TASMANIA
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(Map of Australia)
All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2007:
After six great days in Sydney it was time to move on to Tasmania.
I arrived in Hobart late Thursday morning.
I stayed at the Grand Chancellor Hotel on the harbour.
Mount Wellington is pictured below on the right.
I drove to the summit of Mount Wellington Thursday afternoon for sweeping views of the area.
6 minute video of Hobart, Tasmania and Mount Wellington. Click on the player below to watch the video. | ||
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Hello Everyone: Had a great time in Sydney but had to move on this morning. It was raining when I left Sydney this morning but it is beautiful here in Hobart, and quite warm. Arrived here at 10:30 this morning. It is nice to have a car again. I didn't rent one in Sydney and used trains and ferries to get around. I hate driving on the wrong side of the road though. I did manage to stay to the left and not kill myself or too many others. Walked around the harbor early this afternoon and then drove to the summit of Mount Wellington. Really spectacular view of Hobart, the Derwent River and the surrounding mountains. The attached photo was taken from Mount Wellington. I was hoping things would be cheaper here in Tasmania away from the big city. NOT! Bought a few groceries to last the six days I am here, the bill was $95. The one exception was cashews. They must grow them here. Big enormous bag for only $8. More Later, Tim |
FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2007:
I took a cruise down to historic Port Aurthur on Friday morning.
Many beautiful sea cliffs as we neared Port Aurthur.
The Ruins of Port Aurthur used to harbor some of Australia's worst criminal offenders.
10 minute video of my boat trip from Hobart to historic Port Arthur, Tasmania. Click on the �YouTube player below to watch the video. | ||
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Howdy Howdy! The weather is falling apart on me in Tasmania. It's been beautiful here for over a week, but when I get here the rains move in. Today wasn't too bad, no rain until I got back to the hotel late this afternoon. But the sun sure didn't show itself much and the forecast for the weekend is not looking good. I just got a call canceling the air tour I had booked for tomorrow. I rescheduled it for Tuesday my last day in Tas. I need to figure out how to entertain myself all weekend because everything I planned to do here is weather dependent. I'm washing clothes at the moment as I ran out of clean clothes. Today I took a cruise down to Port Authur. The rocky cliffs along the way were quite impressive. It took two and a half hours to get there by boat. Once there we had a little under four hours to tour the grounds before coming back to Hobart by bus. Port Arthur is an old penal colony which was established in 1830. The attached photo is the main penitentiary building. If you don't get an email from me for a couple of days it's probably because I didn't do anything because of the weather. I hope there are some good movies playing. Only 750,000 people live in the entire state of Tasmania. It's about the size of the state of West Virginia. Have a nice weekend, Tim |
SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2007:
I spent all day Saturday in downtown Hobart as it rained all day.
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As expected it rained all day today. It was kind of nice to take a day off from the sightseeing. This is the first day since Christmas that I haven't been dashing off somewhere by either jet, plane, boat or train. There is a movie theater within walking distance of my hotel. All the stores, restaurants and, etc., are located in downtown Hobart which is only a few blocks away from my hotel here on the wharf. I saw two movies, both before 6:00pm, and got some popcorn. What do you think that cost? If you said $50.25 you are a winner! That will translate to about $40 in US money. But as you can see things are a bit pricey here. I saw the movies The Queen and Casino Royale. They seem to get things a little late down here. The movies released for Christmas back home were in the coming attractions down here. Weather looks a little better for tomorrow, only 20% chance of rain and then good for Monday and Tuesday. So hoping blue skies will return soon. More later, Tim |
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2007:
Sunday I drove south of Hobart into the Huon Valley. My first stop was Huon Jet.
The pictures below were taken by the Huon Jet staff of our actual trip.
I drove further south from Huonville to the Tahune Forest Reserve and Airwalk.
8 minute movie filmed in the Huon Valley including the Tahune Forest Reserve and Airwalk. Click on the �YouTube player below to watch the video. | ||
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Hello Everyone: It rained all day yesterday so I spent most of the day at the movies. Today the weather was a little better although it is raining again right now. Today I drove down to Huonville where I took a jet boat ride down the Huon River. The pilot of the boat was a very colorful character. It was a scenic trip full of the 360 degree spins you expect on a jet boat. I didn't get too wet. The attached photo is of that jet boat. I'm sure you'll be able to spot my ugly bald head in the center of the boat. After the jet boat I drove further south to the Tahune Airwalk. This was also along the Huon River in the middle of the forest. The walk is build 40 meters in the air along the river and through the forest. Very scenic and the scent of the Huon Pines was very strong. I'm starting to get used to driving on the left side of the road. I have an all day boat excursion scheduled for tomorrow down to Bruny Island. More later, Tim |
MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2007:
Monday's trip to Bruny Island was a bit of a disappointment.
