Last of Tasmania
Last stops of our Tasmania roadtrip including Bay of Fires, Wineglass Bay and of course Penguin!
Our Tasmania-leg of the journey was fairly short, only 12 days in total. At the same time, we got to see a lot during those 12 days – drove around the whole place almost. We got lucky weatherwise and didn’t have to spend more than two days waiting for a clear sky for the Cradle Mountain Summit walk.
Next stops following Cradle Mountain were brief each.
“Day off” – Penguin
While hoping for better weather for the hike we took off to the North coast of Tassie, final destination was a town called Penguin. I had promised to Richie that we’ll see some penguins on our travels but was too optimistic for out-of-the season penguin sightings. This little town was quite dead, the floods of tourists had just deserted the street(s) and friendly staff at the info center informed us that penguins are gone.
The only thing left to do was to take a photo with the only penguin in town and move forward.
Two Penguins at Penguin
Day after Cradle Mountain – Bay of Fires & Wineglass Bay
These are two must-see destinations in any list made of Tasmania and we obediently turned our car towards the East coast. Bay of Fires does boast impressive beaches that one didn’t expect to find in Tasmania but the appreciation of beaches really doesn’t kick in when it’s ten degrees, windy and cloudy. I was quite certain I would dig up my Finnish “sisu” (courage) from deep down where I have hidden it for the past three years living abroad and dive into the sea no matter the weather. Sisu did not appear, nor did I enjoy the crisp touch of ice-cold seawater. Maybe next time.
Wineglass Bay
From Bay of Fires we headed off to South, towards Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park. This is the place where we were going to learn a valuable lesson of checking you can drive to the camp site you have picked to stay in for the night. Only after a lot of googling, zooming in to the map and reading some comments did we discover that to get a nice night’s sleep without a $200 fine we would have to do a “quick” hike with our stuff up to the Wineglass lookout point and then down to the beach and enjoy a different type of Bondi-soft-sand-run in the dark with a 20kg backbag.
Our evening-walk route in blue, smiley face was our camping spot!
But I am glad we did. As I wrote earlier, we also survived a night without pillows – maybe we have potential for multi-day hikes after all!
Next morning a slower walk back to the lookout point for photos and run down for brekkie since we didn’t carry any food with us – it would’ve taken the room needed for the Target duvet and we couldn’t camp without it..
Walk back was a bit more relaxed
Original plan was to do the Mt. Amos hike where you get higher than the lookout point and less tourist crowds but these views were enough and our hiking eagerness was not enough to conquer this peak.
Port Arthur, Richmond, MONA
After this we had done the most must-sees and were left almost on a limbo –what to do now? Pick a random camping spot, go experience history at Port Arthur and Richmond.
To be honest, I was interested on Richmond more because of the chocolatiers it hosted. And the chocolate was good…
Now the only thing left for us to experience was more culture! Museum of New Art - MONA - was our destination on a Good Friday. Full of crowds and very strange art. I am not a museum person at all but I did enjoy this visit a lot – until to 3 hours later and you still have a full floor to go. I would maybe split the visit into two days to fully enjoy everything it has to offer as now we really experienced an art-overdose.
Last stop - Mt. Wellington in Hobart.
Tasmania was our first test of the budget-camping-roadtrip life that would face us for the next 14 months and as it’s only me grading my own homework I would pass us easily! Some way to go for an A+ but I can tell you we’re almost there now a week in in New Zealand. More to follow..
Photos of waterfalls because there's not enough of those in the world
Looking for Tasmanian waterfalls, failing and succeeding on photographing the magnificent streams of water.
What would be better timing than crisp autumn to embark on a waterfall hunt around Tasmania?
Summer, of course.
We didn’t have the option to choose between summer and autumn so this round of waterfall chasing was only meant to be a feast for the eyes and mind, not splashing around and enjoying the purifying feeling of a nature’s greatest shower options.
