Day 32: 4/10/12 Day 4 Tasmania
This morning we had to leave at 7 so we were up bright and early! It says on the tour information that breakfast is included which means the driver has two big boxes of cereal, bread, jam, etc going round in the van with him!
We passed through Zeehan which the guide said was arguably the ugliest town In Australia. It's an old mining town, by not many jobs in it now. In the early 1900s there were 10,000 people here. Now there's only 6-8 hundred. It was the 3rd biggest town. Now it's probably the 23rd.
A guy called Tasman found the island in 1642. He called it after his boss Van Diemen. The French came in 1773 and named some places. Then the British decided to use it for a colony.
We passed a tin mine. It seems the price of tin has rocketed as they use tin to keep the parts together in computers, phones, etc. The main business in Tasmania throughout the years seems to have been mining- with it's heyday in the early 1900s.
Then we stopped in Rosebury. It's one f the night towns on the west of the island. The town has survived due to a zinc mine. We were told to get something for lunch as we'd be walking at lunch time. But, of course, there was no shop open. There was a cafe if you wanted to eat breakfast, but that was no good to us! The guide isnt very organised about things like this! There wasn't much else to the town really. Everywhere looks old!
We passed through Tullah village. The road through here wasn't built until 1964 so before that you could only get there by train. About 5000 people lived there in 1910, only 286 now. Back then the miners all went to the pub after work and went home to their wives drunk. A female publican there decided to close between 5and 6 so that the men had to go home first. She thought it might save lives. There was a house there with lots of teddy bears. The woman had some sitting out on the porch and you could pay a dollar to go in and see more. We didn't stop there.
There's an area called the Tarkine which just looks like bush, but very few people have been through there. They think there lots of endangered animals there. It's a rainforest. Some people think that the Tasmanian tigers still exist and could be in this region.
We stopped then to walk up about 200m to a pylon which had views down over the hills. It was very scenic but we nearly got blown off the top!! It was extremely windy!!
We went to Cradle Mountain national park then. We drove to Dove lake and then did a 2hr walk around it. There were mountains all around it, including Cradle Mountain which had interesting peaks. There were trees everywhere which made it green- it looked quite like the lakes in Killarney! We saw a wallaby during the trek. We climbed up a bit also and had a nice view over the lake- lots of photos! Whatever kind of trees they have here, they don't just grow straight up- the branches wriggle and twist making all kinds of interesting shapes. There was a rock at the edge of the lake that you could walk out on which was cool. We were lucky with the weather as there were blue skies and good views for most of our way around. Near the end it got very cloudy and you couldn't even see cradle mountain properly and it started to rain!
It seems the park has been protected since 1922 and it's a world heritage centre- all thanks to some lad called Gustav from Vienna, who the driver spent about ten minutes talking about!!
After the walk we noticed a wallaby and a similar animal that they called something like a pattymalon. Don't know how you would spell it! The wallaby was very friendly and came right up close to everyone so we got cool photos! I never knew what a wallaby looked like but it's like a stumpy stout kangaroo!
We drove up a little further then and stopped at an area where wombats are common. We saw three of them! One was right beside the walkway. He was big enough- kind of the size of a pig, but it was cuddly and fluffy like a bear. It's head reminded me of a koala and overall it was like a giant hamster!
Then we had a minute to check out a small waterfall- wasn't as impressive as the ones the first day. Finally we got to a cabin, I think it was called cradle lodge. The upper class stay here, we were told! We went in for food and drink! Some people had eaten something during the walk- some ate in the lodge. We took a group photo there also as some people are finished today. It rained heavily enough all the time we were there so we were definitely lucky with the weather for the walk!
We drove to Sheffield then. In this area in the 1900s, there were no roads and it was mostly cattlemen that lived here. They had no post office or shop so if they wanted to post a letter they stuck it on a particular tree and anyone going to town would check the tree and bring it for them. People also left their grocery lists and money and people bought the goods and returned them o the tree- handy!! There's also supposed to be a ghost of a woman that stands out on the road when it's misty- I hope we don't see her!!
