Well, Australia is full with natural wonders you can see everywhere and a hidden cultural heritage of Aborigines. The journeys made during the last three years in this land mass provided a great insight to us about the geological and cultural history of a land filled with its own unique stories. This little note is about the Van Diemen's land or as most commonly called 'Tasmania'.
The total credit of the journey, its planning and itinerary must go to Pramuditha. She put numbers of hours for tour homework, was able to provide us with a pleasurable memory. First, we planned to get the ferry from Melbourne to Devenport. With all the Christmas vacation, the tickets of the ferry were soon sold out. Hence we had to have a plan B, that is getting a flight. Sydney to Hobart flight cost is somewhat $2000 for three of us. So as the plan C, we drive to the Melbourne and took Jetstar flight from there for $800 and rented a car from Bargain cars at Hobart Airport.
Parking in Melbourne is also cost a large sum. Pramuditha was able to find an Airbnb place which they allow us to park our vehicle at their home, drop us to the airport and pick up again as well as rooms for a stay which all costs only $105. Ethel and her husband must appreciate for their kind support as well as their entrepreneur attempt on such matters.
We left Sydney on 24th December 2018 around 9.30pm and booked a place at Goulburn for the overnight stay. Fortunately the owner of the house not available at that night as we checked in late midnight. Though the place was not that clean, we were able to manage everything and left Goulburn around 6.00 am. No need to mention the trouble I came with a manual air pump which inflated the tyres to 64pi!!. On the way, a Coles Shell filling station had a digital meter for a reveal.
Driving from Goulburn to Melbourne done in two stops. First stop was Holbrook, a small town in Hume Highway which is famous for its HMAS Otway submarine. Little nap for me and play time for Thumula re-energised us. After 63 km we stopped for filling at Albury and continued the journey for another 315km to reach Melbourne at 1.30 pm. The flight was at 4.00 pm from Domestic departure terminal 4, flight JQ 711 Jetstar. We are on board, yet Thumula was asleep. He missed the view.
Landed Hobart around 5.00 pm we faced several problems. Pramuditha paid a cafe by using her ANZ card and asked me about her Commonwealth debit card which I might use for getting a cart at the Melbourne airport. It seems I've lost it. Oh dear. It took us a while to call the bank and cancel the card then proceed to the bag collection point. No bags and no one to ask!! Finally, as we could locate they are in the arrival desk of Jetstar. Finally, we went to the Bargain cars information desk, and the lady in the reception asked us to deposit another $500 as a security deposit other than the paid $800. My debit card was drained, and Pramuditha's one lost we were in chaos. Then we had to get a premium cover of $150, which hopefully happened for good. Here we are with all our baggage and car ready, looking forward to the endeavour.
Stayed at Father Shammi's church with Nilusha and her family who came in the morning of the same day. The Bishop's house is a nice cosy place with two separate guests rooms with attached bathrooms and a shared kitchen. Fortunately, we bought some rice and cooking essentials for prepare the meals of the day as not a single shop was open in the Christmas Eve. All of us had a nice dinner anyway. Thumula had a nice play time too.
Next day to the Museum. The actual plan was to watch Unzoo: the Tasmanian Devil zoo, but at the last moment, we changed the plan while Nilusha's family headed to Taranna. Museum filled with lots of informative galleries including the Aboriginal shell industries and Thylacine gallery. It is a shame how the Thylacine or so-called Tasmanian Tiger were hunted down to its extinction. At the time 1 pound was paid for one killed adult tiger and 10cents per a juvenile. Recently, they announced the Tasmanian state is ready to give a price of $1.5 million for anyone who can report a tiger, which some belief lives in further inland of the forest reservoir. Yes, indeed the human race is cancer infected the earth. Am I not a single cell!!
Headed to Taranna to find Nilusha and others was not a success as no phone reception available there. We managed to reach Eaglehawk Neck at 2.35 pm, five minutes late to the actual departure time for the boat ride. Finally, we found our colleagues from there and fortunately it was only us to the trip. Damian was helpful, and knowledgeable gentlemen who work for marine conservation and working part with Sea Shepherds gave us one of the most delightful experience we ever had. The coastal rock formations, waterfall, dolphins, seals and albatross in a 30 km round trip was an extraordinary tour. I was able to manage my motion sickness and fortunately, Damian did not leave boat stopped for a more extended period. At the arrival back to the deck had some snacks and, 'Doo-Lishus' a mobile cafe had a nice 'Monte-Carlo' couldn't refuse to my self. Their berry range from strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry ice cream and yoghurt
The third and the last destination was Port Arthur, which we behind the time when we visit. Anyway, by looking all the site in minutes, the reception let us in for a discounted rate. The total settlement stands for the memories of convicts, military and English rule over the land. The silent prison yet makes an echo through the mind. The level of conservation and the site presentation must be appreciated.