Also, since I got the new and shiny camera I have to learn how to use, waterfalls were an exciting opportunity to practice everything I have read about photography. And since that consists of approximately 5 blog posts and 2 YouTube videos, there wasn’t that much to practice really.
Luckily for us, many of the Tassie waterfalls are easily reached, only 20-30min walks away from a car park. That also means very early wake-ups though as it is very easy for thousands of tourists to reach the same pristine waterfall.
First waterfall on our route was Russell Falls. As we spent the night just a 15-minutes drive away, we were the first ones at the waterfall around 8am.
One can continue the walk from Russell Falls to Horseshoe Falls and see surrounding views from higher up.
View from the top of the Russell Falls, Tasmania
At Horseshoe Falls I discovered that I had my camera on automatic settings and all those shutter-speed tests changing the angle with my awesome Joby tripod did not actually do anything. I had 20 photos with the exact same settings. I wouldn’t quit my day job for photography yet, only that I’ve already done it so this better work around if my writing sucks and no-one buys my book.
Horseshoe Falls before discovering everything was on automatic settings..
Now that I was actually able to change the shutter speed and get the water to turn into a soft flow I was ecstatic – I can take photos! With custom settings! See the results yourself:
Of course, I had to re-photograhp Russell Falls on our way back with this new magic. At this point, Richie’s patience started to crumble and I started to fear for my camera’s life so it was better to pack up and leave.
Russell Falls with the soft water everyone likes
Next waterfall we run into almost by accident. I had put it on our list of things to do and very conveniently it happened to be located on the curly roads to Queenstown and we needed a break. Again, shortest of short walks through a paved road and you got the Nelson waterfall to yourself.
At this point I was already almost a professional on waterfall photos and took a whole two photos when the battery ran out. Didn’t remember to bring my spares that were happily sitting in the camera bag back in the car park.
Only presentable photo of Nelson Falls
As this trip seems to be about learning lessons, I have listed the ones for photography I discovered with waterfalls:
- Go as early as possible
- Bring your spare batteries
- Check for the big red A sign that says your settings are on automatic, very hard to miss
- Give Richie a sandwich and go alone
Looking forward for my next waterfall photo opportunities in New Zealand!
Heini's hiking adventures: Cradle Mountain
Hiking the Cradle Mountain Summit in Tasmania
When I started planning our journey across Australia, New Zealand and South America, it became clear that one activity would top all others in every destination: Peaceful strolling in beautiful scenery, admiring the views and stopping to have lunch at picturesque lookout spots.
Or: Climb vertically over boulders for 1,5 hours after you have already made your way up 2 hours from the starting point thinking it'll be an easy and nice day and surely we will do the track much quicker than the estimated 7-8 hours. Time for tea stops, photo stops and another tea stop.
Latter describes our first bigger hike, Cradle Mountain Summit Walk.
Cradle Mountain National Park is home to many iconic walks and scenery that felt really familiar but only after we started the walk I realised why. I was in Lapland again! We didn't have time (or the gear) for the legendary walks such as the Overland Track so we opted in to the longest one you could do in a day, conquering the summit.
Original plan was to do this on Friday but rain and thunder forced us to take shelter in close by Gowrie Park (real bed, shower, kitchen!) for two nights waiting for better weather. I wouldn't want to be scrambling to the top over the rocks in pouring rain.
Alarm went off 5am on Monday morning and after hefty breakfast we set off to the route. Sunshine all day but with strong winds - it was cold but we were used to that already..
The Summit walk starts at the same location many of the shorter and easier walks are located as well. You can choose one of the three possible routes to get to the Summit part, we chose Dove Lake. We got to enjoy the first leg of the journey with almost no other people around and the views were stunning.
Our route in blue, link to original photo.
Views to Dove Lake (right) and Lake Wilks (left)
The Summit part itself begins once you've already climbed quite a bit. Signs says 2,5 hours return, you look at the mountain and think "we'll that's fairly close, shouldn't take that long". Wrong. The description of this walk at the Parks site does warn about blouder climbing but you don't quite realise the seriousness until you start that part which lasts for a long long time. We met a lot of people who had turned back saying it's too hard. Once we reached the main krux I wasn't surprised why because it did require some creative positioning of your feet, hands and body to get past some hairy spots you would not want to fall from.
