Hiking, wildlife, & nature in one of the most gorgeous places in the world.
Tasmania is Australia's little island state south of Victoria. Each part of Australia is stunning in its own way, but Tassie wins my vote for most beautiful. It's a state made up almost entirely of national parks, and not enough people take the time to go see it. Australia's not all beaches and outback. This is wilderness, and Tasmania is more than worth your time. Like, to the point that I would name it one of the top 3 highlights of the country, easily.
I was still living in Melbourne and had wanted to take a small trip before leaving. Originally, I was thinking about Adelaide, but enough people asked me "why" that I changed my mind. I also had a small guidebook that described each area of Australia, so I started reading about Tasmania and its parks. I ended up booking fairly cheap flights down there to spend a week on my own getting away from everything (you know, because the past few chilled out months living in my favorite city had been so stressful and all).
Also, as a tip, it's easiest to get around Tasmania with a car. I struggled to plan parts of my trip because buses don't run everywhere and times are limited. You'll save a lot of hassle by renting your own transport or just hopping along on a ride-share. I would also recommend staying longer than the six days that I did! There are so many gorgeous places, and I had to cut out quite a few things that I wanted to see (Bay of Fires and Freycinet National Park to name the big ones). Some of the backpackers I met in Tassie had spent a month or so on the road, hiking, and camping out. I was very jealous of them. I could have easily spent another week down there.
Oh, and can I just say that one of the best parts of this trip was the fact that I was traveling with JUST a backpack? It was the only time where I felt like a sensible traveler since I got to leave the majority of my things at my apartment in Melbourne. No dresses, no jewelry, no high-heel boots, no whatever the hell else I had brought to Australia with me. If only I could pack that light all the time. It's so much more liberating. I just need to talk my brain into it.
Day 1 Launceston & Cradle Mountain National Park
I had arrived in Launceston late the night before. If you are flying into that tiny airport, just know that shuttles do not run late in the evening, and I was very annoyed that I had to pay $40 for a taxi to the town center. Also, I had a terrible sleep because I'd come down with a really bad cold, so while everything in pictures always looks perfect, just be aware that I spent the majority of the week unable to breathe without nasal spray.
Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania, which is hilarious (in a great way), because it is so small. To stress how empty and beautifully unpopulated this gorgeous state is, Launceston's population is under 100,000. The capital city, Hobart, has a population of under 200,000. If you added the populations of the two cities together, you wouldn't even match Cleveland.
This makes Launceston feel more like a scenic town than a city, and I did not mind that at all. I was staying in a hostel called The Arthouse which totally fit in with the cute surroundings. It had wooden floors and vintage furniture.
I woke up at 6 AM on the first day which was a novel experience. I didn't hate it. In fact, once the getting out of bed part is over with, I really love being outdoors in the early hours. I got to see the light of dawn reflecting off the river and it also gave me time to explore the city park before checking out of the hostel and catching my shuttle to Cradle Mountain. Who knew a world existed before 9:00?
I had come expecting to spend the week on my own, but as soon as I sat down on the shuttle, an American named Benjamin introduced himself. He had recognized me from The Arthouse, he was traveling with a German named Johannes, and the two of them ended up being my hiking buddies for the next two days which was really nice. We were even heading to the same hostel at the national park.
Although I was tired on the bus, I made myself stay awake because the scenery was amazing. We made a stop in a very small town called Sheffield and were given a half hour to walk around. It's called the Town of Murals because there are huge paintings everywhere. There was artwork all over the sides of buildings, and one lawn had big murals around the perimeter that had been part of an art competition.
Before leaving, I made sure to stock up on my food for the next couple days because the prices at the national park would be exorbitant.
After another hour on the shuttle, we reached the national park and checked into our hostel. It was actually part of the Discovery Holiday Parks, a larger campground facility, but one or two cabins were specifically designated for backpackers. We basically had the entire cabin to ourselves, and the second night we were literally the only three staying there.