Following day, we headed to the Lake St Clair, 200m deep, the deepest lake in Australia. Though it recalls us the extensive Sri Lankan irrigation works, the unique rock formations of basalt, quartz, dolerite and sandstones polished and bolded by the lake waves creates something attractive to the visitors. Collected basalt rock piece contains air bubble marks as a result of a volcanic lava formation. There must be some other exciting formations in the region, but as we are running out of time, we had to leave St Clair and drive to Cradle Hills. It was a 200km drive through historical Queenstown, a mining settlement for gold and copper. Though the speed limit is 100km/h, the zigzag road won't allow speeding ahead of 60kmh. Lucky we were able to notice our first encounter with an Echidna in it's natural to environ.
Cradle mountain was also able to recall us the Horton Plains in Sri Lanka with its cloud rainforest and grasslands. The Dove lake creates a unique view with mountain background. Though we did not complete a track, the time spent at the Dove lake with Nilusha's family definitely a good memory for Thumula and Pramuditha. We had to adieu them from that point onwards. They had to drive back to Hobart and left Tasmania the next morning while we continued our journey to Launceston.
Not to mention the mess I come up by ordering food from an Indian restaurant, which ended us with two curry boxes and one rice box, our stay at Launceston was also a good time. The Cataract Gorge scenic chairlift and Platypus-echidna-sea horse encounter at Beuty Point added new knowledge and insight. Then to Lavender farm at Nabowla and to Weymouth fossil bay. The Fossil bay was mentioned as contains some crystalised wood, which we are not that much familiar with. So we had to collect some arbitrary specimens. Then another three-hour drive to Scamander through a zigzag road in midnight while wild animals roaming around. That is one of the best animal encounters we ever had. Hundreds of possums, wallabies and quolls are running all over the road, where we had to keep the car at its minimum speed to avoid a single hit. Gratefully, we were able to manage the whole trip without a single animal death, other than small bugs which I am feeling sorry about. At the end of the journey, the front rego plate was covered with tiny bugs corpses.
Spend the night at Blue Seas holiday villas, Scamander, a beachfront hotel located next to the estuary of Scamander river.
The total credit of the journey, its planning and itinerary must go to Pramuditha. She put numbers of hours for tour homework, was able to provide us with a pleasurable memory. First, we planned to get the ferry from Melbourne to Devenport. With all the Christmas vacation, the tickets of the ferry were soon sold out. Hence we had to have a plan B, that is getting a flight. Sydney to Hobart flight cost is somewhat $2000 for three of us. So as the plan C, we drive to the Melbourne and took Jetstar flight from there for $800 and rented a car from Bargain cars at Hobart Airport.
Parking in Melbourne is also cost a large sum. Pramuditha was able to find an Airbnb place which they allow us to park our vehicle at their home, drop us to the airport and pick up again as well as rooms for a stay which all costs only $105. Ethel and her husband must appreciate for their kind support as well as their entrepreneur attempt on such matters.
We left Sydney on 24th December 2018 around 9.30pm and booked a place at Goulburn for the overnight stay. Fortunately the owner of the house not available at that night as we checked in late midnight. Though the place was not that clean, we were able to manage everything and left Goulburn around 6.00 am. No need to mention the trouble I came with a manual air pump which inflated the tyres to 64pi!!. On the way, a Coles Shell filling station had a digital meter for a reveal.
Driving from Goulburn to Melbourne done in two stops. First stop was Holbrook, a small town in Hume Highway which is famous for its HMAS Otway submarine. Little nap for me and play time for Thumula re-energised us. After 63 km we stopped for filling at Albury and continued the journey for another 315km to reach Melbourne at 1.30 pm. The flight was at 4.00 pm from Domestic departure terminal 4, flight JQ 711 Jetstar. We are on board, yet Thumula was asleep. He missed the view.
Landed Hobart around 5.00 pm we faced several problems. Pramuditha paid a cafe by using her ANZ card and asked me about her Commonwealth debit card which I might use for getting a cart at the Melbourne airport. It seems I've lost it. Oh dear. It took us a while to call the bank and cancel the card then proceed to the bag collection point. No bags and no one to ask!! Finally, as we could locate they are in the arrival desk of Jetstar. Finally, we went to the Bargain cars information desk, and the lady in the reception asked us to deposit another $500 as a security deposit other than the paid $800. My debit card was drained, and Pramuditha's one lost we were in chaos. Then we had to get a premium cover of $150, which hopefully happened for good. Here we are with all our baggage and car ready, looking forward to the endeavour.
