Tasmania

Hi everybody,

This part only tells you about my travels in Tasmania. I was very excited to go there. Heard a lot of the very beautiful nature. I made a list of thing to do on the 5 weeks I had. I ended up staying 7 weeks and only doing half of them. I must admit I did do some things which weren`t on the list. Well, you have to be flexible?


I left Melbourne, on january 22nd, on the ferry. I went straight to the Walls of Jerusalem NP. This is so beautiful that the first explorer only used biblical names for the mountains and so on. If you ever come to Tasmania and only have a few days to spend this is the place to do so. Forget overland trail and so on. This is it.
I went on hiking to three summits (1500m) and had some amazing views. Some of the best I have ever seen.
While hiking with a couple I twisted my ankle (old soccer injury). We camped by a nearby lake. I decided not to take any risks and took a restday. If you are ever forced to take a restday just hope it is in these surroundings with the beautiful weather I had. I even took a swim in the lake. Over the whole day I just saw 3 people hiking in the distance.
In the late afternoon all of the sudden there was a snake but when it noticed me it disappeared quickly. There are 3 different kinds of snakes here and all three are poisonous but normally not lethal. The next morning there was another little one which tried to shelter under my tent. I chased it away coming close to it but not too close. After that I was ready to leave quicker than usual.
When I arrived by my bicycle I noticed that the possums had gotten to my food. Erin and Leif saw this, put my clothing back in the panniers and left some cookies so I would not get hungry. From here it is still a days ride to a supermarket. Erin and Leif are the couple I was hiking with and are also interested in cycling. This was of course very nice.
From here I went to a nearby river to get some water and stumbled on 2 canadian girls skinny dipping. I did not mind that much (i did 2 days before too) but I am not sure I am speaking for them too.

I took another restday in Lorinna with a warmshowers member. Lorinna is a small village near a dam. It has a hippie or alternative lifestyle. Completely off grid.
Sustainablity on solar energy, micro-hydro and growing your own food. The main road to it is blocked by a landslide so you ride in on a maintenance road. I spent 2 nights here and had a good time meeting a lot of nice people. The partner of Elyse, where I was staying, was a flemish biological farmer only 50km from my house.
I regret not to be able to spend more time. I had already purchased my food for my next 5day hike and did not want it to go bad. There was a news article on the community hall which said it was the most difficult town in Tasmania to get to. Weeks later on the return ferry I met a girl that lives here and she promised to send me a picture of it.

Next I tried to hike a 5day loop near and on the overland track but the ranger told me this was NOT allowed. I had the choice to return immediately or to hike out through Walls of Jerusalem NP. It adds a day to my hike but it is so beautiful it did not feel like a punishment.
Unfortunally a cold front came over and it rained for 2 days and had freezing temperatures during 2 nights. I could shelter in a hut for 1 day.
On the 3rd day I had some snow and hail on the summit but than it cleared up and 1 hour later it was 20 degr.


After this I cycled up the west coast and did some kayaking in the rainforest with 3 other cylists I met. We had a great time. They even saw the rare platypus. I missed it there but saw it another time.
Visiting small old mining towns like Strahan (very touristy but wonderful) and Zeehan with The Henty Dunes was different but nice too.

I also did the famous Frenchman cap. 5 days hiking where the first and last day are spent getting through mudfields. (the soddon loddens). This year was dry so there was not too much mud. A normal year has knee-deep mud. After that you hike through a rainforest and up a pass. It was my first rainforest hike and that was completely different from hiking in the alps. There you just look out for loose rock and always have a far view. Here my pack got stuck every 5 minutes behind a tree or a branch and so on. The lake was less than 10m away but I never could get to it and sometimes did not even see it. A fantastic experience but physically very demanding much more than the alps or the overland track. I hiked 2 days with a family group of 6 and had a good time with them. Tim had been there before and acted as the guide. On the pass he told me it is just a bit up and down for 2km and than down to the lake and hut with some ladders and stairs. Basically easy and not far.
Less than 5 minutes later I was crawling on my hands and feet going straight down. Never for long that is true. I asked him about it and his answer was : that is tasmanian style for a bit up and down. Do I have to mention that I fired him on the spot? He is resuming his duties as a minister for the church now.


I spent 4 days in Hobart meeting wonderfull people. Rodger was my host with a very extended knowledge of tasmania. He gave me so much information that I could not do it in 7 weeks. He is also a nurse on cardiology although in surgery so we could compare working here and in Belgium. I already noticed that there were a lot of fat people on Tasmania. It is known for its high risk of heart diseases because of the lifestyle. It is also the no. 1 cause of death just like Belgium.
There is a statistic that says Australia as a whole has more obesitas than USA. It did pass them 2 years ago. Remembering the fat people in USA I have a hard time believing that but for this part of Tasmania I certainly believe it.

I also met Vanessa through couchsurfing. The idea is that you meet local people to get local information which is better than the travel guides. She grew up in Tasmania but studied on the mainland, cycled 2 years in North Africa (alone as a girl) and worked for 15 months in Haiti after the earthquake. Amazing. But it came down that she could answer any queston about Africa but not so much about Hobart. I had walked around town before and she ended up asking me what the name was of the square we having a drink. Still it was a good time meeting some of her friends and so on.

I cycled up the east coast which is a lot of farmland. Here they promote history but becasue Tasmania was colonised late history starts mid 19th century. I visited a known farm to discover it was build in 1930 only 20 years earlier than my grandfathers house. Not history by European standards.
The treatment of Aboriginals was even worse here so the last full-blooded aborignal died almost a century ago. Not having dealt with this there is not a good museum about their art or history.

Later I spend some time on Maria Island, wineglass bay and bay of fires. All very beautiful beaches. Some sandy, some rocky with hills up to 600m but although beautiful they do not compare with anything on the west-coast. Here I had the feeling that I stayed too long.

The summer is almost over. I heard people already talking about fall even when it was 30degr. So now I am itching to get to the outback. My favorite is the (semi)desert area but it has to wait a bit longer. I am leaving Melbourne to go to Canberra and Sydney. Visiting Kosciusko and Blue mountains NP and seeing some people I met before.
I will not go to Brisbane. I will cycle the Mallee HW south of the Simpson desert which will lead me back to Port Augusta just north of Adelaide. Here the Stuart HW starts leading me to Uluru (Ayers Rock), Mac Donalds ranges through Alice Springs to Darwin at the northern end of Australia. A distance of about 5600km.

Here in Melbourne I had a long conversation with Maree. A girl I met on the Nullarbor. She cycled completely around Australia (22000km). Convincing me that cycling from Darwin to Perth is hard (long distances without water) but amazing. Adding a 4000km to my travels.
So I have 9600km to cycle in 6 months. This leaves me some time to do some hiking as well. It is going to be an amazing ride.

greetings,

nico