The guys had a room next to mine, and I had my whole room to myself. I cranked the heater up to full blast and basically had a personal sauna.
The kitchens and bathroom were in separate buildings, but everything was out in the woods and it felt like being at camp again. I loved it.
Johannes and I spent the rest of the day exploring the areas of the park down the road from the hostel. We didn't realize there was a shuttle from the visitor center, so we walked the whole way in the cold. I really didn't mind though because I couldn't believe the scenery! There were wallabies all along the sides of the road and mountains in the distance.
We finally reached the ranger station, lodge, and gift shop, and we went on a few of the walks around there.
I was immediately in love. There were more shades of green than I had ever seen in my life. All of the nature was so untouched and beautiful, and best of all, there were virtually no people around.
On the first walk we found a waterfall.
After that, we took the Enchanted Walk (how perfect are the names too?).
That was about twenty minutes long with another stream and waterfall, and the animals are just right next to the paths!
This little guy is called a pademelon.
We were contemplating another walk, but it was beginning to rain and would be dark soon, so we caught the shuttle that we had now found out existed and went back to our cabin. After dinner, I met back up with Benjamin and Johannes who were hanging out with some people they had met elsewhere in Tassie (like I said, it's a small place). We all drank some wine and played Uno in the kitchen and then later at a cabin further down the path. I thoroughly enjoyed running back aimlessly on my own afterwards and getting lost in the pitch dark.
Day 2 Cradle Mountain
No exaggeration, this is one of the best travel days I have ever had in my life. We caught the shuttle in the morning to Dove Lake and arrived there at 10:30. The scenery was unbelievable. Cradle Mountain and its rocky peaks overlook grassy, tree-covered slopes that lead down to the bright blue Dove Lake. It was like a painting. I can't stress how breathtaking it was. I felt like I was in Skyrim.
Along with that, we had the most perfect day for hiking. Sunny, clear skies, and despite the increasing altitude as we went up, I was warm enough most of the time to just be in my t-shirt.
We began our walk around the Dove Lake circuit, and it took Johannes all of one minute to decide to leave us behind. He was much faster than Benjamin and I were and had no patience for our photo taking. Ben and I had a good walk ourselves though. We had a very similar sense of humor, so the conversation was fun.
Getting halfway around the lake took about an hour, but we couldn’t figure out where to turn to get to the summit walk. We started asking Australians that we were passing, and they were less than useful. We'd stop them and ask how to reach the top of the mountain, and they'd give us a blank stare. “The top?” they would say, as if it never occurred to them that someone might come to Cradle Mountain to actually climb the mountain. Then they'd helpfully tell us, "You're on the Dove Lake walk, not the summit walk." They'd nod as if satisfied with their assessment and tell us, "You should probably go back to the car park and start over." Well, as brilliant as it seemed to walk AWAY from the mountain we were trying to climb just to retrace our steps all over again, we thought we'd seek out the opinion of someone whose IQ might be in the triple digits. We finally found a tour guide who informed us that we’d passed the turnoff around the halfway point, so we doubled back about 20 minutes to return to it.
That had set us back on time quite a bit, but it was a relief to finally start on the right path and know where we were going. The first part of the walk involved climbing through the woods on a natural path that was hardly even visible, our views hidden by trees, then we came out into the open again and it was easier to follow. We hit another lake at the base of the mountain, and the view to both lakes was fantastic there.
After that we started up the steep, direct climb. Some areas had stairs, some natural paths, and some were actually just huge rocks with iron chains nailed into the sides to pull yourself up and keep from falling.
We stopped a minute at the halfway point, which had another incredible sweeping view of the land.
We kept going and found a wetland area with puddles and boards across it.
It was here that we ran into Johannes! He had just come from the very peak, and depressingly he told us it would take about 40 more minutes to reach the top, and we wouldn’t have time to get back to catch the shuttle. He did offer an alternative though. He had also been to the dip between the two mountains (because apparently he is the freaking Roadrunner), which had stunning views also, and you could still see over to the other side... which technically counts as the top then, doesn't it? It was still very high up, and it was the top of the middle, just not the summit.
