Whilst staying in Hobart we did a few little trips around Tasmania, a couple we did just us two, borrowing Christinas car, and a big 3 day one with Norm.

The first was a day trip to Mount Field National Park. About and hour half drive west of Hobart, and pretty much set in a huge forest. When we arrived there we did a 2 hour walk seeing some beautiful waterfalls, and a bit of wildlife. We saw a pademelon (a smaller version of a wallaby) and a bit more unnervingly a snake, a black one, (we were told that was ok, it was the brown ones we should be wary of). After seeing that cross our path pretty much right in front of us, we spent the rest of the walk stamping our feet loudly as we walked so they could hear us coming! Thinking back now we probably looked pretty weird if any one saw us, but we didnt really think about that at the time! We the rest of the walk was through a area known as the Tall Trees, named because there were some very tall trees.

Our next trip was the 3 day one with Norm. We packed the big orange van with all we needed and set off midday, after spending the morning doing Responsible Service of Alcohol course, (in case we tried getting work in a pub)....pretty boring!! The first highlight of the trip came when Norm took us off road through a big farm for about 2kms, with me jumping out the van every 2 mins to open and close gates. When we finally arrived at this stunning secluded little beach...not a single person on it, it was amazing. When we decided we had seen enough of it, Norm turned the van around only to get it stuck on the beach! Everytime he tried to accelerate the back wheels just spun out. So it was then that Norm stayed with the car and me and Kirsty walked all the way back (2kms) to the main road, in 28 degree sunshine, to the nearest house to ask for some help. We arrived at a big farmhouse with dogs barking at us as we walked up to this shack-looking house (it was starting to feel like some horror film i'd seen), when an old man, a real hick, with about 2 teeth came out. He didn't seem to understand much of what I said, but grunted a few times, but to his credit after a lot of faffing around, jumped into his big ute and drove us back down to the beach and pulled us out! It doesn't sound like too much writing it down, but at the time it certainly was feeling like an experience we'd never had before. We got back on the road and after a few more sight seeing stops we arrived at Friendly Beaches. We camped here the night, me and Kirsty in the tent, Norm in the van. It was really nice spot, as we cooked we were joined by a few wallabies wanting food, and Kirsty kind of took to them as well.

The next morning me and Norm were up early to watch the sunrise on the beach, Kirsty took advantage of having a lie in and said she'd look at the pictures. That day we headed to Freynicet Peninsula, we left Norm on the beach as we went to do a 2hour walk up a small mountain which overlooked the world famous Wineglass Bay. Which was stunning! We could have walked down to beach and swam but decided as it took probably another hour to get down there, then probably more to get back up and it was all too much. So after that we joined Norm on a small coved beach called Honeymoon Bay. A nie little spot where we went for a swim anda sunbathe. That night, it was my turn to cook, and we stayed at the same place the night before.

The final day we spent the majority driving further north towards Launceston, but were heading another National Park, literally on the tip of the island. We encountered a few problems on the way, mainly with the van. About 3/4s of the way there, the car started backfiring and jolting. A bit of a problem being so far from Hobart. We stopped at a few garages, with no-one really being able to help, so we continued, stoppping every ten mins or so or everytime it did the jolting. We did eventually make it to the national park, which was beautiful and we saw a lot more wildlife just hopping and waddling around the campsite. We even saw saw our first wombats. We camped the night, all of us i think a little apprehensive about the drive home in the morning, not knowing whether the van would make it or not.

As it happened we did make it. Although it took us proably double the time, as we were having to stop pretty much every time there was a slight incline in the road, because that seemed to make it jolt. But it was all good and a great little trip, we even managed to stop on the way back to see a really nice waterfall, called Liffey Falls.

Our final trip me and Kirsty did on our own again in Christinas car, and we camped over night. We went to the Tasman Peninsula on the east coast. The first day we spent looking at the natural sights, like the Tasman arch and the blowhole which was good. The next day, the weather wasn't great but we decided to go to Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a former convict settlement and was Australias largest penal station. It was quite interesting, but it was made all the more eerie knowing that only in 1996, there was a massacre where a guy went on a killing spree, killing 35 people. It is the largest killing spree at one time ever in the world. After that, soaked through from the rain, we decided to head back.

We spent the last week of our stay in Tasmania staying at Sues. It was a great laugh, where we spent much of time relaxing, having bbqs, going to the pub, eating out and not really living like a backpacker. But it was fun and our holiday before the real work starts in Melbourne.