on starting the Overland Track from Cradle Mountain the next day, and he needed to find a store to buy some backpacking supplies. The Overland Track is a 6 day backpacking trek through the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair national park, one of a few combined parks that together make up about a quarter of Tasmania. You start at Cradle Mountain and hike south to Lake St. Clair. Despite all the information we had saying that it cost about $200 a person and it was supposed to take at least six days, Pierre was convinced that he could do it for free in three. He wanted us to drop him off at Cradle Mountain and pick him up at Lake St. Clair in three days’ time. He was incredibly stubborn when he got an idea into his head, and this combined with a shaky command of the English language made it really difficult to explain things to him once he was set on a plan. So we were prepared to drop him off the next day and head south.

The next morning when we found a sporting goods store for Pierre, I perused the first aid section, desperate for some sort of cure for my bites. I bought this thing called the Mosquito Click, which seemed like one of those as-seen-on-tv quality products, but I would have bought snake oil from a gypsy man with a funny moustache at that point if it had a chance of working. The Mosquito Click is like one of those plastic barbeque lighters with a button you push to cause a spark between two metal points. You put it on your bites or stings or whatever and click it anywhere from 5 to 10 times, and voila, problem solved! It stings a bit, but it’s mildly satisfying because it kind of feels like you’re scratching the bites, and I couldn’t believe it, the thing works! Mostly. I found you had to click each bite at least 10 times, and you will be itch-free for about two days. Still, two days of blissfully itch-free skin, I was in heaven! I can’t recommend this thing enough, it saved my sanity for those first few days after Wineglass bay!

After the magical sporting goods store, it was on to Cradle Mountain! We had to drive about an hour and a half to get there, climbing in altitude most of the way. It was pretty grey and misty, we had been having intermittent showers most of the week, but we were still surprised when we checked in at the visitor’s center and the ranger told Pierre he would be insane to try the Overland Track any time that week, half of it was socked in with snow! I guess this, plus the fact that the ranger confirmed the $200 price tag, finally got through to Pierre, and he conceded that maybe he wouldn’t make the trek on this trip. He settled for attempting to summit Cradle Mountain with Ben that afternoon (still an 8 hour trek to get there and back to the carpark), Vanessa and Tony chose to stay in the van and watch movies, and the only sane one of the group, yours truly, chose a normal circuit around two of the lakes at the base of the mountain and a lookout at the top of Wombat Peak. 

Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain

The Wombat Pool

Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain from the lookout

It was absolutely incredible. I finally got some much-needed alone time (sharing a van with 4 other people can grate on someone with hermitish tendencies after a while), the walk was absolutely gorgeous, and I even got a little snow of my own at Wombat Peak, which I had a lot of fun with. It was such a great day, hands down my favorite part of Tasmania. If I ever make it back the Overland Track is top of the to-do list.

Herman makes friends everywhere he goes! 

I was having a great time, even if the fog was rolling in

One more shot of Cradle Mountain with Dove Lake from the path

 

A few hours later when all the hikers got back to the van, the mood of the group had definitely shifted. Pierre was cranky because he hadn’t gotten to do the Overland Track, and Tony was pitching a full-fledged hissy fit; refusing to talk to anyone and generally acting like a teenager. I found out that night from Vanessa that he had something else in mind than watching movies in the van, and when she spurned his advances he didn’t take it too well. Little did we know this marked the beginning of the end for our happy little group.

In the meantime, that night we kept heading south and camped on the edge of Lake King William (mistakenly called Lake King George in some postcards, sorry folks), just south of Derwent Bridge and Lake St. Clair. We found this great spot on a dirt boat ramp that had partially flooded and set up camp. It was beautiful, but freezing cold. Much colder than any other night of the trip so far, and we ended up going to bed early, just after cooking dinner in the dark yet again.

There used to be a road here...

Nothing better than an actual beer in a beautiful place!

Some folks fishing on the lake

Really nice sunset that night 

The next morning we were all stunned to see that it had snowed during the night! Weren’t we in Australia? During summer?? I can imagine Tony and Ben were the most surprised of all, waking up with their tents covered in snow. Needless to say, this didn’t improve either of their moods.

