If you fly 7,400 miles to get to New Zealand, it's silly to not fly another 1,200 miles to reach Tasmania, right? It seemed logical enough to us. So, on day 22 of the trip, we did just that.
Come along on a devilish 12-day tornadic tour of the world's 26th largest island — Tasmania!
Here's how you do it: Fill a tumbler with your favorite cool beverage, fire up the barbie, and ready yourself for an always awesome Picture-n-Caption format presentation ... and relax ... it's SUMMMERTIME down under!
No worries, mate!
Let's begin, shall we?
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| Hobart Australia ... ah, the land of penal colonies. That's what happens when you have an empire so vast that you can send your undesirables to the other side of the globe. Britain founded Hobart for this purpose in 1804, never mind what the Aboriginal Tasmanians thought about this after being there for 35,000 years. Oopsies! Today, Hobart's a bustling city that doesn't feel very big, has all the comforts of home, and is a perfect hub for exploring southeast Tasmania. |
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| MONA Just a 20-minute speed-ferry ride up the Derwent River from Hobart is MONA — The Museum of Old and New Art — the Southern Hemisphere's largest private museum. Opened in 2011, MONA is amazing! Most of the museum is contained in an underground labyrinth and features a crazy and wide variety of art installations, though not all are kid friendly. One hall contained adult-only art that sometimes made even me wince! As I exited the hall, a mom and dad — with kids in tow — were debating going in. I offered, "No, probably not a good idea." Had they gone in, they would have spent the rest of the day explaining certain facts of life ... and related human idiosyncrasies. I like to think I prevented a life-altering disaster. Go me! Pictured above is one of my favorite exhibits. I kid you not ... when I saw this from above, where I snapped this image, the illusion was so powerful that I thought I was looking down onto a platform above an abyss lit from below. It didn't make sensory sense. I went downstairs and took a turn walking the plank. The plank is actually a waist-high walled walkway extending out into a pool of pitch-black oil. The oil comes to the very, very tip-top of the walkway walls. It's super cool ... and oily. |
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| Ramen noodles as art In a large room at MONA, there's an oversized plate on the floor with ramen noodles and their package. Is that really art worthy of MONA? But a closer look reveals that the noodles are really rubber bands, with their box in the middle. Weird, yes, but still, is that really art worthy? I don't know, but it sure is fun when you learn that the challenge is to put your whole body through the rubber band. I shed my coat and camera and gave it a try, starting with my head and moving the rubber band down toward my feet. Did I meet the challenge? Did the rubber band snap? I'm not telling. But you can see how it turned out on this video! MONA was a day well spent! |
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| Wally the wallaby Now I feel bad. You see, pictured above is my lunch at MONA, featuring wallaby. I had heard that wallaby is a nuisance species, ergo, I was not only satisfying my need for nourishment but helping the Tasmanian conservation effort at the same time. Now, back home, I learned from the Interwebs that they're kind of like deer — a nuisance to some but not to others. I'll say this: It was a very tasty lunch! Sorry, Wally. Fun fact: Tasmania produces 85% of the world's legal opiates. On occasion, wallabies have managed to sneak into the guarded fields, graze on poppies ... and then hop around in drug-induced circles! Whacked-out wandering, wobbling wallabies! Fun fact: Like in New Zealand, there's no tipping in Tasmania. What's more, in virtually all cases, we were not even given the chance to tip; you tap your card, watch or phone on the card reader and done! There's simply no expectation of a tip. Fun fact: In 34 days of travel, we used cash ZERO times. Natalie found a New Zealand coin on a sidewalk and brought it home. We're hoping this won't cause a currency imbalance resulting in an international incident. You just never know these days. Shhhh! Mum's the word. |
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| Christmas in summer Even though the days were getting longer and warmer, there were plenty of prompts to jump into the holidays. TV ads with Santa were plentiful, and Black Friday sales were in full swing. We even witnessed holiday goers dressed as Santas on a pub crawl. It almost felt like home. We also noticed that Christmas lights down under are sparse. What do the people of Oceana have against Christmas lights? Nothing really. But it's summer and, by the time the holidays roll around, there are many more hours of daylight than darkness; there's no one awake to "oooh" and "aaah" over pretty Christmas light displays. Not so fun fact: Advertising, fast-food franchises, and TV shows have a less-than-subtle American influence. Anyone up for a bucket of KFC and binging the new season of Love Island — Australia or The Real Housewives of Melbourne? (Yes, these shows exist.) |
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| South Lynne We stayed in some interesting places over the five weeks; most were pretty good. However, our place in Dunedin (New Zealand) was a certifiable mansion that just freaked me out. So big and creepy! It would make a great shoot location for a chainsaw horror movie. Simon and Natalie liked it more. I'm gradually learning to look at the pretty online pictures of accommodations and then bring my expectations down a notch or two. Quick tip: Take note of what the online pictures don't show. For example, if there are no photos of the kitchen, it's likely because the kitchen sucks. Still, our place in Launceston, Tasmania, exceeded expectations. A crazy-nice art deco home (pictured above), South Lynne was cozy, clean and as picture-perfect as advertised! |
