Last Days in Hobart!

Well, we packed a lot into my last week in Tassie! Seals, ghosts, and Spanish tapas pretty much sums it up. And of course, I spent a few more days on 7 mile beach! Check out this huge starfish I found!

Ahh, there it is again...beautiful 7 mile beach. Oh how I will miss it!

I fell in love with the clouds in Tassie!

On St. Patrick's day, I met up with Saskia, the Dutch woman from the second tour I went on, along with the French couple and the Aussie tour guide. We met up at Irish Murphy's Pub in Salamanca Place and I had a pint of Bulmer's Irish cider! That was my favorite drink when I lived in Dublin! As they say in Ireland, we had a grand time.

This obviously wasn't my drink (Guinness=Gross....in my opinion), but I loved the shamrock!

James, Stacy, and I also went on a ghost tour at Port Arthur one dark and scary Friday evening. Port Arthur is Australia's largest remaining convict settlement. From 1830 - 1877, over 12,000 male convicts were transferred there from Britain to serve their sentence. That was when Tasmania was known as Van Diemens land!

We didn't actually see any ghosts, at least not that we are aware of, but there are countless stories of both Port Arthur staff and visitors experiencing various sightings and ghost interactions. At one point, Stacy and I had ourselves convinced that the tall, elderly gentleman in the back of the crowd with stark white hair was the ghost of the minister that the tour guide was speaking of at that very moment (we were in the minister's house). Yeah, we were wrong....he was part of the group; we just hadn't seen him before. At least we didn't make a scene or anything...we just whispered back and forth about it. :) At Port Arthur, they investigate any ghost experience that a person has and in many cases, they have been able to identify the ghost that someone has described in great detail as one of the historic residents of the colony.  Many of the stories are pretty spooky! Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the ghost tour is a good thrill!

James was SO scared he didn't want to open his eyes!

Stacy is frightened by what we are about to see next!

This is the separate prison, reserved for the worst offenders. It had an eerie feeling to it, especially at night.

The last time we were here as a family, we also went to Port Arthur....during the day. It was really incredible seeing all the ruins and exploring what life would've been like for the convicts. Here's a few pictures from our visit 3 years ago.

View of Port Arthur from a boat.

This is the church, which was really awesome during the day yet rather freaky at night!

The evening after our ghost tour, James and Stacy took me out to Francisco's, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Hobart. Everything was incredibly delicious! We decided that a tapas restaurant is a perfect dining fit for me because the slower you eat, the better, since you have to wait a bit for the next tapas to come. I like eating food in smaller portions anyway, so that also contributed to the good fit. And, I didn't have to feel like I had to hurry! (You people who scarf your food down have no idea the kind of pressure you put on us slow eaters!) ;)

My outfit even looks Spanish (I didn't plan that)! The dress is one of my purchases from the market in Salamanca!

We are family! (and that makes me so happy!)

Stacy about to eat one of the giant prawns (shrimp). They were sooooo yummy!

Our night at out Francisco's was fantastic! We had tasty wine, delicious food, and plenty of laughs! We headed home with rosy cheeks, smiling faces, and very satisfied tummies.

To finish off our already fabulous weekend, we headed off on an adventure cruise to beautiful Bruny Island. The first boat we were on was called the Peppermint II. It was a very relaxing cruise.

It was windy on the top deck!

They gave us these huge coats to wear for the adventure cruise and believe me, we needed them! It was really windy and cold on the speedy jet boat!

The scenery was just incredible everywhere we went!

One of the many little cave entries we saw.

It was really cool to watch the water build up against and under the rocks....then it would just spit it all back out!

Rainbow!

The speedy boat made the waves so choppy!

And just look at all the seals! There were tons....it was incredible!

Don't they just look so regal?

Just chillin' in the sun. I LOVE seals!

On the way back to Hobart. 

As I've said, the cruise was awesome. We were even served a gourmet lunch of salmon, salad, etc. with wine, different types of cheeses, and fudge for dessert. Now, that is the way to be a tourist!

Before leaving Hobart, I also cycled down Mount Wellington which was really cool. That was my first true mountain biking experience....it was actually pretty scary at times, especially on the really rough terrain. I never flew over my handlebars, but came close. It was very exhilarating. 

Well that concludes my adventures in Hobart. I had a wonderful time there and I've fallen in love with Tassie. It is just beautiful. As I often tell people, it really is Australia's best kept secret! I loved spending time with James and Stacy as well...they made me feel so welcome and comfortable in their home. Oh, and Stacy is a really good cook so we had yummy dinners every night. I do believe I've left my mark on the house as well since I helped James build the retaining wall. It is finished now...it looks awesome and oh so professional! So thank you James and Stacy and thank you Hobart! I will be back again for sure! :)

Aussie Fact of the Day: Tasmania has the largest lavender farm in the world! http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/interesting-facts-about-tasmania-2909.html

To see more photos from my last days in Tassie, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034601&id=177500204&l=40599145b5 

From the east to the west...