We sat down to eat lunch first, and I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was. I put away two cheese sandwiches and two granola bars. I also pondered our options, and I was just about set on continuing to the peak anyway until Johannes again explained the time situation and reinforced that the middle would be fine and also only take us about ten more minutes to get to. The problem with the peak was that we had to circle around sideways to climb to it.
Ben and I finally agreed to settle for the dip, and so Johannes led the way.
The path up near the end was extremely steep. It was basically boulder scrambling and climbing over rocks on what looked like a near vertical incline. When we finally stepped out on top though, it was such an immense feeling of accomplishment.
It had taken 5 ½ hours to reach the top, and it was worth every second. We could see over to the other side where there was another lake, and the view 360 degrees around was completely spectacular.
We stopped and appreciated it for a few minutes and took photos climbing up on the rocks that overlooked the whole of the world below. It was so elating to have climbed my first real mountain, and it was by far the most amazing thing that I had done or seen in Australia up to that point. It might still be.
We had to start back down soon after, unfortunately, in order to catch our shuttle on time. The walk back was much quicker, about an hour and a half, but challenging as well because it was so easy to slip downhill. We made it back to the car park with not a minute to spare and jumped on the shuttle to get back.
We arrived at our hostel around 6, and I met up with Johannes and Ben for dinner around 7. They had all the ingredients to make burritos and kindly shared with me which was nice of them, but after that I spent the night in my room reading and resting. They did come to visit for a bit and talk, but I was dying from my cold. I had felt fine on the mountain aside from using up a million and one tissues, but once we got back, I felt ten times worse. I thanked the boys for visiting me on my death bed in my hotbox of a room, then made a point of loading up on meds and going to bed early.
Day 3 Rest & Travel back to Launceston
I felt a lot better in the morning, but I used this as my only rest day of the trip. I spent my morning reading a Clash of Kings at the campsite, said goodbye to Benjamin, and caught the bus back to Launceston at 2:30 with Johannes. We even stopped a cute little cheese shop on the way where I bought two blocks including an awesome wasabi cheese. We arrived in Launceston around 5ish, checked back into The Arthouse, stopped at the town library to quickly use the Internet, bought food for dinner, and then I spent the night reading some more.
Day 4 Cataract Gorge & Hobart's Salamanca Market
I was extremely ambitious on the following day as I wanted to jam pack a Launceston exploration into my morning before having to catch my bus to Hobart at 9:30. I had recently discovered that it is possible to wake up at previously unfathomable hours, so I dragged myself out of bed a little after 6 in the morning, jumped in the shower, and was out of the hostel by 7.
It was a rainy morning, but I was set on hiking the Cataract Gorge before I left the city. I managed to find the entrance at Kings Bridge, and the best way I can describe the whole walk is like it was out of a storybook.
There was such beautiful scenery walking down the path between the rocky cliffs and dark river. Whereas Cradle Mountain reminded me of Skyrim, the Cataract Gorge reminded me of Cyrodiil... I'm not losing readers here, am I? Look! More pretty pictures.
After about fifteen minutes I was nearing the end of the walk. I came to an open field outside a little restaurant, and there was a wallaby just hanging out right there. It was just such a pretty scene in the misty morning.
I continued on to the drawbridge, which was even better than the Kings Bridge. It fit so well with the imagery of the whole Cataract Gorge. The whole walk was totally worth the early morning to see.
I ran into Johannes on the walk back because he had thought our bus to Hobart was at 9 when it was actually 9:30. He came back to the hostel with me while I checked out, then we swung by the City Park again on our way because they have an exhibit of Japanese macaques that had been closed in the early hours I'd visited the first time.
I love monkeys. There were two babies that were especially adorable.
