We began by flying into Launceston on Thursday night. The next morning we went to Cataract Gorge and just observed the scenery. Apparently the last Tasmanian Tiger was spotted there but we saw no evidence of him. We did however see evidence of a few peacocks!
We continued our journey until we arrived at the Bay of Fires which was beautiful. Some of the rocks there had a natural reddish tint to them which was very pretty. We embarked on a little rock climbing, making our way up to the highest rock we could climb. The beach was beautiful. The sand was snow white and the water is crystal blue. I think my picture from Bay of Fires might just win the photo competition. What do you think?
Next we made our way to Bicheno where we stayed for the night. When we got there, the sun was about to set so we climbed a small whale watching mountain and sat there as the sun set. The sky was a beautiful orange-purple-pink.
The next morning we woke early to make out way to Freycinet National Park. There, we climbed a large mountain (3 hour hike!) and then climbed back down the mountain to see Wineglass Bay. Both Wineglass Bay and the Bay of Fires were named two of the top 10 beaches in the world so it was great to see them! While Wineglass Bay was beautiful, I was so tired after the hike that I just wanted to collapse on the sand. But on vacation, there's no time for rest (at least not in Australia)! So we marched forward and drove to Port Arthur.
Port Arthur is a scary town. It used to be where England housed all of its criminals and as a result, the town has somewhat of a haunted atmosphere as many criminals were killed there. One sign read, "An English prison is a vast machine...move with it and all is well. Resist and you will be crushed." These were the words of Austin Bidwell, a prisoners in the 1870s. As if I weren't creeped out about Port Arthur enough, I decided to go on a ghost tour at night. All seemed well-- the tour wasn't that scary and then they broke the news to us: we'd have to walk back to our accommodation by flashlight. That might not seem scary if you're used to city lights but in Port Arthur, there are no city lights and the only lights that lit the way were our flashlights along the with occasional car. I was scared out of mind!
The next morning, we went to Port Arthur during the day time, which was much more tolerable. We learned of a gruesome murder where a man from Hobart came to the Port Arthur Historical Site and killed 35 people. It's a truly upsetting story that continues to haunt residents of Port Arthur today.
After leaving Port Arthur, we went to see Tasmanian Devils. Although I originally thought they were cute, they now disgust me. Even though they look like huge rats, they're apparently marsupials which makes them closer to Kangaroos than rats. They are carnivorous. but they're too small to kill prey so they only eat their babies, each other, and road kill. And that's really all I can say about the Tasmanian Devils before I get grossed out again.
We ended out journey in Hobart where we waited for about 5 hours for a flight. All-in-all, Tasmania was a little bit creepy but definitely beautiful and worth the trip.
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