20090222 Tasmania

 

 

I teamed up with Farzad to rent a car in Tasmania, it saved lots of time to travel on this island. It was almost fully booked at the airport, we were lucky to have our small Hyundai at last. Should have booked a car online earlier, would be cheaper.

The Port Arthur, a prison to keep 12500 convicts from England and Ireland between 1830 – 1877, has most of the buildings restored. Clean and tidy, hardly traced any physical remnant or somber haunting atmosphere of once brutal prison. The guide said it was purposely set up this way in order not to trigger sad memories of some people. My opinion was contrary, the prison should present the feel of originally served function so to understand the situation as it was, like The Killing Field and WWII prisons do.

 

Hobart, the largest city in Tasmania, was not really attractive, the Salamanca Place and Battery Point were OK... the waterfront Victoria Dock was the most scenic part particularly during sunset and sunrise. I watched a local play at Salamanca Place... a good experience to explore Aussie culture.

 

Visiting National Parks seem to be the main reason of most tourists, especially to the nature lovers.

- The Wineglass Bay at Freycinet NP (pronounced Fray-sin-ay) was beautiful, but not accessible by car. The 1.5hr trekking to this beach would be too long for our schedule. Instead we only walked up to the higher ground to have an overview.

- The trekking around Dove Lake at Cradle Mt. NP (World Heritage) was unforgettable, not because of the scenery. The guide said 300 days out of a year are rainy in this NP. We didn’t have better luck. We were soaked in the shower for 2 hrs and my camera was doused (damaged). We didn’t trek to the Cradle Mt. as the climate was too misty and foggy.

- On the 4^th day, we visited Lake St.Claire NP (Australia’s deepest natural freshwater lake, 167m), was no longer exciting.

Frankly our trekking in these NPs was very superficial. We only walked and snapped photos, but didn’t pay much attention on the fauna and flora species. My opinion, the trekking in Malaysia’s Taman Negara is more exciting.

We drove about 1500km within 4 days. The sceneries from the coast to the farms and rainforests were truly relaxing. We spent a night respectively at Delorine and Strahan (pronounced Strawn), not worth to make a note here.

 

 

 

 

 Arrival at Hobart.

 

 

 Farzad, we rented this car.

 

 

 Mailboxes on the road.

 

 

  Tessellated pavement, natural erosion marked on the rock.

 

 

 Standard shot - Lonely Planet & beer.

 

 

 Port Arthur, was once a prison housing the convicts from England.

 

 

 Port Arthur, too well restored. The feel has vanished.

 

 

 Port Arthur.

 

 

 Port Arthur - a pier.

 

 

 Had a cruise ride... not memorable.

 

 

 Along the road, we saw some houses were built right next to the coast. Was such a beautiful scenery, but too far away to the town.

 

 

 Victoria Dock at Hobart, beautiful sunset.

 

 

 Breezy Victoria Dock.

 

 

 Victoria Dock - after sunset, the town became so quiet and serene.

 

 

 Victoria Dock - sunrise.

 

 

 Victoria Dock - sunrise.

 

 

 Victoria Dock, a flock of seagulls.

 

 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named this ship after the "Crocodile Hunter".

 

 

 A view of Hobart - at Salamanca Place.

 

 

 Superior YHA Backpackers, the room was rather smallish, and the 1st floor was enveloped with stench socks smell.

 

 

 Dear wallaby on the road.

 

 

 Freycinet National Park, the trekking was easy.

 

 

 Freycinet National Park.

 

 

  Freycinet National Park, this is the most beautiful Wineglass Bay. It was still 1.5hr trek ahead, we gave up.

 

 

 We spent a night here - Highview Lodge YHA at Delorine.

 

 

 Highview Lodge YHA, very basic.

 

 

 Morning glows...

 

 

 Reminder... drive safe... on the way to Cradle Mt. National Park.

 

 

 Cradle Mt. NP, at Dove Lake.

 

 

 Dove Lake, was raining, I bought this raincoat for AUD23. Couldn't take photos well and the chilly wind was very uncomfortable.

 

 Dove Lake, very foggy... couldn't see the waterfall clearly.

 

 

 Dove Lake, a small stream.

 

 

 Dove Lake.

 

 

 Strahan (pronounced Strawn), a very small town.

 

 

We drove pass Queenstown. This hotel's appearance is handsome, belong to my grandpa's generation I reckoned.

 

 

 Queenstown, the State Library of Tasmania.

 

 

 Queenstown, obviously a mining town.

 

 

 This map guided us around Tasmania.

 

 

 Lake St.Claire National Park.

 

 

 Lake St.Claire National Park, no longer excited to us.

 

 

 Lake St.Claire National Park, twisted roots piled on the shore.

 

 

 Lake St.Claire National Park, huge log blocked the path.

 

 

 Lake St.Claire National Park, a stream.

 

 

 On the way back to Hobart, plenty of farmlands.

 

 

 Cattles.

 

 

 Hobart, at Battery Point, home grown berries and flowers for sales.

 

 

 This Shar Pei was barking at me.

 

 

Battery Point.