After a short hop over on the plane I arrived in Hobart on the 17th Jan. I paid for a shuttle bus from the airport as it was raining and got dropped right at the hostel door, a little place in the city centre. After dumping my bags I went for a wander to find a bottleshop and didnt have much luck as my surroundings were all new to me. I ended up walking about a half hour into North Hobart before I found one, thanks to the help of some of the locals. Being Sunday everywhere was dead too which didnt help.

I arrived back at the hostel to find that Collateral was due to start on the TV. Mint, I thought, a decent film that I can watch while I sip a beer. I thought wrong. Some German girl switched the channel and wanted to watch Miss Congeniality 2. Jesus. I sat there for a bit as I was tired anyway and after registering my disgust with myself that I was actually watching this crap I headed up to my room and watched something worthwhile on my Ipod. Truly the best invention of the last century!

On the 18th,Monday, I took a wander to find my bearings and get some photos. I walked all around the harbour and got some nice pictures of the local buildings and Salamanca Place, where on Saturdays they hold a large market. I'd missed it by a day or two but hey-ho. After wandering for so long I fancied a sit down and one of the Irish pubs in Salamanca Place looked quite appealing. I sat down with a nice pint of Boags (Tassie beer, damn good stuff too) and sorted out my action plan for my time in Tassie. (I do this quite a lot, I like to be on top of things! ;)) Afterward, I headed back to the hostel, freshened up and went out for a curry before heading up to a cinema in North Hobart, the State Cinema. Not your usual picturehouse, they have a wine bar/cafe out the front and several small auditoriums, all showing independent films that sadly these days dont get a look in in the major cinemas. You can buy a glass of wine or a beer and relax with it while watching the movie. I watched the new Coen Brothers film 'A Serious Man' which was really funny.

Next morning I wandered around the town centre once more. There isnt a great deal to see shopswise and I'd already looked round everywhere the previous day and got all the pictures I wanted so I headed for the library to take advantage of the free internet time and plan my route as I had looked into getting a 10 day pass to get round the island. To cut a long story short I didnt get to see all of the 8 or 9 places that I really wanted to see in Tasmania. The reason for this was that the coach pass that I was going to buy covers most of the island no problem, but the routes mostly dont connect to each other and this would have meant a lot of wasted time backtracking and money spent doing so. Some of the routes only run on certain days of the week and on asking at the coach office I was told I would have to book all of my journeys upfront which also meant booking all my accomodation for the next two weeks. Too much hassle I thought. In the end I opted for a handful of places instead of trying to cram too much in. This worked out OK.

After too much time in the library looking at odd people (Lets face it, they're in libraries worldwide eh?) I stumbled across another appealing pub, the Victoria Tavern. It was happy hour and beers were $5. Result. I sat and read my book whilst I had a quiet pint. Bliss. The pub had a very traditional English feel to it and If I wasnt watching the spends I might have stayed there all night! Drinking in the pub in Oz is just too pricy so after 2 pints I headed to get a cheap Dominos as it was Tuesday and headed in for the night.

On Wednesday the 20th I'd been in Hobart a few days and wanted to see some proper sights so I got picked up in the morning to go on the Port Arthur historical site tour that I'd booked the previous day. Port Arthur was Australia's first penal colony and the one where you got sent if you were too troublesome a prisoner elsewhere. Along with 12 other people of various nationalities we headed off. I was asked to sit in the front of the minibus as most of the others came in 2's or 3's. This meant that I got talked to a lot by the driver. It was 8am and at that time in the morning you're lucky if you get a sentence or two out of me! On our way down to Port Arthur ( about a 90 min drive down to the peninsula) our guide Mark, told us a bit of local info including a major disaster that happened in 1975 that involved the bridge that links Hobart with the other side of the river and a large shipping freighter. In short, the freighter wasnt headed where it should've have been and knocked one of the bridge supports causing a section of the bridge to fall on the ship and crew, killing 10 or so of them. The ship then sunk in 10 minutes and is still down on the river bed. Cars apparently fell in the river too which upped the death toll.

We passed through a picturesque village on the way called Richmond, which is the home of Australias oldest bridge. It looks more of an English village to be honest, very picture postcard. We stopped there a while, took some photos and took in the views. Tasmania has some of the best scenery and countryside that I've seen since I'v been in Australia, it's a lot more rural down there as 80% is national park.

