New Year’s adventure: Melbourne – Great Ocean Rd – Grampions NP – Round trip Tasmania

We had some ambitious visitors over from Germany. So we made up an itinerary full of exciting stuff. After a short visit to Melbourne we hit the road towards Port Campbell…and got stuck in traffic. Take my advice and do not drive the Great Ocean Rd on New Year’s Day.

On the next day we headed north over endless Victorian country roads towards the Grampions, which offered some impressive canyons and mountain formations. I left early and was happy like I child when I got to go on a train back to Melbourne for two hours. I don’t get to ride train that often nowadays. The others enjoyed the National Park for a few more days.

Back in Tassie, we set off on a round trip over the north of the island. First stop was Lake St Clair. We walked from Cynthia Bay to Echo Point and Narcissus Hut in the finest summer weather (this was about a month ago). On the next day we took the ferry back to Cynthia Bay.

I went back to work again and the others set off to Mt Murchison in the Northwest. What should I say, I wish I went with them! Not tired of spectacular views yet, the others continued to Cradle Mountain and spent a night in Scott-Kilvert Hut.

I joined everyone back in Launceston where we set off towards the east coast. We took the classical route from Bay of Fires southwards. And when the rain stopped when we got to Bicheno, we could finally enjoy the beautiful coastline and spent the night at Friendly Beaches on Freycinet Peninsula.

In the morning we set off to walk the Freycinet Peninsula circuit in really strong wind. Still, the walk is absolutely beautiful plus you get to walk barefoot for a few hours. We felt like in the Caribbean until… we decided to go for a swim. On the second day of our walk we had a bit of a water adventure. It hadn’t rained much so most of the creeks on the way were dry. When we decided that we were thirsty enough, I climbed down to a large puddle to get some water. After I dropped my sunglasses into the water and got some nice cuts on my legs from the cutting grass, I presented some low average tasting brown water to the group. Well, better than nothing we thought and went on. After another hour or so we found a tiny trickling waterfall hidden behind a rock. The water tasted much better so we emptied and refilled all bottles again. Another hour later we arrived at Wineglass Bay. What a beauty.

 

Richmond & Zoodoo

Spring brought us a sunny weekend and we decided to use it for a day out to Richmond and Zoodoo Zoo. I have done this trip before (see older post) but it is always worth going a second time.

Richmond is great because it reminds me of England and the zoo, well I just adore animals. Although zoos are not necessarily great examples of well treated animals, they do offer the opportunity to get in touch and educate.

Back in Hobart we stopped at the townhall which turned 150 this weekend. It came with old trams and everything. We still hadn’t enough of the sunshine and finished the day with a little bike tour along the Derwent.

 

¡La primavera me gusto!

Richmond Bridge

Cottage – Richmond

Richmond bridge

Guess the animal!

Eating devil

Duck

Sheep

Funny chicken

Chilling kangaroo

Zebra

Ostriches

Camel

Old tram – Hobart

Townhall – Hobart

Townhall – Hobart

Code of arms – Hobart

Bike tour to Tasman Bridge – Hobart

The last weekend

This is a retrospect, a summary of my time in Tasmania. It starts with the last weekend in Hobart.

Helge and me held a talk about our work. Summing up what you have done and what you are planning to do in the future is incredibly helpful. It forces you to sit down and structure your thoughts, define new aims, plan your future.

Before I conclude what 10 weeks in Tasmania meant for me, I will describe how I said good bye to the island on the other side of the world.

The weekend started with our talk, after which we had some ‘drinks and nibbles’ with our UTAS colleagues. One has to apply for a liquor license for such an occasion! That is a bit different to our German ‘Let’s get a crate of beer’ approach. It makes it kind of special.

Saturday was special too. I spent the morning with a vegan cooking class where we prepared a Scandinavian brunch. It was a small group led by a skilful teacher. I learned a lot. (Note: two Germans in a group of four! We are bloody everywhere!)

