The Three … Amigos?

Note: I can’t upload pictures at this time… I’ll let you know when I can and do!

• Monday, 21 Feb: Woke up at 9:30am, got ready to meet with other hostel girls to bicycle around town; one of them came out at 10am and said they were all still in bed; Skyped with folks; caught up on e-mail; walked around town; met Joan (CSer from Holland) at the Information center as planned; booked a “basic” campervan for $60 per day; walked around town a bit more with Joan; went to library to use free internet; back to hostel, met Joan and Jordi (CSer from Spain) and went out for pizza together; on the way, encountered drunk man verbally abusing a simple girl, turned on us; called police, helped simple girl to get a ride home; continued on for pizza; walked back to hostel; asleep by 11pm.
• Tuesday, 22 Feb: Woke up at 7:30am; took bus to Surrel?; met Aussie Dollar lady, Diane, who drove me to her home; filled out rental info, picked up the “basic” campervan which turned out to be awesome; drove back to Hobart, picked up Joan, my stuff and Jordi; drove down to Port Arthur saw Devil’s Kitchen, the Archway, the Blowhole, Tesserated Pavement and some nice views; visited the original penal colony site, sneaking past the ticket holders ($30 per person! no way!); walked around for a few hours; drove until Triabunna and parked near some other campers; made rice and chicken for dinner; all slept in the double bed in the camper, me in the middle.
• Wednesday, 23 Feb: Woke up at 9:30am; had tea for breakfast, with granola bar, cheese wheel and banana, then added a piece of bread and an egg when the others cooked it up for themselves; drove to Freycinet National Park via a dirt road, saw many wallabys and pademelons; arrived Wineglass Bay carpark and started hike around 2pm; Jordi did Mt Amost first and then caught up with me and Joan along the Wineglass Bay/Hazard Beach hike (11km); gorgeous views and beaches! Around 7pm we drove north a bit to River and Rocks camper park (free!); cooked pasta with sauce and lots of veggies and tuna for dinner.

Jordi: 38-year-old Spaniard traveling for 18 months around the world. Quite fit, smiley but serious. Taking two years off from government job that gave him a two year minimum break! Polite, smart, ready for very active days. English-speaking skills could use a little work but he’s got enough to get by.

Joan: 24-year-old Dutch girl finishing a year in Australia by exploring Tasmania. Cheerful and self-assured, enjoys the beach almost as much as I do. Stylish and ready to party, hike or enjoy the views. Not ready to go home yet to start her Masters in Art, Media and Culture, but misses her seven siblings.

We met via Couchsurfing, of course, and decided to eat, sleep and travel together for eight days in a campervan, exploring all that Tasmania has to offer. I immediately made a stupid comment upon meeting Joan: “Holland… that’s the Czech Republic, right?” For some reason, instead of the Netherlands, I had Holland in my head as that country’s other name. Oy. Great first impression, eh? We all went out for cheap pizza the night before we left on our road trip, to get to know one another a bit. Couchsurfers are a trusting lot, aren’t they?

We’re all independent travelers who have our own thoughts on how things should be done on everything, from dishes to cooking to driving to hiking. I can’t say we’re all bosom buddies but we seem to be getting along mostly pretty well. I’m too conciliatory and indecisive; Jordi’s too ready to ‘fix’ things (or direct us on how to fix it) to be the way he thinks they should be; and Joan takes her time with everything (getting ready in the morning, preparing for walks, etc) and has a comment about how to do everything better. Somehow we’re making it all work… just six more days to see Tasmania and we’re all up for it!

Yesterday we went down to Port Arthur, stopping at all the geological and natural wonders the drive there had to offer. Then we snuck into the historical penal colony area, went on a general tour and explored the horrible places, such as the sensory deprivation ward (the first instance of it’s use!). It was a long but very interesting day, after which we drove north a bit before finding a place to pull over and park where we saw other campervans. It turned out to be a free camper park!

Today we explored Wineglass Bay and the surrounding natural beauty. Wineglass bay is an amazing curved, white sand beach with sapphire blue waters lapping away at the shore. There’s a magnificent lookout that takes some huffing and puffing to reach, but it was well worth it, despite the small crowd there. When we first arrived at the beach after the descent from the lookout, we were welcomed by a small, curious wallaby. It was too windy and cool to swim there, but Joan and I continued our walk to Hazard Beach,  which was absolutely deserted and, while not curved, just as beautiful. I swam in the cold waters there, which was refreshing and made me feel like I was in paradise. There were huge shells – mostly clam, oyster and spiral shells – scattered along the beach.

After Hazard Beach, we hiked along for almost two hours back to the carpark, completing the eleven kilometer hike with Jordi having joined us near the end. He had taken on a different hike before the Wineglass Bay and Hazard Beach circuit… whew!

We made it to a free campsite that previous campervan neighbors had mentioned, the River and Rocks campsi just north of Wineglass Bay, and cooked up a yummy meal of spaghetti and a very chunky sauce with capsicum (bell pepper to us Americans), mushrooms, corn, onion and tuna. It was pretty tasty after a good day’s hike! And even though the others didn’t want to, I insisted on doing the dishes in the dark so they’d be clean the next day. Who’d think that I, of all people, would do that?!

Six more days… hopefully we’ll all still be talking and smiling at the end!

--Z