Time to Study (or not!)

Well I’m officially done classes for my first semester here and into my study week. At home we usually only get a weekend off before exams start, so having a full week off is quite surprising.

I did have the house to myself for the past week as my landlord went to Adelaide and my other flatmate has been spending most days and nights at her family home in Kingston (only a short drive away). For two of those evenings Nya came over and we did some studying and made dinner together. I was also busy baking some cookies and muffins so that I would have some goodies to share. However, over the weekend Nya went to Melbourne with a flat mate so I did considerably less studying.

On Saturday morning I met up with some other international students and we had brunch at the Salamanca court. A well regarded restaurant, Machine served up some delicious food. I had French Toast served with all sorts of berries...YUM!! The Machine Laundry Cafe is kind of original as it offers you the opportunity to wash some clothes in their Laundromat section as you enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. I spent the rest of my morning walking around the Market before heading to my empty home. Sunday night I watched a movie with some other students making a relaxing end to my weekend.

Yup I stole this, but a look at the inside of Machine

Also stolen, but just as busy as when I've been

Since my sister’s 21^st birthday is coming up in June, I had been looking for the perfect card to send her. Unfortunately there really is a lack of styles of cards compared to what I’m used to. Australia doesn’t have any Carlton Card or Hallmark shops. Instead, as I’ve been informed, the best place to buy cards is from a Newspaper Stand or Store. I did find a wider selection there than anywhere else, but still was not completely satisfied. One thing to appreciate at home is the wide variety of cards that cater to all sorts of situations and relationships. Regardless, I sent out my card a good two weeks in advance to make sure it arrived in time. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!! 

The In-between

The semester is almost over, which is a little sad to think about since many of the international students I've befriended are heading off soon.
I still need to fill in what has happened since we came back from our Easter Trip so I'll do all that in this one post.

Since returning, Sam had an Art Show at a Skate Shop in town. He actually sold quite a few pieces on the first day as well!

Some skateboards

And some art

Some more pieces of art

Nya and another Swedish girl I'll call Emily, had a taco and movie night at my place. Nya and I went and bought all the necessary ingredients, choosing minced Kangaroo over the more expensive minced beef. Then we cooked it up at my house and watched Wall-E afterwards. It was a nice and relaxing evening before we all buckled down to do some more studying and assignments all due in the weeks to come. I think another movie/international dinner night is going to be necessary before the exams start up in a couple weeks!!

Last Sunday was Eurovision night which was also quite fun. I went to a Student Union house and gathered with a German, Australian, Irish, Spanish and two American international Students and we cheered and jeered the singers on! The Australian commentators were hilarious, and we all decided that next year we had to come back just to listen to them do the commentating again. Of course, to go along with the event, you need to download a copy of the Australian Eurovision drinking game....if only just to read the rules! If anyone didn't know, Azerbaijan won the contest this year...although the Aussies didn't seem too impressed!

The winning team

I also received a parcel from myself. There's an Australian website called Catch of the Day that advertises one deal each day. I heard about them on the news one day and since they often advertise lower prices than the supermarkets  I thought I'd check them out. Once a month they also have a "grocery run" where a bunch of household items go on sale. Last month's sale had quite a few things I thought I might want so I ended up ordering an assortment of things.  Well my parcel was delivered...and of course I happened to be in class. So the next day I walked the 20 minutes to the post-office and back to collect my large parcel. Luckily it wasn't too heavy... just a bit awkward to walk with. Anyway I made it and thoroughly enjoyed looking through the stuff I had received!

My box of goodies

Pizza crackers, two types of muffin mix, breakfast bars, licorice, coffee, laundry detergent, little packs of tissues...the list goes on!!

So other than a lot of time spent in the library completing assignments, I haven't been up to much. I'm hoping that before the semester ends I'll be able to do some more exploring around town since I still feel like I haven't done as much as I could have!

East Coast

As we decided to save the East Coast for the end when it would be sunny, it's no surprise it was also the best part of our trip.

As directed by the volunteer at the St. Helens info centre, we head off towards the Bay of Fires. She was very helpful and informed us that there were many free campsites near Binalong Bay. As this wasn’t in a national park, we were also allowed to have a campfire, so we picked up some firewood and a bag of marshmallows before heading to the coast. The Bay of Fires is a very short drive from St. Helens and runs from the housing area of Binalong Bay up past the other housing area called The Gardens. We found a spot to park the car and hopped out to eat lunch on the rocks.

