Just after I had finished my two exams and a final assignment in my last week of uni, I went on a 4-day-trip to Tasmania, which is only about an hour flight from Melbourne.

I honestly went to Tasmania without any expectations (besides it just being even colder than Melbourne) and pre-planning, due to my busy deadline schedule only days before our departure. This time, I only went with an American friend, since my other friends were somehow not in the mood for even colder weather conditions than the Melbournian.

My friend and I stayed in a really cozy hostel in Hobart, in which we not only received a room upgrade to a 4 bed dorm (which was only occupied by us two), but also a bunch of helpful information on how to spend our remaining days the best.

We ended up climbing/snow hiking Mount Wellington (in sneakers) the first day, which was- due to the official start of winter- appropriately enough unexpectedly covered in snow. Even though the 3,5 hour hike was quite intense, we managed and got rewarded with a stunning view on the Hobart area and the sea.

On our second day, we decided to rent a car to drive to the nearby National Park of Mount Field, in which we got to hike in rainforests and where we got to see several stunning waterfalls. The peacefulness, the intense colours of nature and just the silence in the park was really relaxing and just really enjoyable. On our way back to Hobart, we stopped by a sancturary, which accomodates not only the famous Tasmanian Devils, but also other Australian wildlife like kangaroos, wallabies, parrots, emus etc. We also got the opportunity to feed kangaroos, which were quite interested in our food ;) The same evening we met up with some friends from university to have some nice Tasmanian Burger-dinner together with hot mulled wine, creating a truly winter feeling.

Our third and fourth day, we went on a pre-booked tour to both the UNESCO world heritage of the former convict settlement and now open-air museum of Port Arthur, as well as the famous Wineglass Bay National Park. Again, we got to see the marvellous Tasmanian landscape and nature with its mountains, the crystal clear sea and lakes, as well as stunning cliff formatons such as Devil's Kitchen or a Blowhole. We also enjoyed some delishious, fresh Tasmanian seafood at the Hobart Harbour.

These 4 days were hiking- and sore-muscle-intensive, but just worth every single minute due to this amazing nature and the very friendly Tasmanian people. All in all a great retreat after all the study stress and anxiety :)