DOING WHAT TASMANIA DOES BEST

I'm thinking back and trying to recall if I have been anywhere as remote feeling as Tasmania. When you are in a town, it doesn't feel remote, but you need only drive ½ km outside of the town to feel like you are in the middle of no where. Often we are the only car on the road, the only people in a shop, on a hiking trail, or on the beach, the only tourists at an attraction. There's not a whole lot to do out here with your time; you can relax, visit one of the the many tourist attractions, or experience nature.

The tourist offices are filled with tons of beautiful glossy brochures for “tourist attractions.” We all went through them and picked what interested us the most. After going to about 4-5 of these “attractions,” we came to realize that everything in Tasmania has a beautiful glossy brochure – whether or not you would really consider it an attraction or not. The fish store has a brochure but it is just a fish store. The candy store has a brochure but it is just a candy store. Anyone with a hobby, a collection, or a farm prints up a brochure and voila you have a museum or an attraction. It leads to a lot of over selling and a lot of underwhelming. After many disappointments, we gave up on the tourist attractions.

Where Tasmania doesn't disappoint is in it's nature. After all, it is the Nature State. We went to the Bay of Fires, recently rated the world's second most beautiful beach. Regardless of the rating, it is gorgeous. No fine dining restaurants, no boardwalk selling fudge, fresh roasted peanuts or salt water taffy, no hotels. No anything – just pure, pristine, unadulterated beach. There are hugh orange boulders jutting out which you can climb on and in between, kilometers of white sandy beach.




Another day we went “chasing waterfalls.” We hiked three separate trails to Halls Falls, St. Columbo Falls and Ralph Falls. If the falls itself wasn't spectacular, the trail offered something else. Incredible rain forest flora, spectacular views of the valley down below or sometimes, even wildlife - on our last trail we found an echnida and then saw a wallaby on the drive back.










On the way to Hobart, we detoured and visited Freycinet National Park. Like any national park, you could spend days on the hiking trails. We opted for a 1 ½ hour hike to the Wineglass Bay Lookout. A pretty trail lined by huge boulders led us to the top of a mountain over looking yet another gorgeous beach. Another hour would have taken us to the beach itself, but we opted to head back to the car to continue the long drive ahead of us. Near the park entrance we were treated once again to an echnida sighting.




At this point we have trashed most of those glossy brochures knowing that many fine trees died in vain – we've decided that we're going to stick to the trees that are living.

MY GOD, THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL

When we left the airport in Launceston (I call it Lonny for short, like the Tassies do), we had maybe an hour before the sun was really down. I didn't expect the rolling hills beauty that was placed before my eyes. The sunset had oranges and peaches in its color. Very nice.

I have wanted to go to Tasmania almost forever. Not that I researched and obsessed about it from 1988 on or the like, but I really thought this beautiful island was a place to go. It was on my “A” list in early 2006 when lisa and I started planning the itinerary for this year "away". I am not disappointed.

The following day we went to a place called Peron Dunes, about 10km down from our place in St. Helens. We were one of only three cars in the parking lot. After about a 300 meter walk through tight trails of scrub and small trees we were showcased with sand dunes in front of us. The earth beneath our feet crunched as we approached dunes, some tall, some short. Because there was no established trail, we had to leave markers so we wouldn't loose our way back. Soon it became silly to continue with shoes so we discarded our trotters and continued on knowing full well we better remember where the shoes were. More marshmallows (oops...twigs and brush) to guide us back. At any point we could have stopped and listened....nothing except the surf in the distance. Really, no planes, no buses, no cars, nothing!!! When was the last time you heard just nature? We progressed through the sand hearing the sound of crunching beneath our heals as we outweighed the sand under us. Scruunch, Scruunch, Scruunch.





Our first view of the Tasman Sea/South Pacific was wonderful. The waves weren't as high as in Coogee, but they were larger further out, somewhat like the waves on our beaches on our Atlantic coast. One big difference between here and America; I look from right to left for probably five kilometers both ways and see NOBODY. NOBODY!!! It was so serene, so placid, so calm. Only the visual of the waves breaking against the beautiful white sand and the ever present sound of those same waves. I stood there, hands at my side and enjoyed the wonder of it all. My God, this place is wonderful.

