Tasmania

The flight to Hobart from Melbourne is only a short hop in relation to the previous flights we have taken. It was a bit of a shock stepping on to the tarmac to what I would consider a cold temperature, about 20 deg. C. and a strong wind blowing with a few raindrops.

The hotel we are staying at for a couple of nights is very good, all the mini bar and bar drinks are set at shop prices which is totally refreshing considering the usual rip off hotel prices. The food was also cheap and really good, so good in fact that I had lamb chops on consecutive nights, the best chops I have tasted for years.

Tasmania is very much like NZ with mountains and rugged coastlines and all the villages are named after English towns i.e. Southport, St Helens, Exeter and so on.
There is a replica convict village near Port Arthur where you could spend a day but it did not appeal to us so we were happy touring round the Tasman National Park.

On the West Coast there is the village of Strahan which is quite remote. It is a beautiful little place with a quaint harbour and only takes a minute to drive through. Again there were a couple of tours to take but we have already been on a river cruise and train trip. A couple of clicks down the road is a deserted beach which stretches for miles and was excellent for taking a long walk.
There was one drawback to the place and that was ‘Marsh flies’, they were very persistent and twice the size of a housefly so they ruined what I would consider a very nice place.

Another place on the way to the East Coast was Launceston but we only stayed overnight and didn’t get to see the Tamar valley.
The Bay of Fires on the East coast is another National Park and very picturesque with turquoise bays and white sand beaches, you could stay here for weeks.
The week has gone very quickly and there has not been enough time to see everything, as the girl at the visitor’s centre said, you need at least a couple of weeks to see everything. It’s a place we will return to.