18th July 2010, 09:34
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| We finally paid the Tasmanian Devil a visit Well, I'm just about starting another travelogue, this time all the way from Tasmania - Down Under. It's about a four day trip during the second week of June and here I am a month later (bang on time, in my calendar) penning my thoughts, observations and sharing some lovely memories. Before I start, let me get one thing straight ... we unfortunately never got to see the Tasmanian Devil. So why the mention in the title? Well, I just had to mention 'Tasmanian Devil' somewhere and that was the best I could do . Please humour me. Will try to keep this one short, unlike my other travelogues and will instead let the photos do the talking. 4 days is just too short to cover a place as amazing as Tasmania and we wisely decided to just stick to the Southern end of the Island ... more on that later. If you decide to take the 'Spirit of Tasmania' cruise from Melbourne, then since you diembark at Davenport (the northern end of the island), it makes sense to cover that side of the Island, including places like the Cradle Mountain National Park, the Bay of Fires (I'd certainly want to get back, to do that 1 week walk along the coast) and a lot more places around Launceston. By the way, this trip was on a shoestring budget, probably just a step above backpacking. Day 1 (June 12th): Its an early start to the day, its a long time since I've seen what 3:40 AM looks like, the closest in the last 4 months was 7:30 AM, so I'm understandably dazed (on second thoughts I should have probably just stuck my head out of the window to get some fresh 6 Degree chill, would have un-dazed me for sure). Our Tiger Airways (remember the word here is, Budget he! he!) flight leaves at approximately 6 AM, we've done our online check-in the previous evening. 'We' in all future reference would refer to my wife and I (yup, the same wife you'd have met on our Thailand travelogue ... now this line is going to get me in trouble, I'm sure)  . We were accompanied by a friend of ours (proper introductions will be in order, once we get to the pics), an avid biker and traveller himself. The flight's late, really late ... an hour and a half later, we're on our way. We're relieved we've got seats away from our friend, so we can have our privacy ... just kidding. Guess, checking-in online at the same time doesn't guarantee seats together (we tried to co-ordinate our online check-in). A lil more than an hour later, we're at Hobart Airport. I wish I'd taken a pic of this huge mural, once you step out of the flight and before you get into the terminal (guys who've been there, you know what I'm talking about, would appreciate if someone could post a pic of that). Our journey begins with disappointment (maybe, just for me), I realise that we'll be driving a Getz ... I don't know how I messed that up, I thought it would be a i30 (wanted to see how it stacks up). Again, before you guys point mocking fingers at me for driving a Getz outside India, please remember the keyword 'Budget'  . We're finally on our way and here are a few pics, taken en route to Port Arthur. Well, the initial plan was to drive straight to Mt Wellington but the road was closed after a point coz it was too slippery (result of snow melting), so we decided to get to Port Arthur instead.     Thats our friend, Anmol.  Thats Anmol amd Divya (my wife), glaring at some leaves, which have upset them. Last edited by Eddy : 19th July 2010 at 21:58. |
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18th July 2010, 09:50
| #2 |
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bangalore
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| Awesome. I love Tasmania. We did a 4 day trip in 2008 on a shoe string budget too. Landed at Davenport on the Spirit of Tasmania and then covered most of the island from the top and then flew back from Hobart. Loved Cradle Mountain and Launceston. Couldn't cover the north west of the island ( wanted to visit Stanley ) coz it was summer and there were some fires raging in that area. Looking forward to other pics from the trip . |
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18th July 2010, 10:05
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| Port Arthur: I've always loved history, thanks to some positive influence from my Grandpa, so this was certainly someplace I wanted to visit. There's something about walking down places like these and then letting your imagination soar ... thinking about people who've walked the same paths, but in different circumstances. Port Arthur was one of the many convict settlements in Australia and its got some interesting history behind it. You can read more on this at Port Arthur, Tasmania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Here are more pics from Port Arthur. It was a cold winter day with slight drizzles every now and then, so the pics do look a bit gloomy.  There's a short cruise which takes you around the place and connects you to the Isle of the Dead, a small island where they buried their dead. One side for the convicts and the other end for the officers. Its sad to know that even in death, family weren't allowed to visit convicts. There were some amusing narrations of escape attempts, on the cruise. Don't remember all the details but can't forget this one incident, where a group of convicts successfully escaped by stealing a boat under the officer's nose and then sailed along the island. They were later captured though when they tried to pass themselves off as the party trying to capture the escaped convicts.  More pics from the cruise.     Thats the path leading to the Isle of the Dead, we didn't go there due to the lack of time.  Thats me chomping down a meat pie while Anmol decides to look intelligent for the photo.   A view from the bank.  |