The Land Under The Land Downunder

Okay. You know how Australia is known as “The Land Down Under”? Well Tasmania is the land under the land down under. For those of you who don't know what Tasmania is (hey! Some people don't), it is an island “belonging” to Australia. A lot of people think that Tasmania is a different country, and apparently it caused a big uproar when they were announcing the states of Australia in a cricket match or some kind of sport and excluded Tasmania. We also realized this when one of our waitresses' in Sydney didn't know if Tasmania used the AU dollar! Ah well. Let me tell you about Australia's green state.


Tasmania is not tiny. Compared to some other islands, it's big, but it hardly has any population. All the tourist sights are empty! There are towns in Tasmania, but usually very small, consisting of one main street. The other streets are just residential. That is because Tasmania is mostly made up of farm land and park land. There are lots of cows and sheep and you notice them a lot on the many miles you pass getting from one place to another. Since the towns, parks and attractions are all so far apart, it takes a very long time to get to your destination and back again. This makes it very hard to take day trips!

You know I was telling you about those one street towns? Well St. Helens (our home base) is like that. And since it's so tiny, it seems like everything is crammed in to one shop. Ex: There is a little shop that sells gourmet food, opens as a restaurant for breakfast and lunch, serves as an internet access point, a deli, etc. We actually went to that shop you know!! That's why the towns consist of one street, everything's crammed into one shop.

Tasmania is BEAUTIFUL! Not beautiful with high rise buildings and glitzy metropolitan subways. It's beautiful nature wise. That's why it's called the nature state. It's surrounded by mountains and has beautiful beaches. The towns are also cute and small. It makes you feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere.


Yesterday, we went up to Scottsdale and made a stop in Derby (two towns). It's a long road just to Derby! At the end of it they should give you a t-shirt that says, “The Road to Hana” or something like that for the twisty road that you just survived. We stopped in Derby to see the Tin Museum which is located where their old tin mine was. Derby is another one of those one street towns but unlike other small towns, this was devastated by a flood many years ago. The Tin Museum was interesting but small. It was a one room museum of what tin is, what it is used for, and stories about it. Then there was a small movie theatre about the tin mine that used to be here and how the flood swept through and destroyed it. After Derby, we drove up to Scottsdale to The Doll and Teddy Bear Cottage. Also a small museum, the DCB (abbreviation) is a three room exhibit. The first room has porcelain dolls that are life sized and very detailed. The second room is dedicated to teddy bears, and the third was porcelain dolls but they were dressed in only pink and white. It's like they were wearing lingerie!




Then we headed to the Bridestowe Lavender Farm. It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It seemed like endless fields of purple! We learned how Bridestowe made lavender oil and we walked through the fields. I also bought some lavender scented incense sticks. Our last place was the Forest Eco-Centre. The Forest Eco-Centre is mostly about the forests of Tasmania and other parts of Australia. Then we headed home.


So you see that we're getting very good sleep here as there's nothing to wake us up; and that it doesn't take long to circle around town; and that we're enjoying the island of nature!

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

This past week we took a trip to the Blue Mountains.....in a car. We usually choose to go with public transportation in order to enjoy the scenery while someone else does the driving. You know, “Go Greyhound” and leave the driving to us. However it was much CHEAPER (amazingly) and gave us more flexibility to rent a car and we wanted to spend the night up there as well.

Driving on the left hand side isn't hard. Turning is also OK with help from my pretty nav-lady lisa. It's that damn wiper stalk that gets hit every time I want to turn. US cars have the turn signal on the left stalk of the driving column; the Australian cars have it on the right. Aargh. Throughout our trip I wiped my windshield incessantly (and unnecessarily). Cleanest window in Australia!! In addition, the lanes are narrower here than in the States so you feel like you are always encroaching on your fellow drivers.

100 km later we are in the Blue Mountains. Quite lovely, as they would say. The green Jamison Valley seems miles down as you view it from the outlooks. These views are sometimes on the trail or sometimes, at a touristy overlook area such as the one where we experienced the famous “Three Sisters”. On the days we were there only a few fellow hikers were around. . Nice, not crowded. But one cannot sustain the One World One Trip team with nature alone. We need food.... and shopping!



