making up syllables: diamond dave meets the tasmanian devil, pt. 2

in which we leave the sad ghosts of convicts on the tasman peninsula to look out upon cold gray beaches, taste tasmania fine goods and hike around some mountains.

the destination for our third day in tasmania was the beautiful freycinet national park, just beyond the borders of coles bay. freycinet national park is situated on a peninsula of its own name and features what must be hundreds of beautiful walks and overlooks. we were once again running short on time, a theme for the trip, with sun setting around 5pm it made every afternoon minute count. our first walk was up to the wineglass bay overlook which offers impressive views of both coles and wineglass bays. it was a steep little walk but nothing our himalayan explorers couldn't handle. they've walked to machu picchu after all. in the freezing rain. with 20lbs packs on their back. and they liked it! we then drove over to cape tourville and walked up to the lighthoused lookout. by that time the sun was beginning to set so we called it a night.

we had the vague destination of somewhere north of cradle mountain for the following day. unsure of what to do along the way we stopped at the visitor info center in launceston, the second largest city in tasmania. turns out the road between launceston and devonport is known as the tasting trail and offers a wide variety of delectable stops along the way. we first hit up another vineyard for a tasting acquiring our second bottle in as many days. following that we hit a salmon farm just up the road which offered free tastings of smoked salmon, salmon pate, some kind of salmon spice rub concoction. sufficed to say we took away some goods for later enjoyment. we made a somewhat disappointing stop to a cheese factory which at least provided for some decent ice cream and then to my favorite stop at a microbrewery called seven sheds. we sampled a selection of six beers - everything from raspberry lagers to something called a platypus 200 which used a hybrid of hops and flavoring agents. from here we gained two 750ml bottles, a platypus and a porter, as well as two 375ml ipa's. the ipa's were not part of the actual tasting but turned out to be the favorite of both myself and my dad. our final stop was a chocolate factory where we had our fair share of fudge and decided that was a good enough finish for the day.

the next day we visited what i am guessing is tasmania's most popular attraction: cradle mountain. there are many nice walks and hikes in the cradle mountain area, including the 80km+ overland track, and i chose to do the 3 hour circuit to marion's lookout. this included views of crater lake, cradle mountain, dove lake, the wombat pool, as well as a forest hike lined by cascading waterfalls. dad and jill opted out because they can't handle a little cold and strong winds but from what i gather they had a nice walk around the park as well. it was a bit overcast and sprayed a little but the views were amazing and i can't really say much other than look at the photos. the hike, which ended at the summit of a neighboring peak, was fun and not too difficult. i would definitely recommend to those visiting. that night we made it down to the port town of strahan, a lovely little spot provided you're there with nice weather.

we began the following day with a little stroll around town and then head off back east across the island toward hobart. the road cuts through the southern end of cradle mountain-lake st. clair national park and the northern end of the franklin-gordon rivers national park. as such there are plenty of nice pull offs for little walks and side trips. we took our time checking out the waterfalls and overlooks before making home at a tiny little town, wayatinah. we had dinner at a local pub, chatted with some locals about salmon fishing and then turned in.

our second to last day was spent at mt. field national park where we did an easy 3 hour walk to popular russell falls, through the giant gum sap trees (some exceeding over 80m tall), and to the lady barron falls. we ended in hobart where we were treated to a nice dinner by jill.

our last day in tasmania was mostly cleanup. we did laundry, made sure the motorhome was up to snuff, and dropped everything off. our flight out of hobart was around 6 and we made it back to melbourne late evening. we capped off our trip with a second dinner at d.o.c. (and in fact my dad ate there 3 times while visiting, a testament to how nice it is for sure).

one last note about tasmania: if you ever decide to go be sure to pick up a 60 great short walks brochure early. its a kind of cheat sheet about all the nice places to visit there. i'm pretty sure everything mentioned here is also included in it.

the folks were in town for a few more days after that. we made a stop at the wheel so they could check out the view. we visited the various neighborhoods of melbourne and had a lot of yummy meals. most importantly we just hung out and enjoyed each others company. and we had a nice time. i was a bit worried about the visit but i think it went exceedingly well. it was wonderful to see my dad so far away from home and gave me a nice boost of energy. which i'll need of course to deal with something actually worth worrying about - the next 2 weeks and moving on from here. we'll see how that goes, but for now here are some photos.