This morning at the crack o’ dawn we departed our hotel in Hobart to meet our tour guide from Under Down Under, Brendon. Our tour will consist of five full days and four nights of hikes and guided sightseeing in the national parks and all around Tasmania. We have never taken a group tour of this kind before, so I am excited and a little nervous to see how we like this. Rob and I do a lot of independent travel, so conforming to other people’s timing is a little intimidating, but I know we will definitely appreciate the guide’s expertise. Tasmania is not a place I ever imagined going, so I am open and eager to learn as much as I can about it.

Mt. Field National Park

Our tour group has about 22 people from all over the world, and our tour guide, Brendan. Our first destination after a quick coffee and breakfast stop was Mount Field National Park. This gem of a park is lush and beautiful, with hiking trails, giant eucalyptus (mountain ash) trees and ferns, waterfalls and a host of wildlife. We saw our first pademelons ever- cute little fat hoppers that look like wallabies. Tasmania is known for changeable weather, and that was certainly the case today as we went from cold to rain to warmer and sunny to cloudy and all back again. I prefer to hike in colder weather, so the 43 degrees weather was not daunting to us at all and enjoyed our hike down the mountain. Our first group park outing ended with drama, however, as one passenger did not return to the bus at departure time. The result was a 1.5 hour delay for the whole group, a very antsy guide who traced and retraced our steps down the mountain hike carrying his first aid kit, and a variety of interesting reactions from fellow tour guests ranging from drama “What if she slipped and fell into the river!?” to indifference, with much speculation as to the missing lady’s whereabouts. Predictably, she just didn’t speak much English and had misunderstood the guide’s instructions for pickup and wandered elsewhere. Hoping this is the most drama we experience on tour. 😂😳😬

Snow!

As the day went on, the temperature continued to drop, and by the afternoon we were starting to see snow on the ground in the mountains! Not a big deal to all our American friends back home starting winter, but given that this is Australian summer and it was 90 degrees in Sydney yesterday, it feels crazy!! We saw some pretty sights from the bus, with the most exciting one for us being an echidna crossing the road! Sadly, he was too fast for picture proof. They call this part of Tasmania the Wild West (coast), and between the switchbacks and the temperature changes, it fits!

Cradle Mountain – Lake St. Clair National Park

Our next stop was abbreviated both by the cold and also by the lost passenger in our last stop who delayed our departure, so we only had about 40 minutes to check out this site. However, the wind was giving such a bitter chill at this point, most of us took a quick run out to see the lake and then went for hot beverages in the visitor center 😂. I also bought a beanie and gloves while there… brrr!!! Did I mention Uluru was 102 last week? The lake was beautiful, and maybe someday I’ll get back to try the hiking paths (when it is not so cold and/or when I am more properly attired). Here are all the photos we could brave:

Queenstown

Our last stop was a small, former mining town (current population 1,800) that now, according to our guide, is trying to reinvent itself as a mountain biking town. In the second picture below, you can see the winding switchback paths that are used as a bike trail here. Bold! They also have a railway and… well, not much else! 😬😁

Overnight Stop: Strahan

Our final stop of the day is the cute little port town of Strahan (pop. 634) on the west coast of Tassie that is currently a tourist town due to it’s location as a convenient base for a national park, boat trips, railway trips, etc. It is also the site of our tour hotel stay for the next two nights.

Today is Thanksgiving in America. While Australia of course does not celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday, Rob and I thought we might feel less homesick for the holiday if we found a dinner spot in Strahan that had as close an approximation to a Thanksgiving dinner as we could find. The result was our dinner at View 42 tonight, a nice buffet, carved meat and veggies place that felt a little Thanksgiving-ish. Unfortunately they did not have turkey, but they had some nice Tasmanian wines and and an ice cream and donut bar for dessert, so… a good time was had.

To all our family and friends back home, know we are missing you all. We are thankful to be here and thankful for these amazing experiences, and also thankful to you for adventuring with us. Happy Thanksgiving!🍁🦃🍽