4 Day 3 night holiday trip in Hobart, Tasmania

The Internet was down for the past few days and life had been excruciatingly miserable as a result. I came to realise that I had absolutely no mood to do my homework without having my daily dose of Internet surfing. And not to mention, I felt extremely bored and unhappy too. Sounds analogous to being a drug addict having his withdrawal symptoms, doesn't it? Okay, lets dedicate this entry to my recent 4 day 3 night trip in Tasmania.

We left the house at 2.30 am for Sydney Airport, and the journey was around 2.5 hours. Like the Sydney trip during the Easter holidays, we rented 2 cars. The airport was really empty when we reached there, as it only dawn. It was my first time sitting on a budget airline, Virgin Blue, which stopped over at Melbourne for transit, before continuing the journey towards Tasmania. My ears and gums hurt during the less than gradual descent of the plane. But thankfully, the discomfort was only transient. Ordered a ham,cheese and tomato sandwich on board which cost $5. But I felt that the price was relatively reasonable for the snack tasted delicious and was filling.

We reached Hobart airport at around 9.50 am. The weather conditions were even cooler than that of Newcastle. The first thing we all did was to rent 2 cars that would be driven by Weifun and Weiming. Then, we made our way to our way to an apartment in Hobart. The accomodation was rather spacious but empty looking. We rested for a while before heading for lunch at the Derwent Rivercruise Centre.

Hobart's weather is even cooler than that of Newcastle, and it is a natural and green paradise. There was abundant cattle grazing on the grasslands, in addition to horses and water buffalos. The roads are winding, which can induce feelings of nausea. I nearly threw up after the car negotiated numerous sharp bends over a distance of 20+ km. Before going on the cruise, we went to Fish Frenzy for lunch. I had a wholesome meal of fish fillets,calamari and fries. It was my maiden experience on board a ship. The breeze was really strong and chilly and entangled my hair badly. I had to use my fingers to disentangle it at the deck. There was a cafe and many comfortable blue seats to relax on. The view of the mountains and blue sea from the ship was breathtaking. However, I was exhausted to take photographs and even fell asleep on the table, for I barely caught a wink since the time we set off to Sydney airport by car.

Next stop was the Lark Distillary at Salamanca Street. Tried two small cups of vodka there, one of which was cherry flavoured. The percentages of alcohol for the two drinks were 17% and 25%. There was a burning sensation in my throat despite drinking the vodkas in sips. It was my first time drinking vodka in my life. Tasmania is famous for their alcoholic drinks, and there were many varieties of wines on sale. There were also many posters explaining the wine making processes and the history. I purchased a sweet Clementine biscuit as a mini snack. The lady at the bar was very friendly and gave everyone a souvenir.

The Historic Pub Walking Tour started at around 5 pm. Our tour guide was a amicable and rotund man who gave vivid accounts of the alcohol industry in Hobart. He brought us to several national monuments and told us many stories. Unfortunately, I could barely remember any of them. But I know that we were standing on reclaimed land at certain points of time. The tour ended at around 7 pm and we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. I ordered a grilled chicken set but it wasn't that palatable, for the meat was too tough.

We drove to Woolsworth after that, where I bought some blueberry muffins and orange juice for breakfast over the next 3 days. I was extremely tired by the time we reached our apartment, and fell into a deep slumber while waiting for my time to bathe.

Day 2:

We left the apartment at around 8.30 am for Richmond Zoodoo Wildlife Park. The place reminded me of the Springhill farm stay at Perth due the the yellow green pasture and the surrounding untouched landscape. I bought a parrot keychain and several pens as souvenirs from the shops. Saw numerous species of animals there, such as ostriches, sheep, kangaroos, horses, goats, possums, guinea pigs and even tigers. We were even given the chance to feed the animals with packets of bread while riding on the jeep. The driver reminded us to fold our fingers inwards while holding out the packet of food for the animals, because some of them are quite aggressive in snatching food and may snap off our fingers in the process. It was really nice feeding the horses with food, for they are really gentle and won't bite your hands. I also enjoyed stroking a koala bear which was probably deep in hibernation, for it did not stir an inch despite numerous carresses.

Sorell Fruit farm was our next destination. Currently, the season is only suitable for harvesting strawberries and sweet corns. For once, I actually ate several strawberries! Because I had never liked the fruit, due to its numerous seeds and sour taste. All my friends gleefully filled their plastic boxes with strawberries and posed for photos. But I chose not collect any and eat them on the spot. Washing the strawberries before eating is not required, for the farmers did not use any pesticides to grow the fruits. Before we left, I bought a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream from the fruit shop, which sold a wide variety of jams,fudges and souvenirs.

The final destination for the day was Port Arthur,a historic site which is famous for being the premises of criminals in olden times and the ghost tours at night. The artefacts and the various medieval looking buildings have been preserved for hundreds of years. I felt as if that I have embarked into a journey to the past. We also sat on a ship for a 2nd time, where there was a commentator telling us about the landmarks that we passed by and their histories. The vast blue sea and the tall mountains were a wondrous sight to behold. Throughout the entire Port Arthur visit, all of us were snapping photos incessantly, whether they were group photos or that of the historic site. I particularly liked the trees with the yellow leaves, for they intrigued me for some unexplainable reasons.