We passed over a mountainy grassy place then where there were lots of funny names. There's a place called Promised Land, another called Paradise and a place called Nowhere Else. It was called this because the road led nowhere else! Finally we got out of the trees and there was a lot of green grass and farms- just like home! We stopped to take a photo of the sign with Nowhere Else on it. Mt Roland was in the background also. There was a sheep in a field and some of the group were very excited about seeing it!! They took lots of photos!
Sheffield is famous for potatoes and onions! It's an agricultural area. They painted murals on the walls to try to get tourists as they weren't making much money out of sheep. The town was very picturesque. It also had old buildings but it seemed quaint and really clean. The murals made it very pretty!
This part of the bus journey was way better than the precious days as there was stuff to look at- trees of course, grass, houses, farms, cows, flowers, valleys, machinery..., way more interesting than trees alone!
We pulled up at a cheese factory then- Ashgrove cheese. We just looked around the shop and tasted various types of cheese.
After that we got to Launceston. I was in a 5 bed female dorm. The others were all very quiet- reading and on the laptop when I got in so I wasn't really talking to them! I spent the evening in the common room- the Israeli and the Japanese were there so I was talking to them.
The guide came up in conversation again! He isn't great!! He doesn't tell us where we are going or what we were doing ever! The English guy has a very strong southern English accent (the kind I associate with farmers on tv programmes) and he stated today: it's loike a mystry tour this is, we doin't know where we're goin! And he was right! When we're on the bus, the guide usually gives information as we are driving along, but he talks lowly and quietly and he has the most droll voice I've ever heard! Any of the walks we've been on- he just drives us there and it's up to ourselves to follow the trail and find our way back. He doesn't seem to have a set itinerary either- while driving he often just announces there's something up ahead and asks if we want to go- like the cheese factory or another waterfall or something. Usually half the bus is asleep and some are not too into photos or walking so he usually doesn't get a very enthusiastic response. If he just said we were going there and told us about it, people would probably be happy to go. But as it is, they are happy to stay asleep on the bus as he doesn't make the places sound that interesting! Saying all that, I don't mind him too much as he has a sense of humour- albeit a very sarcastic one and if you listen closely he's quite funny! He's not too talkative and has no charisma or strong personality which makes it hard to enthuse a group of people but he's grand!
You asked how I was getting on with the people. They're all really nice. The Israeli (her name sounds like 'I-yell-it', dunno how to spell it) and the Dutch called Franske were in the room with me the last two nights so we have mind of stuck together. They are both 37 and quiet enough. We all like to take lots of photos! The Israeli isn't pleased with anything!! It's quite funny to hear someone so completely negative about everything! They are both finished the tour today. The younger Japanese girls are also finished today. They are both very friendly but one seems to have no English so they kind of stick together. Ye Japanese couple are very funny. They have no English really but seem to be happy enough- they laugh all the time. They have a video camera an they record absolutely everything- even the bus journeys!! They wear karate outfits too! The Israeli commented on how they were like cartoon characters and that's exactly what they're like! The Dutch family are nice but keep to themselves a lot. Today they went off with friends or something and theyre making their own way to Launceston. Ye Americans are nice. The girl is only young but both are chatty. The mother isn't too interested in the walks or getting off the bus for photos. The English people are priceless. They aren't a couple- they're just travel mates. They were on a tour of islands in Ireland earlier this year and are currently on a 26 day tour of Australia. I hope I can afford to do all that when I retire! The woman is a real gentle soul and walks everywhere she can and is usually the last back to the bus as she takes so many photos. The man reminds me a bit of Uncle Joe- you would not picture him in Tasmania! He has The same Green blazer on over his jumper and his shirt since we left! He isn't interested in views really! Most of the time he gets off the bus he comes back in saying that it wasn't worth it and why did we bother stopping there when it wasn't even worth a photo. This is while the rest of us are snap happy!!
So we're a comical bunch!! Were losing 4 for tomorrow but I think more are joining us- I'm not sure!