Though only a “Wombat Crossing” sign, an Echidna stuffed animal and a Fairy Calendar were purchased, we all enjoyed the small quaint little shops. Katoomba must have a lot of readers because we saw a lot of used books stores. Even the thrift stores had a lot of books. But we have enough books right now. That we doesn't include Siena who has once again read herself out of books, having read four since this past Sunday. And restaurants...we had a really good meal (overstuffed ourselves) the night of our stay. Caesar Salad, “Rump” steak, cheese quesadilla, and a steak sandwich, plus enough “chips” (fries) to feed an army were eaten. After we left the restaurant we walked back to the hostel but found the Common Grounds Cafe first. It was too cute to pass up so we stopped in for a drink. Though the rest of town had light tourist traffic due to it being mid week, the Common Grounds Cafe was packed. Low lighting and lots of native woods, it exuded the Blue Mtns charm.



We walked backed to the Blue Mountains YHA where we spent the night. This was our first hostel experience and knew this one was a really nice example. It was a BIG older hostel, lovingly restored. A nice but somewhat sterile room with accommodations for a family of six and a clean good shower. Nothing fancy. The lounge and kitchen had people sitting about talking and fixing their food. Some played pool. Marty did what he wanted here....uploaded and edited pictures to KodakGallery. Our wireless internet connection at Coogee didn't work. We had to run to Internet Access places with a memory stick. Not at the YHA. We got three albums uploaded and one album edited. Now that's success!!! We have said it before, sometimes we judge the quality of the place by the strength of their internet connection. What have we become? Instead of worrying about the number of pics stored in cyberspace shouldn't I just say “NO WORRIES, MATE” like they continually say here.

We hiked more the second day. Again beautiful settings but.... I forgot the “BUT”. The flies. The Blue Mountains are close to the outback where there are large cattle stations. Apparently they drift from the lowlands inland in.....to our faces. I thought this was a made up story until we heard the same reason from a second collaborator. You are always swatting them. Someone said they could tell the tourists because they are always waving their hands. The locals just ignore them. Again YUCK!!! We decided near the end to avoid another face full and get into the car and “fly” back to SydneY.

POST AFRICA/ASIA BLUES

After a big event in my life is over, I often get the blues. You know what I mean, an event that required a lot of planning, a lot of time, a lot of energy. Then you finally have the event and afterwards you are left with a hole in your schedule and a hole in your heart. That's where I am now, feeling the aftermath of the planning and experiencing of this whole round the world adventure. But wait a minute I tell myself, it's not over. I am in Australia, the Land Down Under. I am half way around the world; a 16 hour time difference from EST in the US! The problem is, it doesn't feel that way!

Sydney is a great city, lots to do, easy to get around, beautiful beaches. But everything is in English. The people speak English, the signs are in English. Most people are white and everyone wears western clothes. I swear that there are more Thai restaurants in this city than there are in Thailand, but when you walk in, no one says Swadeekaew, the traditional Thai greeting. It doesn't feel like I'm home in Cincinnati, but instead, vacationing in let's say, California. It's nice here, don't get me wrong, it's just that I miss the strange and exotic.

I miss seeing the women of India in their bright and colorful sarees walking down the street. Or the women of Africa in their bold colored caftans and head wraps. I miss seeing signs in languages I can't read or hearing people speak in languages I can't understand. The enthusiasm of trying to learn at least a few words in a new language, and the success you feel when someone acknowledges your greeting and returns one to you. I miss riding in tuk-tuks which are a terribly uncomfortable ride but hey, they are different. You can get take away (take out to us Americans) here from most restaurants but it's not quite the same as eating some of the amazing street food that we had in Asia. I even miss being stared at and having people we don't know take our pictures. (I know that Avocet and Siena don't miss that)

Europe was “Western” as well but there was a language difference to each country that we went to and food differences as well. The architecture was old and beautiful and each city we visited had it's own version of European charm. Besides, Europe was at the beginning of our trip and everything was new and exciting. Plus, we han't been to Africa and Asia yet!