Final boulder route to the top in the horizon
Couple tips for anyone trying to climb the summit: Bring gloves and leave big backbags at the starting point! You won't be able to fit through some of the pathways between the big rocks with even a regular size bag.
After you reach the top you thought was the summit you'll realize there's still another 30 minutes to go. But as the clouds disappeared and the cold wind didn't reach the other side we didn't care as the views started to show what rewards wait at the top.
And once we reached the top, the clouds parted! We got the rare 15 minutes of clear skies, people coming after us faced only white fog all around and missed out on their scenery photos.
After a lunch break and last tea sips we started the journey back. When pulling myself up on the rocks on our way up I was very concerned about coming down the same problematic narrow pathways but the way down was way quicker. You are on your butt almost the whole time, sliding down rocks (unless you are related to a mountain goat and jump from a rock to another as some people did) and you cover a lot of distance in a short amount of time.
In summary I would highly recommend this walk if you are prepared for a challenge and some climbing. It's very doable and don't be scared off by people turning back - they just didn't try hard enough ;)
And if you love this scenery I'd recommend next stop to be Finnish Lapland - just don't go in May or June and you won't be eaten alive by the vicious Northern mosquitos.
Camping n00bs learning many lessons
Camping in chill Tasmania during autumn time had its own surprises for us.
Tasmania was the first true test of our camping abilities and what a test it was. It's not like we haven't camped ever (I do know some of those people) but doing it in free camping spots, during autumn and basically almost without any proper gear outside of the tent and sleeping bags did set us up for an interesting journey.
In my previous life (and if you ask Richie, in my current life) I was one of those shoppers who'd look at the price of things as a sign of the best quality. And oh boy was I always after the best quality. When I set to spend two months in the Alps, the gear shopping list included only Black Diamond, Peak Performance etcetera quality (read: as expensive as possible) brands.
So naturally when we realised we need a lot of stuff beyond the tent and sleeping bags, the part of my brain that gets excited about expensive brands and functional gear shopping thought the prince has arrived with the kiss to wake it up from the 100 years of beauty sleep. Just to have its dreams crushed by the new, reasonable voice in my head that really thinks the $20 gas burner does the job for a 12-day trip as well as a super-extra-light $100 burner.
Where do you buy cheap stuff then? In Tasmania and Hobart, we headed to Anaconda Store. As listed earlier, we needed all the cooking gear and at the end got it quite cheaply. Little did we know that the comfort of camping cooking requires much more than a burner and a bowl...
Lesson 1: Get a table and chairs
A table would be nice. Maybe a chair as well. Oh well camping wasn't meant to be luxury so surely kneeling down to cook sausages for 40minutes is just how it is.
Suddenly all the other campers around us looked so comfortable, so professional with their camping tables and chairs, sipping their VB or something that resembled red wine when we stuffed our face as quickly as possible to avoid standing up any longer.
Master Chef, kneeling edition.
Lesson 2: Or better – use the public BBQ’s!
After getting tired of trying to scrape of grease and food from the pans with cold water and a fork we saw the light. Why use any of your own gear when Australia is full or public barbeques and tables, usually sheltered and with running water? After this realization, we have cooked with the pan once.
Lesson 3: If you think it will be cold, it will most likely be colder.
We kinda knew that it’ll be cold in Tassie but I was still expecting pleasant nights without feeling the White Walkers surrounding our tent. Our sleeping bags are not the -40 degrees’ Finnish quality and a $15 duvet from Target can only warm you up so much. Wearing layers, scarf, hat and one piece of Finnish quality – woolen socks (thanks Dad and Grandma!) – did get us through the nights without turning into Frozen-characters. And I was still warmer than in Yosemite in May 2010 so I’d call this a success!
Still alive!
