Our Trip to Tassie - LAST ONE!!!

After checking out the Blowhole in Eaglehawk Neck; we headed North towards Launceston; our last destination before departing Tasmania. We decided it would be good to end our vacation on a good note – so our first stop in Launceston was James Boag’s Brewery. We took a tour of the plant and tasted all of their different beers – Delish! After we were full of beer – we headed to Cataract Gorge – home of the single longest chairlift in the WORLD!!!!! Knowing this statistic, who wouldn’t feel compelled to experience this record breaking chairlift?! The gorge itself was actually pretty amazing – the chairlift – not so much. We ended up taking another hike around the area and (of course) had to stage a few “Ahhh! I’m falling!” pictures.
At this point – we were on the verge of exploding if we had any more fun in Tassie, so we drove back to port and boarded our mother-ship that would take us back to Melbourne.

Our Trip to Tassie - Part 5

Monday: Lucky for John Paul and I; we made it through the night at the Lufra Hotel and woke up early (to get the hell out of there) and to see some of the ‘views’ everyone was talking about. There were several scenic lookouts that were really pretty and had creative names that amused us (it doesn’t take much). Additionally – we had our first WALLABY sighting!

Our Trip to Tassie - Part 4

We figured that we had probably seen enough of Port Arthur and made our way to our hotel in Eaglehawk Neck (yes, that’s actually the town name) about thirty minutes North of Port Arthur. As one could imagine – a town with the name “Eaglehawk Neck” doesn’t necessarily have a large selection of accommodation to choose from so after doing some research online, I found a hotel called ‘The Lufra’ that was right on the water. It was part of the Best Western chain – which for Australian standards (and especially Tasmanian standards) is pretty good. They had a scenic picture on the website and included a testimonial from a tourism entrepreneur (pasted below). I was sold.

The Lufra Hotel, situated at Eaglehawk Neck, provides relaxed affordable accommodation close to Port Arthur and natural attractions. Australian aviation pioneer and tourism entrepreneur Sir Reginald Ansett is reputed to have described the Lufra Hotel as 'the hotel with the best view in the world.' No wonder there has been an accommodation house on the same site for more than 150 years. Nor was it a surprise when Sir Reg decided that he would make that view available to the growing number of tourists visiting Australia’s island state. He built the present hotel in 1948.

Now after actually STAYING there – I can look at these descriptions with a more critical eye. I now notice that no one actually mentions the hotel, only the views FROM the hotel – for obvious reasons. This place was a dump. Sadly, this is actually considered 4-Star. Yikes! I will never – ever – stay anywhere that does not show pictures of the actual hotel ever again.

Our Trip to Tassie - Part 3

After we stocked up on hard liquor, we hit the road again to reach our next destination - Port Arthur. For those of you that are not as learned as myself in the subject of Tasmanian history –

Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. (Umm..seriously?) Known for its harsh conditions, dark history and stark beauty, it is located approximately 60 km south east of Hobart. In 1996 it was the scene of the worst mass murder event in post-colonial Australian history.

Thank you Wikapedia.

Anyhow, upon arrival, the ticket counter attempted to sell us on the “Gold Tour”; which was a FIVE DAY guided experience. We took one look at the littering of dilapidated buildings sporadically placed across the lawn (aka the ‘historic site’) and opted for the afternoon self guided tour for twenty bucks. Although I could imagine some of the buildings being pretty impressive at some point - most of them only had remnants of the original structure remaining. They did have a few ‘model’ homes set up that were intended to replicate the décor of its actual owners; including one with a rocking chair and a fake cat curled up on its cushion. John Paul had the bright idea for me to step over the rope barricade and sit in the chair with the cat on my lap so that he could take a picture. Unfortunately the cat was super glued to the cushion….but that wasn’t the worst of it. When I stepped over the rope into the restricted area, it set off an alarm that caused a siren to start screaming from the building. We quickly aborted the mission and exited the building immediately.

We decided that it would probably be in our best intrests to hide out inside of the museum after the cat and rocking chair debacle. The museum itself was mildly interesting - but we found it to be very entertaining to pose with all of the life size cut-outs of the convicts.