The Bay of Fires. The red dot is our 'approximate' camp spot.

Bay of Fires at Binalong Bay

An awesome view

The Bay of Fires was named after its bright orange lichen covered rocks that are found along this area of the coast. It was definitely a very beautiful area to stop for a picnic, and after some photographs and rock scrambling, back to the car we went. As The Gardens was the farthest up the coast we were allowed to go, and as there was an apparent lookout we drove north to check it out. Between these two areas are all the free campsites located just off the coast. They are also located along a large stretch of beach rather than the Bay’s namesake orange rocks.  

At the lookout there was the softest white sand we had seen, and we eagerly kicked off our shoes to wander about. Sadly I am quite sure that somewhere around here I got a fine grain of sand stuck in my camera’s zoom mechanism and since then I am unable to zoom with my camera lens! L

The soft white sands

Bay of Fires at The Gardens

Walking in the soft sand

 Some more famous orange rock

As we head away from the Gardens we checked out all the campsites along the way. Even though it was the end of the Easter weekend, the campsites were still quite full. We almost stopped at any spot we thought would do, but the spots felt far from the beach and in many areas there were puddles. Deciding we would skip out on the sites in “Cozy Corner” we headed onto the next site at “Swimcart Beach”.

That had to be one of the best decisions we had! After heading down the very rutted road, (that may have tricked others in turning back) we found an AMAZING camp spot located right off of the beach! We were so excited and lucky to have found the spot.

Just a walk away from our campsite

A view looking down the beach

Checking out where we've walked

Just so you know how amazing our campsite was!

We set up the tents, (which still needed to try!) and checked out the beach. We kicked off our shoes and went for a walk...which turned out to be an invigorating spa treatment for our feet as the sand wasn`t nearly as soft as the sand at The Gardens. After getting our exercise, we had a change in dinner plans so that we could make the most of our campfire. Hotdogs and a whole bag of marshmallows for dessert made a yummy Easter dinner.

The next morning, the three of us girls rose early to check out the sunrise. As it was a bit chilly, we jumped in the car, waiting for the sky to burst into colours before heading back down to the beach for photos. Of course, with such an awesome location, we had to have breakfast on the beach too, but were surprised to not to see others soaking in the morning rays. Nya and Sam braved the cold waters to take a dip, and while myself and Sabby, our German international travelling companion, went for a walk, our campsite neighbour gave some hints of places to see further down the coast.

Sunrise Morning

Too bad it was bad cloud placement or we would have had a better view

Good Morning!

Testing the water

We spent more time than anticipated at the Bay of Fires, but as we weren`t travelling far until our next camping site, we had no problems thoroughly enjoying the awesome spot. Finally around 11am we packed up and left, saying goodbye to our spot.

The road down the coast is quite beautiful, and we drove at a nice slow pace admiring the view to our left. We decided to have lunch at the Douglas-Apsley National Park. This is probably one of the least visited National Parks because just further south is Freycinet National Park which receives a lot more recognition for its beaches. After travelling down a short dirt road, you get to the unmanned park entrance. It`s only a short walk to the water hole, which was good since we were still in flip flops! We had our lunch, and the mosquitoes had their lunch...choosing to dine on only my blood!

The water hole at Douglas-Apsley National Park

Back in the car and heading down the coast, the next stop was Bicheno where we thought we would stop at the info centre. However none of us spotted it and we ended up at the Bicheno Blowhole instead. This Blowhole was more impressive than the one near Doo Town on the way to Port Arthur, and we all got sprayed a bit.

The rest of the East Coast from Bicheno down to Hobart

The Blowhole

Coast at Bicheno

By backtracking, we did manage to find the info centre, but it wasn`t much help, so we headed on the Freycinet National Park where we had planned to camp at. We had been advised to check out the Friendly Beaches, which was another free campsite. However, out last camp spot had made us a bit picky. We just couldn`t find a spot close to the beach. The spots all seemed to be shady as large bushes surrounded them. It also required a bit of a bushwalk to get to the coast, and no beaches near the campsites. We backtracked out a bit, and went down a road that was unmarked but on the map also leading to the Friendly Beaches.  This road lead to a non-camping zone, however it did lead to the beaches. We got out and checked out the beaches. The sand was soooo soft and white but we weren`t allowed to camp here which was upsetting. Since the road was unmarked it appeared that only a couple locals were around as there were only three cars parked in the two car parks.

