Tasmania is a little like stepping back in time - the pace is definitely slower than the mainland and most things shut by 6pm (not good if you need to do a bit of late night shopping)!! Still, it makes up for this with some stunning scenery and very friendly locals.Having said that, things didn't start too well - no fewer than 24 hours in Hobart and some git had stolen our food from the hostel fridges! Which leads me nicely on to hostel kitchens.....they're crap! In fact, I'd forgotten just how bad they can be (and we haven't even come across the worst of them yet)! It can be difficult finding utensils, hobs work badly or not at all, people leave their washing up lying around, dishclothes are usually filthy and soaking wet and everything has a thin film of grease/dirt over them!!!! (If it were a restaurant kitchen, it would be closed down due to a breach of Health & Safety)!It is however, interesting to see what sort of things people cook. The Asians are usually the most inventive, using lots of ingredients, whereas us Westerners usually go for something as simple as possible. For example, we've seen people eating cereal for dinner, bread with a tin of corned beef, or 2 minute noodles! Ali and I, on the other hand, are somewhere in-between!Anyway, the rest of our time in Taz was great - I just wish we had allowed ourselves more than a week there. At least we can now consider ourselves to be beer conosieurs, having done both the Cascade AND Boag's brewery tours; we got up close and personal with koalas, wombats and Tasmanian Devils; and we even met up with an old Primary school teacher who now lives in Hobart - how random is that?!!