The scary thing is, as the world becomes more westernized (and it is, there is no doubt about that) where will we all go to experience something different? When a 10 year old Chinese kid can speak English as well as a 10 year old American kid, you know that soon, the whole world will be speaking English. Traditional dress will give way to Westernized clothes and Coca Cola won't be the only American product in people's kitchens.

For another six weeks we will be in Australia and New Zealand where the only thing stange and exotic will be the animals. I will have to find a way to get over my “Blues” and enjoy what each of these countries has to offer – I may never be back here again. After that, we move on to South America where everything will be in Spanish, people will look different and their culture will be unique. Then I will have three months to enjoy the differences until the “Real Blues” set in – the trip really will be over!

Koala Park Sanctuary

I (the miraculous me) had been planning a day in Sydney. Siena and I had showed much interest in seeing koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, kookaburras and so on. So, when I was planning my day, I started looking at all the possible animal options, and here in New South Wales, they are endless. Finally, the Koala Park Sanctuary was picked.

We went out there on a Monday. Siena and I had packed a picnic lunch in case there wasn't a restaurant on the premisis. We left very early in the morning, 7:20 to be exact, as we had to take a bus, a train, and yet another bus to get there. We finally arrived at 9:30, enough time to see all the animals desired and all the presentations the park had to offer. We first headed towards the koalas, the park's main attraction. During the koala presentation, we learned that koalas are extremely lazy; 18 to 19 hours a day are used for sleeping!!! The rest are for eating. They only eat eucalyptus leaves, also known as gum leaves. The eucalyptus gives them enough hydration without their having to drink water. But the leaves are also hard on their digestive system which by the way is 4 meters long!



Next we saw a man sheering sheep and throwing boomerangs. The sheep looked very desperate to get away from the man and away from the sheep dogs too. When the man threw the boomerang, it accidentally got stuck in a tree and that was the end of the presentation.


Next, the famous wombat. We got to touch them. Suprisingly they are not as soft as they appear to be. Instead they are very coarse, most likely a trait needed for their borrowing skills lifestyle. Wombats, like kangaroos, are marsupials. Their pouches, however, are backwards!!! This is because when they dig, they don't want their babies to get dirt in their eyes. The wombats are actually distant cousins of koalas!!!


And for the last presentation, the fairy penguins. They are small, sleek and shy. We didn't see them at first, but when the food came, they thought it was irresistible and had to come out. You can see them in Sydney and Darling Harbor, just you might have to strain your eyes as they are very small.



Next, we bought food (honey nut cheerios) and went to feed the gray kangaroos. They are extremely cute, especially the joeys! We saw one mama with a joey in her pouch, but the head wasn't sticking out, the legs were!!! There were also two joeys outside a pouch, with dad. When I tried to feed them, the dad would nudge their heads aside and take the food for himself!!! What a food hog!




We left the park at about 2:30 to go back to Coogee. It was a long way there and back but we had a very fun day!!!!

WHERE ARE ALL THE TOURISTS?

You're sitting in a restaurant in Italy. At the table next to you, the people are speaking English. You lean over and ask, "Where are you from?" and a conversation ensues.

You're walking down the street in Tanzania. You see another white person walking down the street. You stop and ask, "Where are you from?" and next thing you know, you are having dinner together.

You're sitting in the garden of a guesthouse in Thailand. People are white, some speaking English. You ask "Where are you from?" and you exchange travel itineraries to figure out where you might meet up next.

Our social life, outside of each other, (which, as you've heard before, gets a little boring) is meeting up with fellow travellers. We would meet tourists in restaurants, internet cafes, accomodations, on the street...pretty much anywhere. Throughout Europe, the identifiying factor was language - if you heard English, you most likely had a traveller on your hands. Throughout Africa, India, Thailand, Laos and China, we had two identifying factors: skin color/appearance and language. If you saw white - tourist (or expat) and if you heard English - tourist (or expat).

So, here we are in Australia and EVERYONE speaks English! And the majority of people are white! Our two previous identifying factors are null and void here. So how do we identify the tourists so we can have a conversation??? Answer, we CAN'T! We can talk to just about anyone who we meet, the thing is, natives really aren't in need of conversation - they have their friends, family and co-workers here. It's we tourists who are desperate for a chat.

Quick, send us emails, we are lonely here!!!!!!