That same road again, washed out AND snowy now!

The lake was still pretty

Our humble abode

The rare Tasmanian Snow Giraffe. This was a rare sighting. Oh, did I not mention that Vanessa and I slept in our Halloween costumes all week? They're so cozy!

 

And awesome. Cozy and awesome. 

After we packed up camp we headed towards Lake St. Clair. The original plan was to hike around the lake; there were supposed to be some great trails around there, but the snow continued throughout the morning. If anything it got worse! We went down to the lake, but it wasn’t worth the misery of hiking in the driving snow when we wouldn’t even get the pretty views. Instead, we hung out at the visitor’s center drinking hot chocolate around the fire and checking out their great displays about the Overland Track, conservation in Tasmania, and all the amazing wildlife on the island. It was still a nice way to pass the time, but the guys were even more annoyed at the change in plans.

Beautiful day at the lake

Nice view from the pier, apparently there were mountains behind us, but I don't know if I believe that...

We left and turned east again, making our way back towards Hobart, our road trip almost over. Just past Lake St. Clair we stopped at a really unique gallery in the middle of nowhere called The Wall in the Wilderness. The artist who owns it, Greg Duncan, does sculptures in wood and he has a strong interest in the history of Tasmania, particularly the settlement and logging of the island. He carves the most amazing things out of Huon pine, a tree native to Tasmania that smells soooo good. We stepped out of the cold and the snow into a beautiful warm gallery with nice music playing, bought a glass of actual wine (not goon), and wandered around looking at the artwork. It was such a welcome taste of civilization after camping in a van for a week. Of course, the guys stayed in the car because they didn’t want to pay the $10 fee to go inside.

It was incredible. Everything this guy carved looked real. He did a lot of logging paraphernalia; axes, gloves, saws, heavy coats and overalls hanging on racks, things like that. They look so real, like you could grab a hat off a hook on the wall and put it on. He also does carvings of Tasmanian wildlife, including life-sized fetal Tasmanian Tigers, now extinct, and Tasmanian Devils, endangered now and on the way to extinction. The Wall itself is a project he has been working on since the early 2000’s, it is almost done now and when it’s finished it will be 100 meters long. It is carved with incredibly lifelike scenes from Tasmanian history, the people look like they could step off the wall and walk around the gallery with you. He requests that people don’t take pictures of his art, so I highly recommend checking out his website for pictures, it’s breathtaking.

http://thewalltasmania.com/

Awesome eagle statue at The Wall

The length of the gallery

The front of the gallery. So pretty in the snow!

After The Wall it was on to Hamilton, a tiny little town where the sheep population outstrips the human population by the thousands. We camped in a really nice campground along a creek near the Hamilton Inn, and were so happy to get sun that afternoon! The weather changed so fast our heads were spinning! We jumped at the chance to air out our funky snow-damp bedding and clothes and grab a cold beer and hot meal at the Inn. The guys weren’t speaking to Vanessa and I at all at this point, we found out later that they were mad because they had to wait for us at The Wall, and Tony was still struggling with the blow to his ego. I’m not entirely sure Pierre knew what was going on, but he stuck with the other guys. We didn’t mind at all, especially when we met a really nice Australian couple that was camping nearby who shared their fire, fresh coffee and homemade cookies with us. Australians, especially in the smaller towns and cites, are some of the nicest and friendliest people I’ve ever met!

The creek next to our campsite. There was a platypus walk next to it, but we saw no platypus. Apparently they are shy.

Our campsite, with all our sheets and mattresses hung out during a rare moment of sunshine lack of rain

The hospitality continued when we went up to the Inn for a few beers to end the day, and we met some sheep farmers and one of the owners of the Inn, who were all so friendly and welcoming, even the two dogs running around the bar were excited to meet us! Our new friends even sympathized with our annoyance at our traveling companions, who were apparently rude to everyone at the bar before we got there as well. Way to represent the international crowd, guys!

