Tasmania: The Land of Rainbows and Mushrooms

It's been a pretty relaxed few weeks, but now we have gone on another wonderful weekend trip: Tasmania. We absolutely loved this beautiful land. As the post title suggests, it is a magical land.

Last week, Paul had to go to Singapore on a business trip and I was left to do as I please. So, that was just me packing for Tasmania and getting all our other trips squared away. I felt so bad though when he came back, he was so tired, he just fell on the bed and was asleep in minutes. Although, I did get presents! Anyway, back to the trip.

Saturday: We left early in the morning and arrived in Hobart around 9:30. Our friend Vish took the same flight and was meeting up with some friends that were flying in from Melbourne. Apparently, their flight was delayed, so we took Vish to the Hobart Open Air Market and just walked around. Hobart is a lovely city, almost like Asheville, except it is on a coast. We loved the mountains that surrounded the city and even saw a rainbow! When Vish's friends arrived, we left Hobart and went on our own adventures on the west side of the island.

Although the trees in Australia are not like our trees in autumn where they do the full color change, there were a few trees that were a beautiful yellow. It felt more like fall in Tasmania than in Sydney. Fall is my favorite time of year, so I couldn't stop smiling! We looked at our first night's accommodation's directions and saw that they recommended a salmon farm. We at first scoffed saying why would anyone go to a salmon farm? Paul then of course said why not and we turned off the road. It was a lovely place and the fish were ridiculously big. In our pictures, the ones with the yellow trees are all from the farm. Interesting little stop.

We did a few hikes along the way, including the Russell Falls. The entire west side of Tasmania is a World Heritage area. It was very cool. On our way to Derwent Bridge where we were to spend the night, we drove at night. Such a poor decision because all the animals want to get hit it seems. Luckily we did not hit any of them...however, we did find our first...WOMBAT!!! This little creature has been eluding us for some time. That and the platypus. When we found it, he was just sitting in the middle of the road and I started yelling at Paul to get the camera, but we were too slow. Sadness!

Sunday: From our cabin, we left to see Lake St. Clair and try to find platy-pi...of course, no luck. I guess it's really difficult to find one of them. Also, throughout the trip, we couldn't find a Tasmanian Devil either. But there's a reason for that: they are going extinct. They are suffering from a disease that is killing them off rapidly and it's quite sad. We of course donated to the fund of saving the Tasmanian Devil. Poor things...what's a world without them?

We traveled up to Cradle Mountain, which took longer than anticipated. I did not factor in how long it would take to get from one area to the next. My bad. Well, we made it, and did a circuit around Dove Lake, which is right in front of the mountain. It was beautiful and the pictures show it! It was freezing cold though as the pictures show as well. It is so wonderful to walk around in woods though. We then also found our second wombat, which we took lots of photos and videos! They are so precious and I just wanna hold them. But I was sure this wombat would not have it.

After our trip, we drove from Cradle Mountain, back to Hobart, another long trip. Oops. But I decided to help Paul by driving...first time on the wrong side. It was not so bad...until I hit a kangaroo. It was gross and after I told Paul he had to drive. It left little hairs on the bumper. Ew. Very sad and very gross experience.

Monday: I forgot to mention! Paul had Monday off because in Australia, this weekend is known as Anzac (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) Day-their Memorial day. One town we stopped at had completely shut down to go to a memorial service. So, it was neat to see that.

We then went off to the southern tip of Tasmania and did the Tahune Air Walk, which is a raised platform above the trees that you can walk on. We did a longer hike around as well.

Before we left, we ran off to Mt. Wellington to see the gorgeous view from up top. Yes, the view was spectacular...but the weather was so cold! Of course, we didn't have gloves or hats, so we just froze while taking photos...and my lips were so chapped and windburn, I am still nursing them back to health! But it was worth it. Afterward, we left for Hobart and left for home.

I am going to post a video of the wombat and pictures are ready to go. Let us know what you think, we love to hear from everyone. Next weekend: Uluru and the Red Centre...or to everyone else..THE OUTBACK!

perhaps the steakhouse?

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