Lesson 4: Do check that you can actually drive to that free camping spot you selected from WikiCamps.
This would again seem like an obvious one but not to us before trying to figure out how to get to the other end of Wineglass Bay beach. Only after a lot of googling we knew we would have a 1,5 hours’ hike (run) carrying our backbags to reach this secluded camping spot. The time showed 5.15pm when we set off, sun would start setting at 5.32pm and we had a long way up, down, across the beach in soft sand and finding the camping area in the woods.
We did make it down to the beach before it was pitch-black dark and the tent was up at 7pm. After all this I think the bigger challenge for my travel companion was to sleep without our beloved Target pillows as I had refused to carry those
– what would the professional hikers think of us! (Duvet was inside my backbag and only disassembled in the darkness and cover of the tent so no-one got to witness that).
Our route in blue
Made it to the beach before dark.. only 2o minutes on soft sand to go!
Breakfast views at Wineglass Bay
Lesson 5: Packing
I learned quickly that the contents of my bag were not optimized at all. It resembled an irrational feng-shui arrangement more than a convenient, quick-to-reach, most useful stuff at the surface – type of philosophy (I wonder if Marie Kondo could come up with a camping edition anytime soon?). After just two nights I shuffled everything around to “useful” and “not useful” editions and further to tops, bottoms, stuff that will be needed quickly. I’m sure it’s not anywhere close to whatever method Marie would come up with but I am less stressed when there’s no need to spend 10 minutes turning the car inside out trying to find my woolen socks.
I can also sense a lesson of not needing six bikinis for a trip around the world but I am not ready to admit this fully yet. Maybe in the next camping n00bs edition..
Any lessons you have learned and wanted to share with us? And to some of my friends, a lesson of “Do not camp, book a $200 night hotel and thank me later” won’t do now but thanks for the suggestion!
Tasmania - Bruny Island
Two days at Bruny Island, Tasmania eating oysters and berries, hiking and learning a lot about camping.
Tasmania is well known for the food and wine and all I had been able to think for a week was all the oysters I would eat in Bruny Island. I know - not exactly budget traveling but not something you could skip while being here.
Bruny Island is a short drive and a $33 return ferry ride away from Hobart. If you are in a rush remember to check the ferry schedules beforehand, we arrived just when there was a longer break and waited for 1,5 hours at the shore.
The first stop (did I say oysters already?) on our journey was just a short scenic drive away.
A $50 dollar shared oyster plate and a glass of white wine is not exactly a backpacker experience but I am just in the beginning of my transformation. The interesting part here was Richie the seafood hater trying oysters for the first time. If you deep fry, smoke and add bacon to the mix it didn't seem to be an issue at all to savour half of the plate. Great success! My favourites are still the natural ones and can't wait for the next oyster stop at Tribuanna before going to Maria Island.
The Neck Lookout
As we wouldn't have time for the main walk today, we visited the Neck Lookout quickly. Couple of stairs up, wait for the short time window when there's no-one else in sight and pose for photos. This is the place for fairy penguin spotting during dusk and dawn and since it was neither, no penguins at this time.
Searching for our first temporary home
I have been using WikiCamps Australia to search for free camping spots. Free usually means no facilities, often even no toilet whatsoever. According to the app there was only one free spot in whole of Bruny Island, at Cloudy Bay, South Island. It was fairly easy to find and had just one stop for a tent available. It's getting to a low season now and it was a Wednesday night so I can just imagine how busy the free spots must be during summer.
This was our first night camping, what a remarkable day!
- 8th of April we learned that it might be nice to have a table and chairs to cook and eat instead of kneeling down and enjoying a snug bread while standing.
- We also learned how cold exactly it is to sleep in a tent in autumn. Doable but not exactly enjoyable.
- Our day rhythm was reset, going to bed at 7.30pm and waking up at 5-6am is now how we roll.
Sunset at Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island
Controlled fires can be seen across Tasmania. Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island.