We couldn’t stay long, so we took some photos and then went to catch the Tassielink bus to Hobart. The ride down was three hours long, and most of the way we passed nothing but sprawling fields and hills on either side. There were a couple of small towns here and there, but they were few and far between. Tassie only has a population of about 500,000, and when you consider the stats I mentioned earlier, that roughly 200,000 of those are in Hobart and 100,000 in Launceston, you can imagine how empty the rest of the state is.
We got into Hobart around 12:30. I like this city. The streets are wide and pretty clear of traffic, the buildings are all built low, the air is clean, a river runs right through it, and you can see the mountains surrounding it with the clear, open sky overhead. It basically feels like a whole city was accidentally picked up and relocated to the countryside.
Johannes and I went to check into the hostel I had booked, the Pickled Frog, which was a cool place. The building is bright green, and the facilities are chill and nice. There are hammocks at reception, dining booths outside the kitchen, a nook in the corner of the lounge with comfy chairs and a bookshelf, and the coolest trippy paintings on the walls upstairs.
I need this Alice in Wonderland corridor in my life.
I was in a ground-floor 12 bed dorm which was not nearly as nice as the common areas, but that was ok. I grabbed a bunk, put my stuff down, and then headed out to see the Salamanca Market.
I was lucky to have arrived on a Saturday, because the Salamanca Market is a popular outdoor market that’s only run once a week. There were booths all down the length of the street. I restrained myself from buying anything other than a tropical juice, but then as I was leaving, I decided that was silly because I should have something tangible to commemorate my Tassie trip. Of course I went to a medieval stand and ended up with a Celtic cross pendant which is not remotely Australian, but I love it. I really just enjoyed being outdoors in the little market enjoying the fresh air and small-town vibe of the city.
I only went out again to hit up Woolworths for enough food to last me the rest of the trip, then came back, caught some of the movie they were watching in the TV room, and went to sleep early because I was exhausted.
Day 5 Tasmanian Devils & Port Arthur
I was up to catch my tour bus at 7:45 the next day to explore Port Arthur, a former convict site. It was also unfortunately the site of a shooting massacre in 1996. Johannes had decided to sign up for the tour with me, so it was good to have someone to hang out with.
There were a bunch of little stops on the way. First, we went to a historic little town called Richmond. They had the oldest Presbyterian and Catholic churches in Australia, as well as the oldest bridge in Australia.
We headed down the Tasman peninsula then and saw Eaglehawk Neck Lookout...
...the Devil's Kitchen...
...and the Tasman Arch.
Next up was the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park. This was an optional add-on to the tour, and I was the only one who took it. Everyone else went on to Port Arthur and I had 45 minutes to myself in the park. I felt like I needed to see some Tassie Devils while in Tasmania, and it's a good cause. Tasmanian Devils are dying out in the wild from cancer. It was actually my favorite part of the day! What a great little place.
As soon as I walked in, I heard heavy thumping in the exhibit to my right, and I looked over to see a Tasmanian Devil bounding right towards me! They're so much bigger and stockier than I expected! It was the first time I'd seen one up close. He was pretty cute actually.
I continued on and saw some Eastern quolls, a cute little spotted creature I'd never heard of that can jump around like a squirrel.
I went to watch the feeding time at another Tasmanian Devil exhibit. Those things don't mess around. The handler tossed in some wallaby and you could hear the bones crunching while the devil ate it. Their teeth are huge.
I went back by the quolls while they were getting fed, and the handler hid their food around their exhibit in branches and on rocks, so it was like a little scavenger hunt for them to jump around and find the pieces. Their meal was just as bloody, but it was slightly more unnerving because they were so small and innocent looking. They reminded me of the Satanic woodland critters from South Park.
I found another Tassie Devil area after that. This one had a tunnel you could crawl through to stand up in a plastic dome that was inside the exhibit, so you felt like you were in there with them. I thought that was an awesome idea for zoos. They must have seen or smelled me somehow, because as soon as I got in there, two of them came running right up on top of the dome over my head!
Next I walked past all of the birds over to the kangaroo enclosure. There were about twenty big kangaroos all laying and chilling together in the middle of the lawn.
