I just got back from my 3 day East Coast Tour of Tasmania with Adventure Tours Australia! This was definitely my most scenic tour of the three - but I got to play with some amazing Australian creatures on the last day!
We started off the tour with basic ice breakers on the tour bus - introducing our names and where we call home to the 17 other twenty-somethings I literally lived with for 3 days. I was the only Canadian but got to spend some time with a lovely lady from Paris, France... my next destination!
Our first stop was the Evercreech Forest Reserve where we got to check out the world's tallest gum trees (Eucalyptus to Canadians!). The site was really beautiful, filled with rain forests and waterfalls. We walked a 40 minute trail called the Evercreech Falls Loops where we witnessed wet forest on one side of the path and dry forest on the other. We got a little surprise when we had to cross the river!
After we had 'lunch on the barbie'' we moved to The Bay of Fires where got to explore on our own for a few hours.
Bec (left) and I climbed the many rocks overlooking the rough ocean - it was pretty windy when we arrived. It began to warm up after about an hour of adventuring, so Kirsten (bottom) and I tested the water which was surprisingly warm. Unfortunately one of the girls got more than sand between her toes - she found a leech stuck to her leg... so gross!
Later that night we traveled back to Bicheno where we stayed in a house -- big change from a hostel. The house had a pool table, tv room, and multiple washrooms just for the 17 of us on the tour. Our tour guide Triso made us all couscous - so so good.
We ended up going to bed fairly early in preparation for our 2 hour return hike to Wine Glass Bay. The hike was quite strenuous as part of it required hiking up a steep and unmarked rocky trail. It was all worth it when we reached the top and saw the breathtaking view at Wine Glass Bay look out point.
In addition to finally getting some exercise, the mission to Wine Glass Bay led us to discover some Tasmanian Devil foot prints!
That night we stopped off at 'The Bottle Shop', which is essentially Australia's version of The LCBO. We all had some drinks and decided to give one another names from a different country. My German name was Vanessa. There were too many of us to keep track of real names, but for some reason these ones all stuck! The night ended with us convincing our guide to let us dance on the tour bus!
For our final day in Tasmania we visited The Port Arthur Historic Site. When Australia was first discovered, it was essentially used as a punishment station for repeat offenders - with the Penitentiary located in Port Arthur. We learned about the thousands of convicts who were sent to Australia to be 'rehabilitated', although few managed to leave alive. You can learn more about the historic site at http://www.portarthur.org.au/
Some of the girls posed for a picture in front of one of the 30 historic buildings and before leaving, we took a short ferry ride to the Isle of the Dead cemetery.
The best part of the entire tour came last when we got to visit The Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park! The 'Devils' don't look quite like the cartoon; however, they totally make the same noise when fighting with each other over food. I have some awesome videos capturing the viciousness that I can't wait to upload when I have a better Internet connection.
The Conservation park had a number of other rescued animals including The Eastern Quoll (spotted little marsupials) and KANGAROOS :)
Leaving tomorrow for Melbourne -- looking forward to some warmer weather as the trip continues!
THANK YOU AGAIN TOURISM AUSTRALIA for making all my kangaroo dreams come true !
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