Coming to Friendly Beaches

The beautiful blue

And beautiful white sand

With no better options, we drove down to the parks info centre. We ended up renting a spot for the night as it provided us with a washroom, water and was close to the beach. Not as good as a spot as our previous one, but it was getting late so we couldn`t be picky any longer. Using up leftovers, we concocted a dinner using pasta, tuna, corn and creamy white spaghetti sauce.

Coles Bay beach near our campsite and our walk destination straight ahead

The next morning we tried to gather ourselves as fast as we could, as we were heading to one of Australia`s best beaches, Wineglass bay! It was a very short drive to the busy car park and we head off with our daypacks. You climb up between two mountains, getting awesome views of Coles Bay (where we had stayed the night) and Wineglass bay on the other side of the mountains. The climb to the top is well maintained and thus is also quite busy with families taking their children this far.

Checking out the mountain side we were walking beside

Wineglass Bay

However, we had an agenda, and planned on getting to the bay, so off we went down the other side which was a lot of downhill and many steps, fine for us but not as easy for those heading back up!  Finally we made it to the bottom and the beach, which was also quite busy, but we walked a ways in and found a nice sand dune to park ourselves on.

The gorgeous Wineglass Bay

Loving the colours!

Although the water was cool...we couldn`t pass up the opportunity to go for a swim. It was very cold and we weren`t too surprised no one else had chosen to go in earlier. However after seeing us frolicking around, we may have tricked a group of Japanese tourist to run in. Their shrieks indicated just how cold the water felt upon first contact. After a good half hour we dried off soaking in some sun. Then it was lunch time and we pulled out our picnic lunch making those who hadn`t brought any snacks quite jealous. Enjoying our lunch, we were treated to a view of some dolphins swimming in the Bay.

Unfortunately we had to head out early as we wanted to complete the hike back taking the Hazards beach route that circles around one of the mountains. We left just as the wallabies were popping out to entertain others still at the beach. Our route was not nearly as steep as the way down, but took more than double the time. We passed another beach with lots of shells and crabs that had made it quite a way up the shore and were just lying around as if waiting to die.

Hundreds of Crabs!

The sun was low in the sky after we finally completed our 5 hour circuit and headed back to the emptier car park. We actually didn`t really know where we wanted to stay next but arrived Swansea just as the sun began to set. We ended up tenting in a Holiday park, just managing to get our tents up before the light disappeared. In the town of Swansea we stopped at an IGA for some Easter hot cross buns now on clearance, and a recommendation for where to eat.

The Backpackers in Swansea is highly recommended, however a little expensive, hence we had chosen to tent for our last night instead. The Backpackers also is attached to a bakery open in the mornings, the Historic Swansea Barkmill, and the Tavern serving up stone oven pizzas which is where we headed for dinner. I had the “reef and beef pizza” which had beef and shrimp, and turned out to be quite tasty with enough for a lunch the next day. Since the park had a tv/games room  we stayed up a bit later on our last night, watching tv and recharging all electrical devices before collapsing in deep sleeps (after taking a hot shower!).

We had thought if we left early enough we might have breakfast at 9 mile beach which was a short drive back from where we had come, but we were slow starters and had breaky at camp before heading to the wineries instead! Yup, shortly after 10 am you would have been able to find us in the Milton Wineries show room taste testing their selections. We were only alone for a short time before another couple joined us. However while they left with about 8 bottles of wine, Nya was the only one who bought a bottle out of the four of us. The wine had been very good, but as poor students, we didn`t really want to spend much. After the wineries we finally made it to 9 mile beach...which was a mistake.

Wine selection

The Milton Vineyards in lovely autumn colours

9 mile beach runs the length of Dolphin Sands Road. The Vineyards are between the turnoff for this road and Swansea.

To start with, it`s a long drive down the entire length of the beach before you are able to see the beach...which is basically no longer part of 9 mile beach. The road then takes you right onto the beach, where there was only one other car also taking a couple of touristy pictures. Anyway, after determining that we had enough pictures we started to drive away but had to brake suddenly as the other car appeared to driving right at us. They hopped out to pic up a forgotten jacket but when we tried to start driving again, our back wheels dug down into the soft sand immobilizing us!

Stuck!! 

(It doesn't look too bad here so this must be after we had dug it out a bit...for better pictures please contact the women in the car that caused us to get stuck!)