The next morning we had an awkwardly silent drive back to Hobart, where Tony and Ben arranged a house to stay at while Pierre, Vanessa and I were on our own to find a camping spot for our last night in the van. At least we stopped at a Wildlife Park on the way and saw Tasmanian Devils, Kangaroos, and Koalas for the first time! SO exciting! This time Ben was the only one who didn’t want to pay and waited in the car yet again.

Sleepy Tasmanian Devils!

They're pretty cute, for something with such an intimidating name!

Koala! He looks so wise and cuddly!

He was super soft, and naturally smells like eucalyptus!

Albino wallaby

This was my first contact with any kangaroos. I was equal parts terrified and beside myself excited. I think the look on my face sums it up...

They aren't shy at all, and they know you have food for them. Don't worry, you're supposed to feed these ones.

So. Many. Kangaroos!

I was totally in heaven, it was so cool being surrounded by animals I've wanted to see my whole life!

Gorgeous peacock

This is Max, he's a baby wombat! Probably the cutest thing ever.

He's about 6 months old, being fostered by a volunteer for the park. He's a rescue, like most of the animals at the park. 

Back in Hobart we ended up squatting in a parking lot of the Botanical Gardens next to a campervan, which wasn’t very relaxing, but at least it was free. We got up early the next morning to go to Salamanca Market, which reminded me so much of the awesome Farmer’s Markets back home I got a little homesick. We met up with the guys again, because this was the day that we were all supposed to clean the van, settle up the money we all spent on fuel and camping costs, and the guys were going to drop Vanessa, Pierre and I off at the airport before returning the van. They were staying in Hobart, walking distance from the rental place for a few more days, and this would save us about $20 each for a taxi so it was a no-brainer. They had agreed to do this the day before, and again that morning, but once the car was clean and we added up the receipts, we had some issues.

Apparently Ben expected to get about $50 back in the whole exchange, he thought that he had spent more money on gas than everyone else. Tony and I both counted up receipts and came up with the same numbers, so there was no mistake. Ben was only getting $20 back instead of $50, and this was an issue for him. We were en route to the airport with Ben driving, but  instead of pulling onto the freeway towards the airport, he pulled into the parking lot of a bottle shop (the only places here you can buy any kind of alcohol). He parked, and when we asked what we were doing there, he announced that unless Pierre, Vanessa, and I either gave him $10 or bought him a six-pack each, he wouldn’t be driving us to the airport. I asked him as politely as I could to explain what the hell he was talking about, and he said that he was sick of doing things for us. He had to wait for us at the Wall and the Wildlife Park, he wasn’t our slave (direct quote), and he wanted to get paid for dropping us off at the airport. I informed him that if we were going to pay anyone for a ride to the airport it would be a taxi driver and not an extortionist, and that’s when he and Tony, who had remained silent throughout this whole scene with a dedication to drama I thought reserved only for preteens and the ‘stars’ of The Jersey Shore (he’s 29, by the way, Ben is 32), grabbed their stuff and walked away across the parking lot, into the sunset and hopefully never to be seen again. Good effing riddance! I think I’ve only experienced such calculated selfishness once or twice before, and I was furious! I forgot to drive on the left for a bit because I was so blown away that people we had traveled with for over a week would act like that! We had known a few days before the trip would end kind of awkwardly, but I never expected a scene like that!

We ended up returning the van ourselves after retrieving Pierre, who followed them halfway to the street before he realized what was going on, and taking a cab to the airport. One nice thing was that when we told the story to our cab driver he knocked $5 off the fare because he felt bad for us, restoring my faith in humans a bit.

So there you go; 12 days, a beautiful place, 5 people, a van, and the first drama I’ve encountered since I left home. Hopefully it’s enough to satisfy you reality TV buffs back home.

In spite of things deteriorating so badly between everyone on the trip, I still had an amazing time. Tasmania remains one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and as bad as it went it’s still the first time I’ve ever had something go wrong during a rideshare, and there was no lasting damage. I think I will do it again, just probably not for a while…

More soon on the Great Ocean Road and Kangaroo Island!