So here I go again… the more of this travelling malarkey I do, the better I seem to get at it, though not if the jobsworth check in attendant at Sydney airport has anything to do with it. 'I'm sorry madam but the maximum weight allowance for your luggage is 10kg and yours is 11.5, that's $80 please''!!!!! Quickly resolved when I threaten to wear every item of my clothing thus making said luggage lighter… He soon saw sense…

Where this time? Beautiful Tasmania. Upon reflection it's the little taste of home that I've been craving. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of Sydney's city life. I've swapped the noise, the traffic and the hoards of tourists that flock daily to Sydney's city for open space, wild animals and no telephone signal.

First stop Hobart, which on first impressions in darkness felt some what gothic and I hate to say a little gloomy. The Pickled Frog, my accommodation for the night was quirky to say the least, if a little eerie if I'm honest but with no shortage of lonely travellers like me awaiting a beer buddy, it was quick and easy to settle in.

Bright and early the following day my tour bus arrives and one by one we meet our 'friends' for the next 6 days. As always a mixed bag, but enough normaltons to reassure me that it's going to be a bloody good trip.

Day one takes us from Hobart to Strahan. On route we get a true flavour of the Tasmanian lifestyle. We stop at Mount Field national Park and Lake St Clair (Australia's deepest fresh water lake). We learn of the hop plague that wiped out Tasmania's hop stock. We travel through the King William Ranges, Surprise valley (named due to the sudden changing landscape and vegetation), the Franklin River (where the water is so pure we're told we must try it, reassuring us that the brown tinge is perfectly ok… hhhhhmmmmm). We discover that Tasmania is the home of Leatherwood honey and that they get 300+ days of rain per year… Yikes!! Told you it was like England, We travel the road through Queenstown, built in 1936 with 96 bends, resulting in muchos travel sickio…. We finally arrive in the pretty little town of Strahan and settle into our home for the night.

Day two starts off with exploring Strahan on bikes. It's raining surprise surprise so it's a pretty muddy affair as we cycle to Hogarth Falls. We leave Strahan for Cradle Mountain but make stops at Ocean Beach, Henty (for a two hour trek through the sand dunes), Zeehan, Rosebury Stitt Falls and finally onto Cradle Mountain where we head out at dusk (in the rain) to see wild wallabies and wombats...cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.

Day three starts with a VERY wet walk around Dove Lake in Cradle Mountain National Park. Next stop, Sheffield… Thankfully nothing like the Sheffield I know but in fact a quaint little town that has a post office tree J On to Narawntapa National Park for a nature walk. More wombat spotting, as well as a cute pademelon with her joey. Day three finishes in Davenport.. 3 days later and I finally get a phone signal… A little backwards in Tassie to say the least.

Day four takes us to the East Coast, through Launceston to Bicheno. Launceston reminded me of England and the further along the coast we went towards Bicheno the more I felt like I was in Devon.. With stops in Ledgewood, Derby, St Columba Falls, Bay of Fires, Holy Cow Café, I gained a truck load of inspiration for my B&B dream. Bicheno is home to the Little Blue Penguin. One of the highlights of my trip was the Bicheno Penguin tour. Watching the penuins make their epic journey from the sea back to their burrows at night was a sight that I'll never forget. So close that had we could have touched them if we were brave enough to risk a finger…. An amazing sight to see them in their natural habitat, completely undisturbed by our presence.

Day five took us through Swanwick (a little like the Swanwick from my teenage years minus the arrogant yaugties) to Coles Bay and Freycinet National park. We trekked our way to Wineglass Bay, another magnificent sight. A stunning bay with bright turquoise (if a little chilly) waters. Next stop at Milton Vineyard for a spot of wine tasting and onto Kate's Berry Farm… My dream, right there.. Home grown fruit made into home-made cakes and jams.

Day six would see us back in Hobart at the end of our adventure. Not before a few stops on route…. Remarkable Cave and Maingon Bay Lookout to Cape Rasul. At this point you find yourself closer to Antartica than to Cairns, Australia. Onwards to Port Arthur, the prison community and historic site home to many of England's convicts between 1833 and 1877. Never being one to pay attention in History lessons at school I was surprised to find how keen I was to discover everything there was to know about this amazing place. On to the federation chocolate factory and then the Tasmanian devil park before arriving back in Hobart for one more night of my Tassie adventure.

So glad I got to go back and see Hobart for a second time… the morale of this story is definitely to never judge a book by it's cover. I absolutely loved Hobart and spent the following day perusing the markets and wandering the streets. If only I could have stayed a little longer.

Tasmania is a hidden gem… Ok so It's not actually hidden but one thing is for certain, it's completely underrated. This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. I hope I get to go back to Tasmania some day.. It's truly magical.

Over and out...xx