We had a quick lunch before the ghost tour commenced at 6.30 pm. The ghost tour is a must-try for tourists who visit Port Arthur, for there were reports of participants seeing and feeling the spirit of a little girl during the tour. There were even displays of photos that captured some ghostly images on the board next to the information counter. I did not find the the tour scary at all, although our guide deliberately flashed his torch intermittently to create the effect of lightning flashes and varied the pitch and volume of his voice while telling ghost stories to instil feelings of "horror'' in us. Most of the places were pitch black, but there were a few assistant guides who illuminated the pathways with their lamps. At the end of the 1.5 hour tour which spanned a distance of 2 km, we were each given a certificate of bravery.

Day 3

It was a day filled with adventurous activities, some of which even test your physical endurance. In the morning, we went to sit on the Huon River jetboat, which was actually a speedboat trip that lasted for about half an hour. Life jackets were provided and we were only allowed to bring our cameras on the boat. The chilly wind messed up our hair and made us shiver uncontrollable while we were gliding briskly of the water. At some point of time, the boat made 360 degree turns, which induced dizziness in me, in addition to getting slightly drenched. But the view of the lush greenery and high mountains adjacent to the river was panaromic.

After changing into thicker clothes, we proceeded to the Forest and Heritate Centre at Geeveston for the Tahune Forest Airwalk. The journey there was an ardous one, for the long road consisted of numerous sharp bends and we were manuevring through them at speeds of 60-80km/hr! The airwalk consists of a bridge suspended at a height of 48 m above ground level and has a total length of 620 m. Therefore, we had a helicopter view of the rivers,bushes and trees. I have never come this close to boundless beauty of Mother Nature before in my entire life! Generally, the bridge was sturdy, but the structure was slightly wobbly near the end.

The final destination was the Hestings Caves. We had to overcome many flights of stairs before reaching the exact venue of the tour. I was quite breathless by the time I reached the top. The temperature of the caves was a chilly 9 degrees celcius! It was almost as black as a raven inside the caves, and we weren't allowed to touch the rock formations, for they were highly susceptible to erosions caused by the salt content in human sweat. According to our guide, some of the rocks might have an age of millions of years. We had to climb several staircases in order to view all the various rock shapes, which was quite challenging because some of the steps were wet.

Initially, we wanted to go to the Wooden Boat Discovery Centre, but the idea had to be abandoned for it was already past 5 pm. Most, if not all of the places of interests and museums, stop business operations by 5 pm. To satisfy our hunger pangs, we went to a oriental restaurant called China Cafe for dinner. The customer service was excellent, but we had to wait for more than half an hour for our food to arrive. Initially, I was really peeved by the atrocious level of efficiency, but my heart softened up after one of the waitresses made a few apologies. We had char siew omelette, sweet and sour fish, fried rice, claypot chicken and mixed vegetables. Overall, the dinner was a sumptuous one.

Day 4

It was the last day of the trip, and we spent several hours at Salamanca Market, which is a mere 20 minutes drive from our Hobart apartment, after completing the check-out procedures. We had breakfast at The Quarry before starting on our shopping spree. I ordered Bircher Muesli which consisted consisted of oat like cereal,strawberries,vanilla cream and blueberries. It is probably one of the rare times that I eat something so sweet for breakfast, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Got to befriend a fellow Singaporean named Andy, who is actually Cherlyn's friend. He shared his insights about the differences between Singaporean and Australian culture with me, which left me enlightened. He also gave me valuable advices on how to make my stay in Australia a more fruitful one. I felt really comfortable talking to him, as we are more or less in the same boat, albeit the fact that he has adapted to the Australian way of life to a larger extent. I asked for his MSN contact, and hopefully this will the beginning of a new and lasting friendship.

There was a vast range of food and things on sale at the Salamanca Market. The length of all the stalls put together stretched to at least a few hundred metres. I purchased a lot of gifts for my friends and relatives, ranging from different varieties of nuts to a towel. Shopping has never been so therapeutic. However, the constant jostling with the crowd was a slight dampener. But it cannot be helped since it was a Sunday. We encountered a few buskers and a high school band performing on the busy street in the midst of our shopping. I bought a Dandy sausage for $3 for I was feeling a little peckish. It is a big sausage with a coating of fried batter. But most of my other friends bought tempura mushrooms and hotdog buns instead. Some of the stalls did not allow me to take photos of their wares for copyright reasons.

At around 2 pm, we adjourned to Mount Wellington. We had to drive up a long spiral road in order to reach the summit. In addition, we had to overcome a rocky gradient to get a complete view of the green patches of land and the azure blue waters. As we ascend higher up into the atmosphere, we get to experience cooler climates. The air at summit of Mount Wellington is significantly colder than that at ground level. But it was definitely worth the chill and challenging ascent, for our eyes were treated to the picturesque view of green and blue hues below us.

As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. It was time for us to depart from Hobart for home. We reached the airport at close to 5 pm, after returning the rented cars. I purchased my last batch of souvenirs from the duty free shops before boarding time. This time around, my ears did not ache when the plane descended twice. We reached Sydney airport at around 10 pm.

Had a really late dinner of wanton noodles at 12 midnight in Superbowl Chinese Restaurant, as a lot of time was spent waiting for the dispatch of the 2 rented cars which would bring us from Sydney to Newcastle. The asian culture in Sydney is much more dominant in comparison to that in Newcastle. Most of the people there also possess a fashionable dress sense. By the time I reached Faulkner Crescent, it was almost 3 am. But I only slept at 4+ am, after hanging up my washed clothes and unpacking my belongings.

Overall, I find this Tasmania trip an eye-opener for it is one place where I had many maiden experiences, such as drinking vodka, sitting on a speedboat, embarking on ghost and cave tours etc. I would never be able to do all these back in Singapore. Travelling really can broaden one's horizons and knowledge!