Day 2 at Bruny Island
After some "standing oats, weetabix and coffee" we packed our car again and took off to Adventure Bay and our first proper hike. The drive from Cloudy Bay to Adventure Bay went through the middle of the South Island climbing high in the middle of the forest and was definitely an enjoyable journey.
This track was said to take 2,5-3 hours, for us it took exactly two with a lot of photo stops and without a lunch break at the top. I'd definitely walk this counter-clockwise as the climb to the cape has awesome views and would be a bit more challenging coming down than the other way. We spotted plenty of wallabies on the way but did not see the famous white one!
After the hike we had earned our second food experience, fresh berries and pancakes.
This was Bruny Island for us! Next up would be a 2 hour drive to Mt. Field National park for our next lovely camping spot and another cold night..
Week 1 - Arriving to Tasmania
We are officially on the road! Saying goodbyes was difficult but quickly moving from place to another and trying to stay alive in free camping spots with a tent in 9 degrees (more on this amateur camping journey later..) takes your mind of sunny Sydney and all the fun people are having in Bondi.
Arriving to Hobart
Tip 1: Bus from the airport to the city centre is $19 one-way - not ideal for a couple of cheap budget travellers like us. Find a person to share an Uber with you an boom, saved at least six dollars!
Gearing up
As we are here only for 2 weeks, we didn't want to buy/rent a camper van. Regular car and tent it is. However cooking equipment and basic camping stuff was badly needed and since the Hobart city centre only hosts the more expensive shops a 20min we started our roadtrip with a drive to outlet hub and Anaconda store. Also because we are pro-campers after all, we spent (the best investment ever made) $35 for a duvet and pillows in Target.
Shop list (aka "Could have brought a lot of this with us from Sydney):
- Cooker
- Propane bottles
- Knives, forks, spoons
- Bowls
- 1 cup
- Big pot, small pot, pan
- Tongs
- Lighter
- Washing stuff
- Esky from Gumtree
Master Chef camping edition
After all the shopping the four person car had room for only two people and time spent searching for stuff among the mess was guaranteed to take a significant portion of any breaks we'd take.
And then we were off to our first destination - Bruny Island. Eat all the Oysters!
Beginning number 2 - last day at work and first stop Tasmania
Past weeks flew by. Finishing up at work, selling our dear and beloved furniture, practise packing, attending as many social gatherings as possible and planning filled up the days easily.
Leaving an awesome, one-in-a-lifetime job is not easy and I am still not sure what am I thinking. At the same time I am confident new opportunities will come up if this author-thing won't work out.
The planning:
I have spent hours on reading, creating maps, estimating how many nights we'll spend and where. Soon you realise that traveling won't necessarily be a chill 15 months off but hard work. Hard work of leaving places, saying goodbyes, keeping in mind other places you want to see instead of getting stuck for one month in one little village.
I already notice that my timelines tend to get longer and longer. "Surely we can add one week to Tasmania, two to NZ, maybe another month for Western Australia" and boom suddenly we won't have time to go to South America.
Clearly ruthless prioritisation applies to all aspects of life, including travel.
First stop: Tasmania
Now I'm glad we didn't do a long-weekend type of trip to Tassie during our time in Sydney. That would have meant us skipping it now but instead we get to do a 2-week roadtrip almost all around the mini-Australia! Two weeks is a bare minimum but we'll see plenty more than in four days.
Route is:
Hobart - Bruny Island - couple waterfalls on the way - Queenstown - Cradle Mountain - Penguin (!!!) - Launceston - Bay of Fires - Freycinet National Park (Wineglass Bay) - Maria Island (they call this the Eden on Earth) - Port Arthur - back to Hobart for two nights.
We will aim to use as much free camping sites as possible but I have to say I'm not 100% confident we'll be able to sleep in a tent when the temperatures are around 10 Celsius. But we are used to sleeping with our hats on after the last winter in Sydney - the houses here are so cold!
Next time I hope to share amazing photos from Tassie - learning photography has been definitely a new challenge for me!