So much has happened since my last update that I don't know where to begin. I guess I've got to get better at doing these entries a bit more regularly!

Because I enjoyed the 2 day east coast trip so much, I decided to sign up for the 3 day west coast trip! You can also do a 5-day lap of Tassie, which is ultimately what I did, but I just had a 2 day break in between! The west coast trip was equally as beautiful and as fun as the east coast. Nothing captured my heart quite like Wineglass Bay did, but it was still fantastic. This time in the group, we had 2 German girls, a Canadian guy, 3 French people, an Irish girl, a Dutch woman, and three Brazilians. They were all a blast. In fact, the girlfriend of the tour guide said that she had never seen a group bond so quickly!

We started off by walking through the rainforest in Mt. Field National Park. It was beautiful! Many of the plants in the Tasmanian rainforests are ONLY found in Tassie...not anywhere else in the world! I think that is pretty cool.

 I am standing in the middle of the tree trunk...look how huge it is!

Russell Falls

This photo was taken out the van window as we were driving along. Tassie is so picturesque!!

Later in the day, we hiked to the top of Donaghy's hill to see the spectacular views of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area.

For our accommodation for both nights, we stayed in a tiny town called Tullah and our hostel was right on the lake. Here is our view!

The next day, we started out with a 1.5 hour hike up to Montezuma Falls, Tassie's highest waterfall! The hike was really nice because it was through rainforest all the way.

Here I am in front of Montezuma Falls! It is 341 feet tall!

It was so tall that I couldn't get it all to fit into one photo, so there is the top...or the mouth of the waterfall...whatever the proper term is!

From the falls, we headed to the Henty sand dunes! They were AWESOME!! I think these dunes were probably one of the biggest highlights on this trip for me!

How pretty is this?!  White meets blue.

And of course, what do you do on sand dunes? JUMP!

Haha, jumping pictures are hilarious! Looks like I hadn't quite made it off the ground yet! (I'm on the end). 

Is anyone going to jump with me? I'm not done yet! I could've done this for hours!

Look, we even found some wallaby pawprints in the sand!

In the evening, a group of us sat by the lake and watched the sunset.

Seriously such a fun group of international people! The Brazilians stick out in my mind because they were just so enthusiastic about everything. "Beautiful" was their word, whether describing the taste of the chicken they had for dinner or the magnificent scenery...I loved them! I hope to visit them in Sydney when I go there. They are currently living there.

On the 3rd day of the trip, we headed to Cradle Mountain! The last time I was here was in the middle of winter and it was SOOO cold. We walked around Dove lake then, which lies at the bottom of the mountain. This time, we hiked up to Marion's lookout for a spectacular view. Whether summer or winter, Cradle Mountain is just breathtaking!

Winter: Cradle Mountain is behind me.

Another winter photo.

And here it is in summer! So pretty!

It was a difficult hike up to the lookout! Very steep! I am young and pretty in shape, but it was still tough. We were so happy when we made it to the top!

Some of the group...tired from hiking but pressing onward!

A group of us resting at the top of the lookout! We made it!

Wahooo! Jump right in the cradle! :)

View from the top....beautiful! I think Cradle Mountain was the other highlight of the trip for me!

From there, we headed to a honey farm where they had 50 different flavors of honey to taste. So yummy! We also had honey ice-cream!

We also passed through a little town called Sheffield, town of murals. There are murals painted everywhere; on the sides and backs of buildings, etc. Below is one I liked....and it's got Tassie devils.

And here is a sign that was on the bathroom door of this salmon farm that we stopped at. If you look closely, you will see that Australians do not discriminate. ;)

Well that's about it for my trip to the west coast. It was tons of fun and a really great group of people to travel with. Thanks to facebook, I can now stay in contact with most of them, which is really cool. 

Just a quick update about where I am now. I am no longer in Tassie...I am now in Canberra, the capital of Australia and the place of my birth! I still have a few more fun things from Tassie to blog about and then I can post about Canberra, so.....stay tuned! I'll try and blog a bit more frequently to get caught up (key word...try). Until then, here's the....

Aussie Fact of the day: Some people are now calling themselves Kangatarians, people who don't eat any meat except for kangaroo. They say that it is eco-friendly. I don't like it.
For more info, go to http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/kangatarians-vegeroos-cameltarians/