In the evening I volunteered as a waitress at a the ‘Tasmania eat local feast’. It was a set meal only made of local ingredients. Participating in such events is valuable for two reasons: Volunteering makes you feel good. Everyone is grateful because you are there. From a foreigners perspective it is a great opportunity to pick up the little details in local habits and the use of words for example. There is no better way of understanding how a city, even a country works. Since I can compare with the UK, it is especially interesting to notice the differences.

On Sunday it was time to say goodbye to our host family. We made a last bike ride to the farmer’s market. Pallas and me enjoyed making a mess in the kitchen producing cakes and ravioli. We finished off the day with a big sushi feast after which we had to sweep the floor because it was covered in rice.

Thinking back now, that I am back in Cologne, I have to say that I really had perfectly wonderful 10 weeks in Tassie. I met amazing people who are living in a beautiful environment. They know that this is a precious gift and they care for their land. They are amazingly easy going and happy. I learned that slowing down makes you appreciate the moment. Now I have an idea about what I want to do with my life. It might be vague but it is an idea. Thank you.

Off to Singapore…

Talking

cooking

Eat local feast

Eat local feast

Farmer’s market breakfast burrito

Farmer’s market breakfast burrito

Another Hobart weekend

The weekend before last weekend I spent in Hobart.

I savoured saturday morning at Pollen Tea room in Battery Point.

I strolled along the stalls at Salamanca.

I spent time with our host family by taking the kids on trips to the market and to the bike kitchen.

I tried to conceive that the days in Tassie are numbered.

It took me a week to understand that I am going home soon. It is just know that I start calling this place a home.

Chai & Avocado at Pollen Tea Room

giant zucchini at Pollen Tea Room

my bike at Pollen Tea Room

Battery Point

Battery Point

Battery Point

Salamanca musician

Cadbury Easter Bilby

Pallas and me are going for a ride

Farmer´s market

Sushi at the farmer´s market

bike kitchen bike repair

Pallas and the bazooka zucchini

A Tassie family weekend

The Tasmanian things:

It was a special weekend, since the House of Assembly Elections took place on Saturday. Candidates waving at me in the car, a Greeny dressed up as an ice bear and queues in front of the polling stations were the only things drawing my attention to this event. The Liberals won after Labor had been in power for a while. The Electoral Division of Denison, of which Sandy Bay and UTAS are part of, has the highest Green vote in Tasmania.

The family things:

We made an excursion to the laundromat, since our family’s German washing machine is broken. While waiting for our cloth to be cleaned by old school top loader machines, we sat in the Pigeonhole Cafe with little Cello for a while.

– Start of language excursus –

The word pigeonhole is an interesting one. A pigeonhole can be a very small room or a compartment in an institution, e.g. for notices to a teacher. There is the pigeonhole principle in mathematics. And if I pigeonholed someone as an asshole it would make sense too. Finally a pigeonhole is a place where pigeons live. The word is nearly as versatile as the word pudding!

The verb to pussyfoot, meaning to move cautiously but also to talk around something, is (I will not pussyfoot around it.) another great expression.

“I reckon…” is probably the most Tasmanian way to start a sentence.

– End of language excursus –

Hobart is pretty in the mornings, we learned when riding down to the ferry terminal at 07 am on Sunday. Helge, me and two thirds of our host family took part in the MONA fun run (see below). After asking ourselves why the run had to take place at 8 am, we found that sunrise on a boat, followed by a nice 4 km run and a free breakfast, do justify the early start.

Here are the results of the Red Chapel Chasers!

Little pilot hitler or hitler pilot who lives in our office for some weird reason

polling place

Best organic shop in Hobart CBD

Cello and Helge at the Pigeonwhole cafe

Cello and me at the Pigeonwhole cafe

onboard the MR-I

modern ship steering

sunday sunrise

The Red Chapel Chasers

trampolin with the best view!

MR-I

Hobart waterfront

The reward for the run