Stayed at Father Shammi's church with Nilusha and her family who came in the morning of the same day. The Bishop's house is a nice cosy place with two separate guests rooms with attached bathrooms and a shared kitchen. Fortunately, we bought some rice and cooking essentials for prepare the meals of the day as not a single shop was open in the Christmas Eve. All of us had a nice dinner anyway. Thumula had a nice play time too.
Next day to the Museum. The actual plan was to watch Unzoo: the Tasmanian Devil zoo, but at the last moment, we changed the plan while Nilusha's family headed to Taranna. Museum filled with lots of informative galleries including the Aboriginal shell industries and Thylacine gallery. It is a shame how the Thylacine or so-called Tasmanian Tiger were hunted down to its extinction. At the time 1 pound was paid for one killed adult tiger and 10cents per a juvenile. Recently, they announced the Tasmanian state is ready to give a price of $1.5 million for anyone who can report a tiger, which some belief lives in further inland of the forest reservoir. Yes, indeed the human race is cancer infected the earth. Am I not a single cell!!
Headed to Taranna to find Nilusha and others was not a success as no phone reception available there. We managed to reach Eaglehawk Neck at 2.35 pm, five minutes late to the actual departure time for the boat ride. Finally, we found our colleagues from there and fortunately it was only us to the trip. Damian was helpful, and knowledgeable gentlemen who work for marine conservation and working part with Sea Shepherds gave us one of the most delightful experience we ever had. The coastal rock formations, waterfall, dolphins, seals and albatross in a 30 km round trip was an extraordinary tour. I was able to manage my motion sickness and fortunately, Damian did not leave boat stopped for a more extended period. At the arrival back to the deck had some snacks and, 'Doo-Lishus' a mobile cafe had a nice 'Monte-Carlo' couldn't refuse to my self. Their berry range from strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry ice cream and yoghurt
The third and the last destination was Port Arthur, which we behind the time when we visit. Anyway, by looking all the site in minutes, the reception let us in for a discounted rate. The total settlement stands for the memories of convicts, military and English rule over the land. The silent prison yet makes an echo through the mind. The level of conservation and the site presentation must be appreciated.
Following day, we headed to the Lake St Clair, 200m deep, the deepest lake in Australia. Though it recalls us the extensive Sri Lankan irrigation works, the unique rock formations of basalt, quartz, dolerite and sandstones polished and bolded by the lake waves creates something attractive to the visitors. Collected basalt rock piece contains air bubble marks as a result of a volcanic lava formation. There must be some other exciting formations in the region, but as we are running out of time, we had to leave St Clair and drive to Cradle Hills. It was a 200km drive through historical Queenstown, a mining settlement for gold and copper. Though the speed limit is 100km/h, the zigzag road won't allow speeding ahead of 60kmh. Lucky we were able to notice our first encounter with an Echidna in it's natural to environ.
Cradle mountain was also able to recall us the Horton Plains in Sri Lanka with its cloud rainforest and grasslands. The Dove lake creates a unique view with mountain background. Though we did not complete a track, the time spent at the Dove lake with Nilusha's family definitely a good memory for Thumula and Pramuditha. We had to adieu them from that point onwards. They had to drive back to Hobart and left Tasmania the next morning while we continued our journey to Launceston.
Not to mention the mess I come up by ordering food from an Indian restaurant, which ended us with two curry boxes and one rice box, our stay at Launceston was also a good time. The Cataract Gorge scenic chairlift and Platypus-echidna-sea horse encounter at Beuty Point added new knowledge and insight. Then to Lavender farm at Nabowla and to Weymouth fossil bay. The Fossil bay was mentioned as contains some crystalised wood, which we are not that much familiar with. So we had to collect some arbitrary specimens. Then another three-hour drive to Scamander through a zigzag road in midnight while wild animals roaming around. That is one of the best animal encounters we ever had. Hundreds of possums, wallabies and quolls are running all over the road, where we had to keep the car at its minimum speed to avoid a single hit. Gratefully, we were able to manage the whole trip without a single animal death, other than small bugs which I am feeling sorry about. At the end of the journey, the front rego plate was covered with tiny bugs corpses.
Spend the night at Blue Seas holiday villas, Scamander, a beachfront hotel located next to the estuary of Scamander river.