A bit further on we parked up at Eaglehawk Neck which is a fairly narrow stretch of road that links the peninsula where Port Arthur is to the main part of the island. If a convict were to escape Port Arthur and make it this far, which only a few did, they would have to contend with the dog line. 18 dogs that were chained a metre or so apart so as they dont attack each other and who also lived in barrels permanently. Lots of sea shells were scattered around so if you trod on one it would set all the dogs off and the game would be up. One man, an Irishman called Martin Cash, managed to make it across a stretch of water next to the dog line and over to the other side. He made it to the next peninsula where he got caught and was hauled back to Port Arthur. After spending the next 18 months in chains and after the chains were removed, he scarpered again, making it to roughly the same point. After the second attempt, he was taken to an island far out at sea with no way of making it off. He served his time, became a free man and joined the police force. Seriously. Wouldnt happen these days! They named the hill that overlooks Eaglehawk Neck 'Cash's Hill' in his honour.

Port Arthur itself was really interesting with a strong sense of history seeing as the walls of some of the original buildings that were used when it housed a convict population are just about still standing. Whilst some of the buildings are now ruins some have been restored to a certain degree or simply maintained but the site is much the same as it was in the 1800's. After it was closed as a penal colony, tourists arrived to see what they previously hadnt been allowed to and some buildings were sold off as homes. We took a boat tour around the harbour of Port Arthur and sailed past the Isle of the Dead where the bodies of 1100 convicts are buried. The Isle even had a live-in convict gravedigger back in the day who lived in a hut on the island completely alone. Sadly, Port Arthur is also the place where Australias worst massacre took place. In 1996, a local man went on the rampage and shot and killed 35 people. After that happened their gun laws were reviewed and tightened up.

On our way back from Port Arthur we stopped at Tasmans Arch which used to be a sea cave til some of the roof fell in leaving an archway that lets you see all the way down to the waves crashing in below.

I arrived back at 7ish and just chilled for the night before turning in. I was up bright and early the next morning to get the coach up to Launceston.

Launceston is about a 3 hour drive away. I arrived and found my hostel, an old building from the 1800's, the Arthouse Hostel. It was a really nice little place with friendly staff and a massive telly and DVD's. Result! After having a wander round town I headed to the supaermarket and stocked up on food as I was there a few days. That night I cooked a massive curry and read my book.

The next day, the 25th I had a wander about again, through the city park and just generally mooched about. In the evening after a trip to the bottleshop for some Boags, I watched Die Hard 4.0 with a German guy who I was sharing a room with. I've met so many Germans since I've been away, more than any other nationality! He couldnt keep up with the American accent of the actors so we had to watch it with English subtitles, ha ha.

On the 26th I ventured out a little further, went to the Launceston Zoo, saw some Tasmanian Devils as well as loads of other animals and later on I went to see Cataract Gorge which is only about a 15 minute walk away from the city centre. I couldnt believe there was so much stunning natural scenery so near to the city. It was a sunny day and all the local kids were out jumping into the gorge off the rocks. What an awesome place to grow up! I walked around to the main lake which has an open air public swimming pool right next to it too as well as cable cars going over the whole area. I relaxed there for a while with a drink and a magazine and then took a walk up one of the many nearby trails. I ran out of water pretty quickly and had to turn back! Later on i headed down to the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania and saw some pretty sweet 1970's Aussie muscle cars.

That evening everyone in the hostel sat around the table in the back yard and we had a drink together. After a while I got persuaded to come out down the town for a drink with them. Dsepite my excuses of having to be up early to check out, peer pressure got the better of me and I agreed. I finished my bottle of beer on the walk into town and just as I did, out of nowhere, a plain clothes police officer stopped me. Here we go, I thought. He booked me for having an open bottle. As he was writing the ticket I prepared myself for a fine but as I'd apologised and kept my mouth shut he spared me a dent in my wallet and I got a caution. We got to the club and everyone got asked for ID, they do it everywhere in Oz no matter how old you may look. As luck would have it I managed to get in the bar with my date of birth on the ticket from the cop. A lucky twist of fate, lol.

The music inside wasnt my cup of tea to be fair, they had some famous female Tassie DJ playing techno. I couldnt help but notice how many local lads in the place had those spiky-but-shaved-at-the-sides do's that every poser in England had 5 years ago. Tram lines and all, ugh! There was one idiot with a swastika tattoo on his neck with 'White Power' written around it. Maybe what I was told about inbreeding in Tasmania is true, who knows? I wisely only took $ 20 out with me so once the funds had ran out I left to go back to bed. I got about 6 hours sleep before I had to be up and check out. After feeling pretty grim for then morning, I perked up a bit and just hug around the hostel. Later on I had a greasy food craving as I often do when I'm hungover so I walked out to Dominos and got my fix. After going back to the hostel, saying goodbye to everybody and picking my bags up I got the coach up to St Helens.

