Hey Mate....down under where????????????

Feb. 14, 2009 …..Our schedule called for Sydney Australia as the next stop but the weeklong forecast predicted rain and lots of it! Michelle made some phone calls and “wala”, schedule change was complete. Our next stop had now changed to Tasmania, home of the Tasmanian Devil.

I’m sure all of you are aware, but just to fill you in….Australia has been hit with one of the worst tragedies in its history. A major fire is wreaking havoc in the south, while the north is being flooded with monsoon type rains. It has been an inspiration to watch the people, businesses, and government agencies pull together to support the fire victims of Victoria and offer assistance to the flood victims up north. Last night a local newscast broadcasted firemen from the USA coming over to lend a hand to the Aussie’s. We felt very proud to be American and watch as our people came to help.

Tasmania! I only know it from watching the Bugs Bunny cartoon, but I have come to know it in a much different light during the 10 days of exploring its land and people. Hobart is the largest city in Tasmania. It’s nestled up to the Pacific Ocean with all kinds of fresh sea food eateries and beautiful old world architecture. We were here only for one night, but got to enjoy the Hobart Triathlon, a fantastic night of sleeping on the most comfortable bed ever (and on this trip, we’ve slept on many…!) and a very nice conversation with a local human rights attorney. We bought some warm weather clothes so that we could “rug up” and began our journey.

We got our first car rental and I was forced to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road. Everything is reversed on the car except for the pedals….thank GOD! Let me tell you, this is something that you have to get used to.
From Hobart, we traveled south and learned about the history of the island. We went to the town of Port Arthur. This was a prison built by the prisoner for repeat convicts from the kingdom of Great Britain. In the early 1800’s, England would
ship off their “bad folk” to Australia. In fact, if you are a native Australian today, you are probably either an aboriginal (similar to an American Indian) or the off spring of convicts. If you ended up in Port Arthur, it was because you did not repent and continued breaking the laws.

People who spoke up against the British as political advocates, children who stole bread from a market, thieves etc, were sent here to Australia to serve time and rehabilitate. If you didn’t do it right, off you went to a place like Port Arthur.

We took in a Night time Ghost Tour of the Prison Grounds. Lots of strange stories and unsettled spirits in the ruins of an old prison. Our hotel was on the prison grounds as well and after the tour we were a little creeped out while we heard the Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, and wallabies moving around outside our hotel door. The next day we went back for more viewing. We saw the penitentiary and viewed the living quarters, commandants quarters and just read up about the history of the island of Tasmania and the penal system of the British. We left the ruins at noon and pushed up the eastern coast from south to north, checking out the little towns along the way.

The country here is stunning, raw and untamed with red rocks and granite cliffs merging into the ocean.
Most of the roads around the island are two lanes, and easy to handle, even while driving on the other side.
Our next stop was Freycinet, A national park with gorgeous sea views, white sandy beaches, and tall green cascading mountains for mountains. We took 3 hikes with amazing coastal views. Afterwards, we explored the beaches of the town of Bicheno. We found a motor coach park with free year long camping facilities. We started thinking about retirement and the crash of the stock market. If all else fails, Tazzie here we come!

That evening we went to a rockery. This is an area where penguins live, mate, and mulch. Did you know penguins walk the way they do because they don’t have knees? Go tell that one to Batman! After two days in this area we needed to move on and head northwest to the city of Launceston. We didn’t want to leave because there was so much more to explore, but we had to stay true to the circuit that we had established if we didn’t want to abort the rest of our travels.