Tasmania

Tim had some time off from work this past week so we decided to book a trip to Tasmania. We rented a campervan and drove around Tas for 6 days, 5 nights. It was such an amazing place, so different from other parts of Australia but still somewhat similar. Tasmania is considered Australia's weird cousin but it is definitely one of the most underrated places I've ever been too. We started off in Hobart, the largest city in Tasmania but still not really big enough to actually be considered a city. We stayed in a hotel here but before we could check in we drove down to Port Arthur which was a convict settlement originally (like a lot of Australia) and now is just a historical site for tours. It was raining but we managed to stay out of it for most of the time. After the tour we went back to Hobart for dinner and drinks.

Port Arthur

Hobart from Mt. Nelson

After Hobart we started to make our way up the east coast to Wineglass Bay, one of the most famous attractions in Tasmania. Basically any time you see a picture of Tasmania it shows this bay. We did a hike (read: completely all uphill) to the lookout over Wineglass Bay which was amazing. The water is so blue and the beaches are pure white. Definitely worth the walk. We camped out in our van, which we named Pedro, at a beach just north of Wineglass Bay called Friendly Beach. The next stop was Bay of Fires, further north along the east coast. It's a long stretch of beaches where we found another campsite to stay at for the night and we were directly on the beach with amazing views.

Wineglass Bay

Wallabies everywhere!

Strange sand, more like tiny white rocks

Sunset on Friendly Beach

  After Bay of Fires we drove for about five hours across to the west to Cradle Mountain. As we were getting closer we noticed snow on the ground which was so cool and different from the beaches we'd just left that morning. We decided to book a cabin for the night because sleeping in Pedro (the van) might have been a little too cold. We booked a night tour in Cradle Mountain to see nocturnal animals, we saw wallabies, wombats and possums in the wild then went to a conservation centre for Tasmanian Devils where we got to pet them and watch them being fed along with quolls. The next day we went for a hike around Dove Lake which is just under Cradle Mountain with amazing views. After the walk we headed to the second largest city, Launceston, for the night and our flight back the next day. Launceston is pretty quiet but we had a good time. It's built near a gorge so we stopped there when we first got there then went for dinner in town. We flew back to Sydney the next day, regrettably, we weren't ready to leave!

Our cabin at Cradle Mountain

Dove Lake