Cold Feet (and Everything Else, for that Matter)

Trip Start Jun 24, 2008

Trip End Aug 10, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Where I stayed

The Empire Hotel Queenstown

(Queenstown hotels)

Flag of Australia Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

After spending several days driving around Tasmania, I have come to two conclusions. First, the United States needs to adopt the metric system. Seriously. It is ridiculous that the US is the only country that does not follow it. Now, figuring out how fast we can go and how far something is involves a complicated mathematical formula to convert the distance/speed into miles. It's time America. Just conform. Please. For the love of God. And for the sake of my math-hating brain.

The second conclusion I have come to is that everyone needs to drive on the same side of the road. Now, being American, my preference is for that side of the road to be the right side. However, I am willing to be flexible, so long as there is uniformity. Driving on the left side is just plain confusing. Since the steering wheel is on the left side, that means everything is switched around. Every time I go to put on my turn signal, I end up turning on the windshield wipers, and vice versa. It's just weird. And, every time we turn a corner and there is a vehicle coming toward us in the right lane, there is a moment of panic as we think "my God! Why is that person on the wrong side of the road???!!!" Of course, then we realize we are also on the wrong side of the road, and all is well. But, that said, after three days of driving on the left, I am getting used to it and am fine on the highways. It all falls to pieces in the city, however, but we are adapting.

Burnie Beach

Anyhow, Tasmania. Winter in Tasmania is cold. Now, not as cold as say, Chicago. But cold, nevertheless. And windy. We flew over to Tasmania on this tiny puddle-jumper with actual propellers. That flight was the only time in all of my travels that I actually thought I might need to use the barf bag, but it evened out as we hit our flying altitude. Once we arrived in Devonport, we immediately set out for the coastal town of Burnie. I am sure Burnie is lovely in the summer, but in the winter, it's just rainy and cold, and left us not particularly interested in exploring. Incidentally, Burnie also happens to be the hometown of the Aussie band Midnight Oil.

After a night in Burnie, we headed off to Cradle Mountain National Park. Once again, the day was cold and rainy. Consequently, while I am sure the park is fantastically beautiful in the summer, we were pretty cold and miserable, as evidenced by our photos. Plus, Paul insisted on hiking. He only convinced me to go along by promising me that we would not do the whole 6 km (about 4 mile) hike. Liar. We ended up doing the whole hike, and by the end I was completely soaked from head to toe, and I was freezing. By that point, I was pretty unhappy with Paul and the trip. I started to grumble about how it was his idea to come to Australia in the middle of winter (I wanted to go to South America) and his idea to come to Tasmania and his idea to go hiking. I also began to question our judgment in getting married, so I was having cold feet both literally and figuratively. Luckily, I am a cold-weather relationship hater so all of my doubts cleared up once we were back to the nice warm car and hotel in Queenstown, Tasmania. So don't worry people--the wedding is still on. For all of you considering going to Queenstown, I would take it off of the list--it's not that exciting.

Any way, we are headed to Launceston, Tasmania next for two days and then head back to the Mainland on Thursday to continue our trek north. That's all for now. And keep the posts and emails coming! We get a kick out of them..

Paul in Burnie

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Me and Paul at the Burnie Beach	Seagulls in Burnie	Burnie	Beach in Burnie
Seagull on a Bench	More Seagulls in Burnie	Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake	Cradle Mountain
Paul	Cradle Mountain	Dove Lake	Dove Lake and the Mountains
Very Cold Shannon	Waterfalls

Slideshow Print this entry

Previous Entry Next Entry

Comments

bruuuce on Jul 1, 2008 at 09:52AM

Way to go Paul!
A beautiful beach, IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER!!!! Did you bring your trunks?
Having gone on a few trips with Paul, I can see how he duped you into taking the hike and then NOT LETTING YOU STOP until the end. I remember driving from Pittsburgh to Detriot and Hitle..uh I mean Paul, not allowing us to stop for a bathroom break, because it was'nt on his itinerary!!!! And it was MY car.
Well hope you guys dried out. Good luck and have fun.

Vince

connieyc on Jul 1, 2008 at 08:52PM

it's winter in south america as well
hey dorkface, don't blame paul for taking you to oz in the winter b/c it's the same situation in south america. i pity paul having to suffer through your grumblings, as you can be a major pain in the butt. and the wedding better be on because i already bought a dress to wear. just remember, our 10K races from run against bush were 6.2 miles and multiply accordingly.