Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Friday, January 16, 2015

Tasmania is southeast of the Australian Mainland.

LAND HO!!  We docked at Hobart, Tasmania, Australia this morning.  Terra Firma felt great after the ride we had across the Tasman Sea.  I will not choose to cross the Tasman again.  Twice is enough to convince me that I should have stopped after the first ride.  Guess I’m a remedial learner.

Tasmanian Devil found ONLY in Tasmania

We all know this version of the Tasmanian Devil

Hobart, a quaint little place, and the capital of the island state of Tasmania, known colloquially as “Tassie,” was first settled as a penal colony.  Tassie is home to the infamous Tasmanian Devil, found in the wild only in Tasmania.  The size of a small dog, it is characterized by it's stocky, muscular build, black fur, pungent odor, loud screech, keen sense of smell and ferocity when feeding.  We all remember the Looney Toons cartoon about the Tasmanian Devil, yes?  This is where he’s from. 

Mount Wellington is the dominant feature of Hobart’s skyline.  And since it’s the highest place on the island, measuring in at 4,100 feet above sea level, we felt it just needed to be conquered.  

Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

So we signed up for a bike ride from the top of Mount Wellington back to the ship, a mere 22 Kilometers (or 14 miles).  

From the summit, a break in the clouds allowed for one quick photo of the City of Hobart below.

The weather was clearing after five inches of rain yesterday, but just in case, we wore our gortex jackets and everything else we could put on to keep warm.  The drive up the mountain took about half an hour.  The view was spectacular ... what we could see of it through the clouds.

Dodging sleet, we prepared for the ride.

By the time we reached the top, the clouds were slowly encompassing the summit.  The winds were blowing steady at 40 miles an hour and if that’s wasn’t bad enough, it began to sleet.  Yes, sleet.  It was that cold.  But, like the US Postal Service once claimed … "neither rain, snow, sleet nor hail" will stop them … it didn’t stop us either!  We set off on the bikes assuming as we descended, the weather would change.  Change it did!!  

Karen and Monte are ready.

The sleet gradually turned to rain.  My hands were frozen to the handlebars.  The front wheel of my bike was wobbling and I was afraid it was about to come off.  But it turned out, the intensity of my shivering  … from cold AND fear of being blown off the road, caused a chain reaction from the handlebars, continuing to the front tire and  all the way to the pavement.  After I figured out the cause of the wobbles, I calmed down a bit.  The rain was slowing to a gentle mist and things were looking up.  We were nearing the half way mark of the descent when  the skies opened up again.  This time with REAL rain.  I was wearing a baseball cap under my bike helmet, so that deflected some of the rain, but the water thrown off the front wheel was shooting a steady stream of water from the pavement right into my face.  I recall thinking how nice it would be to have wheel fenders.  Simple things in life, right?  Not only was the water being thrown in my face, but it was working it’s way up my back from the rear tire as well.  By now, water is running off my wet jeans inside my shoes.  With each rotation of the peddle, my shoes are sloshing.  I can’t see because my sunglasses are covered with pouring rain and  the onslaught of water from the front wheel.  Just as I wiped some of the water away from my glasses, my heart clutched with a foreboding of disaster … I was facing a bus driving up the narrow, winding road toward me.  I quickly calculated a safe, comfortable distance from the bus, teetering on the edge of the abyss to my left when suddenly, the front wheel of the bus dropped into a pothole and a torrent of water from the puddle washed over me, adding to my already soaked ensemble and nearly knocking me off the road.  At that point, all I could do was laugh hysterically.  I figured I couldn’t get any wetter nor colder, so I may as well relax and enjoy the rest of the ride.  We finally reached the beer brewery our guide had told us about earlier.  I’m not a beer drinker, but I figured I could at least clean my glasses and regroup a bit.  The men had been drooling for miles awaiting an ice cold beer.  I was hoping for a cup of hot tea.  Our guide began talking about the brewery and told us all about how it was originally built to be a lumber mill, but the water from the adjacent stream was so clear, they decided to brew beer instead.  All the while, rain is pouring on us during his lecture.  Turned out, the brewery was just an informational sightseeing stop … not a drink stop.  At that point, I thought we were going to have a mutiny. By the way, I have no photos of the Brewery because it was raining too hard to pull out my camera!  So …  we loaded our wet asses back on the bike seats and continued on.  By now, we were off the main road and entered a bike path … a dirt bike path.  

Just a bit of mud on our backs.

Yup, you guessed it.  We now have mud to add to our already drenched attire.  After getting properly muddied, we reached the city limits and dodged traffic back to the boat.  The rains stopped, allowing time for our water and mud soaked clothes to fully distribute moisture to any remaining dry spots.  We turned in our bikes and helmets and sloshed back to our ship.  She put up a good fight, but we conquered Mount Wellington. A hot shower never felt so good!!

Later, we met Bruce, Gail, Sammy and Mike for cocktails and dinner at Signature, another dining spot on the ship as we sailed away from Tasmania back into … wait for it …  YES! ... The Tasman Sea!  Yup, we have another day at sea to reach Melbourne.  I totally forgot about this sea day, thinking instead that we would arrive in Melbourne tomorrow morning.  The crew is locking down anything that moves in the staterooms as the seas are expected to be rougher tonight and tomorrow than before we reached Tasmania.  Here we go again!!  What was I thinking????   White Trout Lake is looking really nice right about now.  Gotta run.  Time to get strapped in to the bed.