St Helens is a quiet little seaside town on the East Coast. I arrived there quite late and went straight to bed after speaking with some more Germans who were in my room. The next morning I did my usual little wander and went to check my emails at the local library. Unlike most of the other libraries I've been to in Oz they wanted to charge me a premium for internet usage because I'm not Australian! The cheek! $2 for 10 mins? I dont think so. I decided to blank the internet for a few days. Ciara says I spend too long online anyway, lol. St Helens is quite small and as such has 99% of the shops on the main road that runs through the town. So my wander didnt take long at all. I generally spent the rest of the day sat at the edge of the harbour reading in the sun.

The next day, Australia Day incidentally, I hired a bike and cycled 13 kms up to the Bay of Fires which has been billed as one of the worlds most beautiful beaches. Worth a look I thought. The journey started out well enough, quite flat but after a while got a little more difficult when I ht some hills. Then I realised just how shamefully unfit I am for my age. In all fairness I havent cycled any considerable distance for over 10 years so it wasnt surprising when I nearly blacked out at the side of the road, ha ha. After plenty of water and a bit of willpower I carried on and arrived at my destination. It was damn worth it. The sand was some of the whitest I've ever seen and the sea was a lovely turquoise colour. There was maybe 10 people along the whole stretch of beach including myself.

I sat on this little bench on the beach, had some food and listened to my Ipod whilst looking out to sea for an hour or two. Afterward I walked down the beach and climbed over the many large multicoloured rocks round to another little cove where I got my beach towel out, had a dip and chilled some more. The water was deceiving because as blisteringly hot as the sun was, the water was the coldest I've felt it since being in Oz! Bit of a shock when you get so far in if you know what I mean...

Later on I found the bike which I had locked to a tree on a sanddune and headed back nice and early so as to give me plenty of time in which to make it back! I cycled on the flat stretches, pushed the bike uphill and rolled on it downhill. I didnt have it in me to bother exerting myself any further, ha ha. On getting back I cooked yet another curry and relaxed for the night. No TV in this hostel you see, so a book had to suffice.

My last day was spent in the launderette doing the boring side of travelling - washing clothes. I've bought a good few tshirts recently but I'm not going to wear them while I'm away as I want some nice fresh clothes for when I get back that arent going to be ruined from constant rotation of being worn and washed. Anyway, you're not interested in reading about washing clothes are you?

The next morning I boarded the coach to Devonport, a city as far north as you can go in Tassie. I'd booked two night here just to chill before getting the flight back to Melbourne. I had to go via Launceston though which meant I was on the coach for most of the day. On arriving I thought my hostel would be on the opposite side of the river to where it actually was. The walk over the bridge would take about 40 mins and I really didnt fancy doing it with all my gear. Luckily there was a small ferry that goes back and forth across the river so after getting some food in at Woolworths I hopped on the ferry and checked into the hostel. The place I stayed was called the Gingerbread House as it looks just like a witch should live there. The hostel is upstairs as it doubles as a restaurant downstairs. On getting into the kitchen I noticed that there were no hobs on which to cook my food. I'd taken it for granted that everywhere would have a full kitchen and I'd also just bought some fresh meat. All there was was a toaster, a little convection oven and a microwave. I managed to get a meal together by cooking the meat and chopped veg on the BBQ downstairs in the yard, running back up the fire escape with it and throwing it in the convection oven to warm whilst I heated the sauce in the microwave. On my first night someone let me borrow their gas stove for the rice and the second night, Mark the chef boiled some rice up for me. I love it when a plan comes together!

My second day in Devonport was spent having a wander and quickly finding out there isnt a lot to do there. Maybe there was but the way I saw it I was just killing time before getting the plane back to the mainland and I was content with everything I'd seen already. In the evening 3 young Aussies checked in, Phil, Rochelle and Kara. Along with Chaz, an Irish guy who works at the hostel, the 5 of us sat around drinking and chatting til 3am before deciding enough was enough and calling it a night. The next morning, Mark the chef gave me a lift to the airport and I hopped on what must be the smallest plane I've ever flown on, a twin propeller jet and flew back to Melbourne where I'll be til tomorrow.

So that was my 2 weeks in Tasmania!