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18th July 2010, 10:24
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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18th July 2010, 10:28
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| Team-BHP Support   | Great pictures esp the water bodies! I just love them. So Getzes are in vogue? Are they? |
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18th July 2010, 10:45
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| Port Arthur (contd ...) Remains of the Penitentiary. The part which has crumbled is actually due to a fire. Wish I'd taken more pics of the remains of the chapel and the prisoner's quarters.             Looking out from what remains of the Chapel.   Anmol's way of saying 'This place is just so boringly beautiful'      The promise of tomorrow  Remember picking this postcard for my Grandpa at the souvenir shop, it kinda summed up the entire experience, at Port Arthur. Its a lovely quote which speaks across all nations and races, every nation has a past its ashamed of, its how it deals with that that eventually matters. Some of the exhibits and writings by observers of that period, brings this burst of sympathy for those who'd suffered under, say the British empire(mentioning it only coz thats the one most of us can identify with, being the latest and hopefully the last). When I say identify with, I mean it in the context of being able to atleast imagine what life would have been like when freedom and justice was controlled by the state, from practical accounts of our grandfathers (pre-independance). Anyway, I know I'm going off topic, I'm probably worried that I might have said something that could offend people, so back to the quote ... "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again - Maya Angelou" God rest those souls, in peace. |
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18th July 2010, 11:12
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. I actually got a smile out of the guy driving the other red Getz, in one of the earlier pics. Actually, you don't see a lot of Getz in Victoria, was surprised by how many I saw in Tasmania though (just talking about the rental crowd). So the pecking order at rentals goes something like this Getz/Swift/Toyota Yaris --> Hyundai i30/Toyota Corolla/Nissan Tiida --> Mitsubishi Lancer/Skoda Octavia (though I've not seen a Skoda out here)/Ford Falcon/Toyota Camry --> Ford XR6/Toyota Aurion. After this point you have the Audi A3/A4/A6 and the SUV crowd (Suzuki Vitara, Mitsubishi's X-Trail and Outlander, Toyota RAV4). Forgot to mention the Holden in all the above categories, the Barina and Astra are almost no more, the Commodore is the one to drive and the Stateman is for those who need luxury. The Chevy Cruze sells as the Holden Cruze (the GM Umbrella) but I don't think any of the main rentals have them. I think you can book the exotics (like the Mini) on request. What I've talked about are just the mainstream rental options. I guess they're nowhere as cool as the rental options in the US (from what I've heard from my friends) Last edited by RufRoc : 18th July 2010 at 11:21. | |||
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18th July 2010, 12:24
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| Day 2 (June 13th) - Bruny Island: After leaving Port Arthur, we drive straight to the motel where we check in at around 7 PM. By the time we get out, most restaurants are closed, so KFC it is. Its early to bed coz tomorrow's going to be a long day. The plan is to catch the first ferry at 6:30 AM from Kettering (a short drive from Hobart) to Bruny Island, where we'll be spending the rest of the day. Its an early start again and we're out by around 5 AM, its another cold day, temperature ranging between 4 to 12 degrees. We arrive at the Ferry point and after buying our pass, we patiently wait for the ferry to commence loading. Here are some pics from around Kettering and on the ferry. Its a short 20 min trip to Bruny Island. This is what we're looking forward to, on Bruny ... Bruny Island Cruises Wildlife Eco Cruise in Tasmania     Loved the number plate 'Explore the possibilities'  Divya's attempt at making the Getz look hot.      On board the ferry.    Morning cuppa.  Last edited by RufRoc : 18th July 2010 at 12:26. |
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18th July 2010, 13:00
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18th July 2010, 13:34
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| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Jaipur
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18th July 2010, 13:48
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18th July 2010, 19:24
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| Senior - BHPian  | Amazing pics. What your lens configuration? I really loved the rainbow pic, the sunset pic and best of all you two walking in the woods. Can you throw some light on the bookings and expenditures etc? I know it was a budget travel. But dont we all love that.  |
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19th July 2010, 00:30
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19th July 2010, 01:29
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19th July 2010, 02:33
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