Hobart, Tasmania,
Australia
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Woke up pretty early in our bunkbeds at the Lake St. Clair cabins and camping area to get ready to board our bus back to Cradle Mountain National Park. Our small extra luggage bags were there as well as our Getz car, the anal gland dragger! We were sore and happy to have some time off from hiking. And we were happy to have clean bodies and clean clothes again! Completely uneventful bus ride other than beautiful scenery as we traveled northwest on the highway towards Cradle Mt. We arrived back at the park at 3pm and immediately got our bags from the hotel we stayed at the first night, and started driving with no firm plans. We were undecided about which hike to do next, as our minds were thinking of doing a hard alpine hike near Cradle Mt. called Frenchman's Cap, but our bodies were saying "noooooooooooooooo!". We also had thoughts of doing hikes around Mt. Field, or Mt. Anne, or even a coastal hike on the Freycinet peninsula. We decided to drive to Hobart as a rest and relaxation destination and eat and sleep for a day or two before we made any further decisions. Tasmania is really not much different in size than Vancouver Island, maybe smaller, so within a few hours we had travelled eastward about half the width of the island and had travelled 2/3 of the island south to make it to Hobart, the largest city on the island. Theo had become an expert "wrong-side of the road" driver, so we made good time into Hobart. We quickly found a hotel (Astor Hotel) in the city centre near the docks and the trendy Battery Point, and we unloaded our gear and had showers and went out for dinner. We found Salamanca Square in Battery Point, a great area with all our needs; internet, laundry cafe, lots of good restaurants and bars, a grocery store, and even a hiking equipment store! Theo ordered a Czech pilsner at the restaurant Sal's where we ate that night, which seemed kind of ironic (although he claims Aussie beer tastes like s**t!"). Any plans to stay out and celebrate with more than one alcoholic drink were quashed when we became very sleepy at 10pm, so off we went to crash in our hotel room for some more much needed sleep.