We tried digging out our tires and pushing the car but anything we did just dug us in further. The other tourists attempted to help....my documenting our demise! The ladies in the car had hopped out and were photographing us as we pushed and dug and emptied the car out. The one man tried to offer assistance, but to make matters worse, our car appeared not to have a opening where a rope could be tied to the front to help pull us out. Our only rope was also some thin yellow twine we had picked up for light duty. After about 10 minutes involving us frantically trying to get the car out, a local man out for a bike ride came by. Luckily he had a 4WD vehicle and some good rope. By using a small hole behind the back bumper, he managed to get us out of our hole! We waved goodbye and got out of there deciding if given the opportunity we had absolutely no interest in coming back again.

Driving back to Swansea, we ate our leftovers near their dock, and then jumped back in the car and headed to Kate's Berry Farm for dessert. One of the places recommended by the women who had been our campsite neighbour at the Bay of Fires was a beach at a place called Rheban. Taking the turn off the highway, the road soon turned to a dirt road but on we went. Rheban beach had a huge assortment of shells and was rather quiet. It is located across from Maria Island National Park (pronounced Ma-Rye-Ah) which is a non-vehicle island.

The berry farm

coastal views

Rheban beach

Shells!

As we headed back to Hobart, there was definitely some snoozing going on. It had been a long but amazing weekend! I had an awesome time and would love to try and visit some of the places we missed or go back to a lot of places.

The North

The turn off to the Cradle Mountain part of the national park isn't even visible on a Google map until you zoom in quite close. However, everyone in Tassie seems to recommend checking it out as it is very popular with all sorts of chalets, info centres and even a tasmanian devil park inside. It is also the start of the Overland Track, and becomes quite popular in the summer with good weather and a waiting list for individuals wishing to do the trek.

Although it was still quite busy the day we visited the park, the sky was cloudy with light rain falling. We agreed we didn't want to spend another soggy night in a tent so we were only going to do a short hike. So off to beautiful Dove Lake we went! It looked like a beautiful location even with the low lying cloud. It was also a popular little hike taking around 2 hours as you walked along the really well laid out path around the lake.

Dove Lake is circled in orange!

Starting out on the hike

A cloudy day at the lake

Honeymoon Islands

It I get the chance, I really have to go back to Cradle Mountain so I can actually see the landscape on a clear day. I would also love to try a couple more hiking trails in good weather, but I'm glad we managed to do something.

the well laid out paths

After coming back to the car-park, and only a little bit wet, we head out of the park. With dwindling daylight hours we drove off in the direction of Launceston, Tassmania's second largest city. The tricky thing about driving by a map in Tassie is that it's very difficult to determine which roads will actually be straight and wide enough that you can make good progress on them. In the end we just followed the signs from one town to another until Launceston started to receive some sign space too! Nearly there we decided to call up the backpackers hostel to make sure they had room. Luckily they did and we arrived after dark to their location just off the main road coming into town.

We prepared a rather interesting soup for dinner using up the leftover vegetables and the random cans of tomatoes and beans we had been carrying. It was nice to have a stove and fridge for the second time, but  a kettle for a hot cup of tea (or maybe many more than one) was probably the best part. The hostel was right around the corner from a Coles Supermarket, so off went the girls to buy our food supplies for the rest of the week. Of course, being girls, the dessert section drew our attention and we ended up coming back with a cheesecake for dessert to be enjoyed with some more tea.

The next morning after hot showers (!) we drove to Launceston's only attraction. Well thats a bit of a lie but the Cataract Gorge is nearly the only thing listed in the lonely planet guide to go see in Launceston. They also seem quite proud of of their little green space in the city centre. Parking costs, but if you run really quickly you can see enough of it to qualify for the 10 minute parking spot!

The park and chairlift at the gorge

oooooh the suspension bridge!

The gorge is basically a little basin with some man-made water ways, an outdoor pool you would probably not want to swim in, a pricey and rickity little chairlift that takes you across the gorge, a walking suspension bridge over the water and a bunch of paths that will lead you around the green space. It's not super exciting but I can see the draw in being able to pack a nice picnic and grill some burgers and maybe take on some nature walks all about 10 minutes from home.

The gorge

Anyway after our whirlwind tour, we packed back into the car and drove towards the East coast. As Hobart and Launceston are connected by a good bus route, it will be quite possible to go back and check out sites on a weekend.  The drive to the east is quite beautiful as you head now through the farming country dipping in and out of valleys.

Launceston to the East Coast

We stopped just off the road at a beautiful lookout, gazing into a totally different land from the one we had just come from. Afterwards we made one stop in Scottsdale for gas but arrived in good time at the St. Helens' info centre....where I'll leave off for the day!

A fabulous view