.:Aino in Australia and in South-East Asia:.: T-A-S-M-A-N-I-A

Hola chicas y hombres! This chapter is dedicated to Tasmania… But before I go more in to details, a brief update what’s happening. Today is the first official day of autumn. Yep summer is over and weather is getting cooler :( I am staying home and having a sick leave for the whole week because my last wisdom tooth was cut out on Tuesday. I already had forgotten how painful the recovery time was. So the rest of the week I am just staying in and looking like a hamster :S (picture: Copacabana Beach)

My first business trip to Melbourne went well and everybody was pleased to my presentation. When staying alone that night in the hotel room, I was just thinking how boring it must been to travel alone for work. I thought that was the thing I wanted, but not so sure anymore. Just kept on thinking how great it would be to enjoy the hotel room with someone ;)

That week I also got a ticket from my boss to a comedian called Billy Crystal’s show, which was amazing. He is truly a talented one, so funny, right on spot, but also capable to make the audience feel emotional and sad. I still can’t believe he kept on entertaining us for 3 hours with one break only. (picture: Dinner with Claire's family)

Last weekend I went to my friend’s holiday house in Copacabana, which is around 1,5hour drive from Sydney to north. Claire’s whole family came with us as well so it was nice and relaxing weekend with good food, movies and beach.

Oke, but now back to Tasmania…
On Friday I left from work couple of hours before, as our flight to Hobart left at 5pm. 3 days and 4 nights exploring the wonders of Tasmania with my friend Julia was about to start. As we landed few hours later to the airport it was pouring and we were thinking: GOD, nice start for the holiday. Luckily I had packed lots of warm clothes, winter hat and cloves. Might sound like exaggeration, but at that particular moment when we ran out from the plane 30m to the terminal and got soaked wet I was

more than pleased my choice.

Our hostel was right in the centre and we even got our own bathroom without paying any extra! That night we went for sushi and had a drink in a bar called 42˚ (which was nominated the trendiest hang out bars in Hobart, by Lonely Planet). The next morning we were happy to discover that the weather was sunny and warm… later that afternoon very hot actually! First we went to the famous Salamancá markets in the harbour, which is organized every Saturday. From the market you can find anything Tasmanian handicraft, art, delicatessen, jewellery etc… I made a real discovery and bought a kangaroo leather bag for 45$ (it was the revenge for ruining our car in Adelaide road trip). (picture: Salamanca markets)

At 1 o’clock we were about to start our first tour to Port Arthur, but as we were about to leave, our tour guide announce that we were missing two people. After 1,5 hours delay and without the 2 missing people our tour finally got started. We did get an extra stop in the Botanic Gardens and Julia’s wish came true when we saw the beautiful lily bond. The next stop was a bit further in Richmond, which is a cute little town with old wooden houses and that’s about it.

Our journey continued to the coast and we saw some amazing scenic cliffs, beaches and national parks… but no Tasmanian devils :( Finally we arrived to Port Arthur which used to be biggest spot for British convicts. Port Arthur also got publicity in 1996 when an 18 years old kid went mad and shot 25 people including children. Very sad story, still giving me shivers when thinking about it. Our guide took us for a tour around the area explaining the daily life of Port Arthur. The most impressive place in my opinion was the silent jail. Where the convicts wer

e sentenced after bad behaviour and were totally isolated from the outside world and from each other. That place was meant to break the convict mentally, and I guess that is the worst punishment one could imagine. There was also a room for “extremely naughty ones”, where they were left to suffer alone in dark for days… creepy!

The landscapes of Port Arthur itself were amazingly beautiful, looking so green and peaceful, but our guide kept on telling us that remember the SAD SAD past.

As soon as the dark hit the Port Arthur at 9pm it was time to take part to a ghost tour. To be honest me and Julia were looking for a more commercial type of ghost tour, with people dressing up as ghost, smoke, scary noises, blood… like in Universal Studios :) but this time it wasn’t really like that.

The next day it was time to conquer Mt Wellington. Julia, our tour organizer had planned a 6hour hike, which was going to be hard one as the temperature was above 30’c early in the morning. Tuff one or not, but the scenery was magnificent and we made it! My first real hike ever… Not that I am going to do that more often :)

On Monday, on our last day we took a part for a tour to Wineglass Bay at 7am with some other young people. It took a few hours to drive up the beach, which has

been ranked btw the 3rd most beautiful beaches in the world, so we could continue our sleep for few more hours. Our group was a real mixture of nationalities; A total of 4 Dutch, 2 German, 2 Chinese, an Aussie, Kiwi, Swede, Finn and one American, almost felt like I was back in INHOLLAND :)

After a good 3 hour drive we finally arrived to Freycinet National Park and I got to touch the first time wild wallabies. They were unbelievable friendly and soooooo cute! Then we heard the bad news; there would be an hour and half hike to Wineglass Bay plus the same length back! No thank you, after hiking 6 hours the day before. We still decided to gather our strength with Julia and make our way to the lookout, which would be in midway. Even that was a struggle. But as

we saw the sights, it was again definitely worth it. As the rest of the group bravely continued their way all the way to the beach the tour guide took me, Julia and Stephanie (the American girl) to another lookout and to the light house. While breathing the fresh air and letting the wind play with my hair, I was just wondering what a pity it is to spend 8 hours a day indoors in stinky office, when you could have this view and the wild outdoor as your office… at that moment I really envied Matt, our tour guide.

As we got back to our hostel, tired and hungry, we decided to celebrate our last evening eating in sushi –all you can eat buffet. Before that night I didn’t know how it feels to “get overdosed” with sushi, but well… now I know :) Awesome trip altogether, go Tassie! (picture: Wineglass Bay)