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| Dali Launceston, in Tasmania's north, isn't where we expected to run into an exhibit of Salvador Dali's art, but it's there! Dali's paintings and drawings were super fun to see up close. My favorite was the original photograph, "Dali Atomicus." My photo of his photo is lacking, so go here to see a better image and read the incredible story of its creation: The Story Behind "Dali Atomicus," One of the Most Influential Photographs Ever Taken. Do you think we could throw cats around like that today? Nah ... probably not. |
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| Jacob's Ladder A day trip from Launceston, Jacob's Ladder in Ben Lomond National Park, was an attention grabber. This 11-mile gravel road is listed on Dangerous Roads primarily due to the six steep single-track hairpin switchbacks nears its top. We simply had to drive this road! At the top of Jacob's exhilarating ladder is a massive plateau hosting the Ben Lomond Alpine Resort — Tasmania's only commercial ski area. Being late spring, everything was closed, and because it was super windy and cold, we decided hiking in freezing fog was less fun than we thought. At the start of the road, the gal at the coffee shop (serving coffee with marshmallows), told us the road almost never closes due to weather. I'm not so sure about those single-track switchbacks on icy roads. It's steep and narrow. |
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| Cheer up ... or I'll eat you New Zealand has wildlife, but Tasmania has it in spades. During our brief exploration of the Ben Lomond ski area, Simon spotted one, then two, then many wallabies! This group of wallabies didn't seem bothered much by the weather or us. They were dedicated to munching scrub brush. But this close encounter did bring one thing to the forefront: Wallabies look perpetually pissed. Like, "Don't come any closer or I'll kickbox you into oblivion!" I'm pretty sure this is why they're considered food. We saw many other creatures in the wild too — such as echidna, wombat, kookaburra, a variety of parrots (including the green rosella), potoroo, and even a baby Tasmanian devil desperately crawling up a road embankment to get away from our car. Unfortunately, for many of these creatures, being nocturnal is not a bonus when it comes to playing chicken with cars ... because the cars win. The roadway evidence of this was remarkable. In fact, in some areas, the posted nighttime speed limit is just 40 mph, perhaps so the animals have a sporting chance to win now and then. Go animals! |
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| Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is not the tallest mountain in Tasmania, but it's probably the most photographed one. It's a must see on the island. Once again, we got lucky. We had one specific day to visit Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. The day started windy and rainy, but the clouds parted for our hike around Dove Lake. Above and at center, Little Horn is on the left and Cradle Mountain is on the right. There were hordes of other tourists taking the shuttle buses to the visitor center where the hike begins. We thought we were destined for a crowded trail. Nope! It seems very few who start the four-mile lake circuit complete it. There were remarkably few fellow hikers after the first half mile. We were OK with that! |
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| Bay of Fires Along the northeastern coast — near Binalong Bay — is the Bay of Fires. At first glance, it's easy to think the name is derived from the bright red lichen-covered granite boulders. But NO! The bay was so named in the 1770s after explorers saw the fires of Aboriginal people living along the bay. Fast forward to our visit, and wildfires were already in play on Tasmania, burning in the south and north. Dry weather is one thing, but it doesn't help that the most abundant tree is the highly flammable eucalyptus. Although it's a native species, it's also favored as timber and widely planted. It's interesting to note that Portugal also has a eucalyptus-fed wildfire problem ... but their trees are not native. They were introduced in the 18th century from ... wait for it ... Australia! Oopsies! |
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| Soaking up the Down Under Here we are at our very best ... just for you! Well ... maybe not our VERY best. Actually, not great at all. We can't even keep our eyes open! We'll NEVER make it as Instagram influencers! |
And there you have it, a devilishly spinning Tasmanian tour — and we didn't even see the west side of the island!
Our Oceana trip was a whirlwind of 34 days flying, driving, hiking ... and even a hot tub ... yet somehow, we didn't get sick!
Will there be another TourAlongWithTodd blog post in 2026? Of course!
Stay tuned.
Until then ... ciao!
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And now, a BONUS ...
PICTURES! ... carefully curated with you in mind.
The blog post only tells one part of the story ... the photo album fills in the rest. They go hand in hand ... like opium-dazed wallabies hopping in circles together in a lush poppy meadow on a sunny summer's day!
Seriously, there are events in the album that aren't in the blog at all.
Each photo includes a brief caption so you know what you're looking at.
Here's how to make the most of viewing the photo album:
- Click this link to access the album.
- When the album displays, click the Play slideshow icon in the upper right corner.
- As soon as the slideshow begins to play, click the Pause slideshow icon at the lower center (you can also click the Full screen button to maximize the image size on your screen).
- Now you can advance the slideshow—at your own pace, image by image—using the right or left arrows at the bottom center of the screen.
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What an amazing trip and photos. Sounds and looks like parts of MONA was.....uhmmm...interesting, LOL. Thanks for sharing this part of the world, Todd 🌎
ReplyDeleteps, this is Marcia
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