I elected to take the tour bus down to the island. That was a mistake.
The bus was slow, making the trip down and back way longer than it needed to be.
During the cruise the sea was so rough you couldn't even steady your camera to take a picture.
Plus it was bitter cold.
The rough sea was kind of fun making it a bit of an adventure, but it also cut the trip way short.
The rough sea did create a nice blow hole which you can see in the center picture below.
7 minute video of my boat trip along the coast of Bruny Island, Tasmania. Click on the �YouTube player below to watch the video. | ||
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Today was an interesting day. I have not decided yet if it was good or bad. Had a Bruny Island boat trip scheduled for today. Weather was still pretty ugly this morning as I met the bus that took us down to Bruny Island. It took two and a half hours to get down there. Had to travel 40 kilometers south of Hobart where we had to wait for a ferry to get us over to the island. After getting to the island it was another 40 kilometers to Adventure Bay on only partially paved roads. The sea was so rough. There were swells well over 10 feet high. And it was so cold. It was like riding a roller coaster. The sea cliffs, what we saw of them were beautiful. There was a blowhole that was really awesome. But it was so rough you couldn't even begin to frame a picture. After about a half hour of bouncing from wave to wave and people tossing their cookies right and left he turned out to sea to get away from the rough current along the coast and we didn't get to see a lot of the sea cliffs which was the reason I came. It wasn't the rough sea that bothered me, that was actually fun. But it was so cold. I don't think I have ever been that cold. Wind blowing a hundred miles an hour and salt water constantly splashing in your face. I guess I don't have to worry about ever getting sea sick, if this didn't do it I don't think anything will. I attached a photo of the trip. This was from early in the trip when I actually managed to get a shot off. This was before the sea got really rough after going around the rock you see in the picture. But even here you can see how the boat ahead is pointing in the air and the waves crashing into the coast ahead. The boat trip was supposed to be three hours long and we got back after only two. They had hot pumpkin soup waiting for us when we got back to warm us up. It was pretty good. You would have thought they would have brought us back early since we got off the boat early, but no. Had well over two hours to wait before we even started back. There wasn't a whole lot to do on the island. Only about 600 people live on the entire island. It was nearly 6:00 before we got back to Hobart. The bad weather finally passed and it was sunny and bright the second half of the day. More later, Tim |
TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2007:
On my last day in Tasmania Par Avion flew me to the Southwest World Heritage National Park.
On the way we got nice views of Hobart, Federation Peak and Bathurst Harbour.
After landing at the Bathurst Harbour landing strip with took a boat cruise on the harbour.
After the boat cruise is was back on the airplane for the return flight to Hobart.
This time instead of the inland mountain route we return via the Southwest coast on the Southern Ocean.
We also flew over Bruny Island and the Ironpot Lighthouse where I had been on previous days.
11 minute video of my scenic flight to Southwest Tasmania and Bathurst Harbour. Click on the �YouTube player below to watch the video. | ||
After the air tour I drove northwest of Hobart to Mount Field National Park.
There I saw Horseshoe Falls and Russell Falls.
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Hello everyone: My last day in Tasmania was a great one. Weather was fantastic. First thing this morning I flew on a small single engine plane to The Southwest World Heritage National Park. This is a very remote area pretty much inaccessible except by plane. We had great views of Hobart, the Huon Valley and then the mountains of the Southwest. After we landed at the small airstrip we took a boat ride out on bathurst Harbour. Very calm waters unlike yesterday. When he killed the engine in the center of the harbour we were surrounded by beautiful mountains and complete silence, we were the only living soles for many many miles. After the boat trip is was back on the plane. This time we hugged the scenic coast back to Hobart. The coast line of Tasmania is beautiful. We also flew over Bruny Island where I was yesterday. This afternoon I drove northwest of Hobart to Mount Field National Park. It was a nice drive, about 175 kilometers roundtrip from Hobart. While there I saw Russell Falls and Horseshoe Falls. I didn't see any live kangaroos crossing the road, but I did see a couple of dead ones on the shoulder of the road. The attached picture is of Bathurst Harbour from the plane just before landing. Tomorrow morning I fly to Melbourne. I will write more from there. Tim |
45 minute video of my entire Tasmania visit. Click on the �YouTube player below to watch the video. | ||
Click above to continue to my next adventure, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
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