I was able to just go over and sit in the middle of the huge jumble! They were so soft and adorable.
I took a quick walk through the wallaby area but didn't spot any, and by this time I had to rush back to the front because my time was up. I hopped back in the van and was driven to Port Arthur, where I now had three hours.
I walked through the bottom floor of the main building first, where they had info about different prisoners and conditions for each one. By the time I got outdoors, I realized I was going to have to limit my exploration to the buildings I most wanted to see, so I started out at the ruins of the penitentiary right down the path.
Behind that is the old guard tower, and the hospital is up the hill. It’s all in a very pretty location for a prison though. I mean, these convicts weren't being punished by these surroundings.
I made my way up to the separate prison after that. This was an experiment in mental torture. The prisoners would be kept locked in their cells for 23 hours a day, and during the one hour they were allowed out, they had to wear masks to hide their face and prevent them from seeing or speaking to any other prisoners. Nobody was allowed to talk. Creepy.
They’ve restored most of it, so it looks more like it would have back in the 1800s. I walked down the cellblocks- A and C have been restored, but B is left in the original ruins. There were also exercise yards in the corners, each one split into four separate divides.
The punishment cell was the creepiest. They'd lock offending prisoners in there for two days. It was absolutely pitch black and silent when the door is closed. I was the only person over there when I went to look, and it actually made me nervous. The door was open, of course, but even without the full effect I was really on edge standing in it. I'd definitely have lost my mind being locked in that for 48 hours.
Lastly I stopped in at the church, and even in there they had wooden dividers in each row so the prisoners would be shut off from each other, just able to see over the top of their wall to the pulpit up front.
Following the separate prison, I stopped in at the asylum, but that has been converted into a museum and café now. Boring.
I walked over to the ferry to catch our 3:00 ride, and there I managed to find Johannes again. We went up on the deck to see better. The ferry took us past the Isle of the Dead, where all prisoners and officials who died were buried.
That tiny little island is holding over 11,000 graves.
Next to that is Point Puer, which held the prison for juvenile boys, then we circled around and came back.
Johannes and I spent the remainder of our time taking photos behind the barred penitentiary windows, wandering up through the government gardens, and checking out the ruins of the old church up the hill.
We caught the van back, and our last stop on the way home was at Remarkable Caves.
We got into Hobart around 6, and I had an early night.
Day 6 Mt. Wellington
The Pickled Frog offers a free shuttle up Mt. Wellington, the mountain that overlooks Hobart, and I took advantage of that on my last morning in Tasmania. The van stopped halfway up for a quick look where we were also able to drink the water streaming right off the hills because it's so pure, then they took us the rest of the way to the top.
Oh man, the view was stunning! We were genuinely up in the clouds. Everything was tinted blue. It was also freezing, but that’s ok. We could see Hobart laid out down below us, but if felt like we were walking around the sky.
One of the girls who had been in the van asked if a group of us wanted to join up to walk down together, and I enjoyed the new company on the hike back. It took about an hour or two to reach the bottom, then we sat inside the pub/café there until the bus came.
I sat in the nook area reading for a couple hours back at the hostel, then around 4 I went for a little city walk by myself. I'd had to make the tough decision to skip out on the Mona, which is supposed to be a very good art museum, but I just didn't have the time or money. Instead I made my way to the river and saw the war memorial and got some photos of the main bridge, and I was back in time to grab my things and catch the airport shuttle.
Two of the girls from the hike down the mountain earlier were on the same flight as me, so I had some people to chat to while our flight was delayed. We finally boarded around 9 and I was back in Melbourne sometime after 10 at night.
Tasmania was easily one of the most stunning places I've ever seen in my life. I cannot urge you enough to go there. If you love nature or anything beautiful in this world, it's a must-do. I could continue to make comparisons to fantasy games in order to convince you, but you can see the photos for yourself, and they don't even do it justice. Get down there, get hiking, and get in touch with life. You definitely won't regret it.