CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

This is the first day of my 7 day tour around Tasmania with Under Down Under Tours. Check them out here! (Not sponsored.)

February 19, 2023 — I got picked up outside my hostel with three other people for the start of our Super 7 tour at 7:30am. We tucked our bags in the trailer, found seats, and off we went! I was in a single seat (the configuration of the bus was singles on the left-hand side and doubles on the right, behind the driver) and it was a fairly quiet start to the day, except for the running commentary from our guide, Keygan, about Hobart and the little suburbs we were driving through.

Our bus’s name was Phil, and Phil proved to be a trooper as we wound along twisty roads at what felt like breakneck speeds. (We probably weren’t actually going that fast, it just felt like it after not having been in a vehicle for a while. Still, I couldn’t believe how fast we whipped around some corners! The driving-on-the-left-hand-side was also still messing with my head.)

We were winding our way toward Strahan, on the west coast, from Hobart on the east. Although the entire trip only takes about 5 hours of driving, we made numerous stops along the way.

1. Mt Field National Park — Tall Trees walk

We walked through the forest and saw some super tall trees! This track also leads to Horseshoe Falls and Russell Falls, which are both very pretty. It’s a beautiful thing to walk through the cool temperate rainforests that cover a great deal of Australia, and which are especially prevalent in Tasmania. The scent of eucalyptus permeates every part of the earth and it honestly smells so good.

2. Tungatinah Power Station

We made a brief stop at the Tungatinah Power Station, which lies close to the Tarraleah Power Station. They both generate hydroelectric power. The pipes that flow up the hill in this image are part of that process as water flows down and into turbines that spin, generating power. In many parts of Tasmania, towns popped up as a result of the temporary work that building and operating stations like this brought. Industries like mining, especially when the gold rush occurred in Tasmania, had a similar effect.

3. Lake St Clair

Our stop at Lake St Clair coincided with lunchtime. We wandered down to the lake to enjoy the view across it and then wandered back up to the bus a little while later. I’d been planning on lunch at the lake but with a time crunch and not many options, I didn’t eat.

One of the really cool parts about Lake St Clair was seeing all the hikers coming off the Overland Track, which is a multi-day hiking trip stretching from Cradle Mountain near Launceston to Lake St Clair, a total of 80km. The quietness and tired look in the hikers’ eyes was a contrast to the energy and excitement that could be seen a couple days later at Marion’s Lookout in Cradle Mountain National Park.

It was also here that I chatted with a few of my fellow tour-mates as we waited for the rest of the group to be ready to head back to the bus.

4. Nelson Falls in Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

Our last outdoorsy excursion of the day was along the Nelson Falls track, leading to — you guessed it — Nelson Falls! The falls were very pretty, and I really did enjoy the number of waterfalls we got to see on our first day. It’s funny — a few of the people on tour were less-than-impressed as they’d seen waterfalls in Southeast Asia and other places, so I’m very much looking forward to some seriously epic waterfalls when I make it to Southeast Asia in another couple months.

5. Queenstown

We made a brief grocery stop in Queenstown before moving toward Strahan for the night. I bet you’d never guess from the images below that Queenstown was once the richest town in Tasmania, would you? But it was. Queenstown was a town at the forefront of the gold rush and the town grew up around the mining industry. Unfortunately, when the mine dried up and was eventually closed, the town lost a lot of wealth, too.

As we headed into Queenstown, we wound along a road that has been affectionately dubbed, “The 99 Bends to Queenstown”. Though I didn’t count them, I’d believe that there were 99 bends in that road. The video below should give you a pretty good idea of just how twisty the roads we were driving on were. This was also one of the most scenic parts of the drive. I was so glad to be on the left-hand side of the van for the window view! Just stunning.

6. Strahan

After a long day of driving, we finally made it to Strahan! My first order of business was to cook because I was absolutely starving at this point. I’d bought an Old El Paso taco kit at the grocery store in Strahan (I’m so glad they have this brand in Australia — a little slice of home!) and mixed up my meat while I set up my toppings of lettuce, cheese, and the Old El Paso salsa. I sat down and demolished half the tacos in the pack (there were 12). So good.

I also did a little meal prepping since I planned to have meat, cheese, and lettuce sandwiches for lunches over the course of the tour. I got all my cheese sliced (the hostel actually had sharp knives, for once) and everything bagged up in the handy-dandy sandwich bags I’d purchased in Sydney (seriously, these things are lifesavers).

Although we’d spent the bulk of the day on the bus, we were all pretty tuckered by the end of the day and after I showered, I crashed into bed, preparing for the 7:00am start time the next morning.

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to leave a like, comment, and share with friends and family! If you’re looking for more frequent updates, follow me on Instagram @cait_around_the_world.