CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

Hey! This is day 7 of my seven-day tour across Tasmania with Under Down Under tours (find out about them here; not sponsored). If you haven’t read about the first six days yet, find them here!

February 25, 2023 — On the final day of my tour across Tasmania, we met outside the hostel again at 7:30am. If you know about what happened the night before, you might have guessed that I was just a bit tired when we boarded the bus that morning. Still, the adrenaline of it being the last day carried me through and I got on the bus, excited to start the day.

We had the same tour guide, Justin, for our final day, but we had a new bus named Ted because not only were some of us finishing our seven-day tour, but others were going on a day tour and more were starting their six-day tour with Under Down Under.

We made our first stop of the day in Richmond in the Cole River Valley. The oldest bridge that is still in use in Tasmania is located here. We saw it at the perfect time of day, too. The world was still quiet, it being too early in the morning for much traffic. The sun melted the early-morning dew off the trees and we wandered along the river, hearing nothing but the rustle of grass and leaves. The bridge is a thing of beauty, like something you might see in the English countryside, arching from one side of the river over to the other. The town itself is so picturesque; I can see why it is a popular tourist stop.

When we got back on the bus, we headed to the Tasman Peninsula. Our morning stops consisted of Eagle Hawk Neck, Pirate’s Bay Lookout, and the Waterfall Bay short walk to the Tasman Arch and the Devil’s Kitchen.

Pirate’s Bay Lookout is actually named for an incident in 1822 where a bush ranger gang took command of the Mayflower, a ship which was returning to Hobart and had pulled into the bay to replenish its drinking water on the way. The gang disappeared with the ship and lent the lookout its name.

Waterfall Bay is actually a much longer hike than the small section we completed; it takes its patrons by several different waterfalls in addition to the stunning cliff scenery that we experienced. We completed a small section that took us past the Tasman Arch and the Devil’s Kitchen. Throughout, we stopped at several lookouts. The scenery here was just spectacular. The cliffs rise so far above the ocean and the waves, which stretch out forever beyond the rise of the land.

When we finished this walk, we drove to the Port Arthur historic site, where some of our group decided to explore the area. The rest of us stayed on board and drove a little further to the Crescent Bay walk. We took about three hours return to walk down to Crescent Bay, a hidden gem of a beach. The views on this hike were gorgeous as well. I was really glad I’d decided to take this tour so that I got to see the Tasman Peninsula; it was breathtaking. When we reached the beach, I went for a little swim even though the water was definitely freezing. I was so warm from the hike and the temperature of the day (it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of thirty degrees Celsius outside) that it felt amazing to cool down in the water.

We packed up and started heading back to the bus with a decent amount of time to spare before we needed to leave. I chose to make the ascent to Mt Brown before heading back to the bus along the path we’d come up. Climbing the path to Mt Brown really put me in mind of Mt Amos (not that the hike took nearly as long) because a good deal of the hike up was up sheer rock face. I made the summit, though, huffing and puffing and feeling accomplished once more as I ticked off another mountain. I placed my own rock on the pile and savoured the view.

I hurried my way back down the path after I got off the mountain as I still wanted to make sure that I could visit Remarkable Cave. Thankfully, I made it back in plenty of time and took the very short fifteen-minute walk down the stairs to see Remarkable Cave. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to get down to the sand to actually walk inside, but all the signage indicated that the parks staff didn’t really want you to do that, anyway. It’s still a really cool sight.

Shortly after I returned topside, we all headed back to the bus and climbed on, heading back to Port Arthur for a brief recharge and to pick up the rest of our group. I grabbed an ice cream and a fruit drink to replenish some sugars, then, in a short while, we were on the bus back to Hobart.

When we got back into Hobart, I got dropped off with one of the other women on my tour at Narrara Backpackers. It was so sad to be leaving the tour; I’d made some amazing memories and met some amazing people. But all good things must come to an end.

With the end of this tour, though, came one of my best hostel experiences so far. The owner and manager of Narrara actually remembered both of us. We were checking in right at the same time (of course) and we were both only staying one night. I was supposed to be in a dorm room and so was she, and Mo — the owner — said, “Let’s see what we can do here” and he put us in a twin room instead of the dorm rooms we had booked. It was such an excellent upgrade to be in a single twin bed without a bunk above me, to only have to share a room with one person after sharing with three other people the night before, and more than that for the previous three weeks. We still only paid what we would have for the dorms we’d booked and got a way better night’s sleep. I revelled in it.

In my last post, I asked you what your worst travelling experience was. Now tell me about your best/favourite experience!

For dinner, I didn’t feel like trying to cook or even having a sandwich from some of my leftover ingredients. I found a Chinese restaurant just a short walk away instead and went there for mixed vegetable fried rice. The dish I got for takeaway was packed to the brim and delicious. I sat in my single bed and ate while I watched Puss in Boots in anticipation of the next day’s activity.

I went to bed full and happy, sated with the experiences of the past seven days and the excitement of what the next weeks would hold as I made my way back to the mainland and up the rest of the east coast of Australia.

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