Our Trip to Tassie - Part 2

Next on the agenda was to make the 3 hour drive to the capital city of Hobart. Little did we know that most of that drive would be on a dirt road. There were literally stretches of 20 minutes where we passed NO ONE except for fields full of sheep.

When we finally arrived in the metropolis of Hobart and are all of a block away from our hotel – John Paul decides to run a red light. Not on purpose….but just one of those brainfart moments where you just roll through a blatantly red stoplight. Maybe he had inhaled too much dust from the dirt roads. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal if the one cop on duty (probably in the entire state of Tasmania) was right behind us. Fifteen minutes and a $200 ticket later, we were checked into our hotel that was called “The Old Woolstore.” This was very appropriate given that we had seen probably ten thousand sheep that day just waiting to be converted into UGG boots. Despite the odd name – the hotel was decent and we ate at a great restraint called “The Ball & Chain.”

Sunday: We spend the morning putzing around the city and waiting for the Lark Distillery to open up. At 11am we decided it was early enough to start drinking whisky. I’m not much of a whisky drinker; but it was still impressive to learn about how it was made. John Paul, on the other hand - does like whiskey – so we bellied up to the bar for some “tastings.” We did our duty as patrons and each bought a bottle as a ‘souvenir’. A gift that keeps on giving – if you will.

Our Trip to Tassie - Part 1

Ok, so as I mentioned before - John Paul and I finally made it to Tasmania. Overall, it was quite an experience - so to make each entry more manageable; I am going to break it up by giving you highlights of selected events.

To give everyone the full effect of our experience; you need to understand that Tasmania is like the West Virginia of Australia…full of beautiful, untouched landscapes, sheep, and inbred people.

Now that we are all on the same page – here is the synopsis:

Saturday Morning: Arrive in Tasmania and drive to Cradle Mountain National Park. At the welcome center, the ranger makes a couple recommendations for ½ day hikes. Done! We park the car and embark on our outdoor journey. Early on into our ascend; we pass some other hikers who are decked out in some pretty serious climbing gear. We think little of it and keep trudging along. About two hours later we realize why our old, mesh, tennis shoes with nearly smooth soles were probably not the best choice for this type of activity.
Aside from the fact that certain areas were pretty steep; there were also parts were slippery – and muddy. (See exhibit A)
Regardless of being unsuitably outfitted, the hike was awesome and the views were spectacular.

Planning Our Trip to Tassie

After a few months of trying to coordinate schedules, John Paul and I finally booked a trip to Tasmania. We wanted to embrace the full tourist experience; so we decided to travel via the “Spirit of Tasmania” cruise ship that ports about a kilometer from our house. Aside from the convenient location, they let you take your car on the boat and we figured we’d be able to cover more Tassie ground with our own wheels.

When deciding on our agenda, John Paul had only one request – to go camping. Hmmm. Camping. Isn’t that adventurous.

This may come as a surprise to some; but I’m not really the avid camper. In fact, I’m probably more inclined to pitch a tent using the desk chairs, night stand, and extra blankets they give you at the Hilton than I am setting up camp at a National Park.

Like most of my reservations, they are not created out of thin air. My hesitation towards camping stems from my 2nd grade Girl Scout troop camp out...everything was great until I had to pee in the middle of the night. Just about the time I was about to crawl out of the tent to pop a squat in the wilderness – I was pretty certain that I heard a wolf howl. At that moment, I realized that I had a life or death decision to make. Get eaten by the rabid carnivore waiting for me outside or pee my pants in the corner of the tent. I think we would all agree that I made the right decision. The fact that we were camped out in our troop leader’s backyard is really inconsequential.

Regardless, the camp out experience from my childhood – combined with the fact that it is WINTER in the Southern Hemisphere – caused me to veto John Paul’s request. That meant that I needed to come up with some REALLY fun activities to take the focus off the fact that I refused to sleep outside. Lucky for me, John Paul is easily distracted by alchohol themed outings and Tasmania is full of wineries, breweries, & distilleries. GREAT SUCCESS!

I’ll follow up later with more details on the trip....