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11/18/2007 Archived Entry: "Tassie Countryside"

Vegimite is like a jelly spread made of veggies. It isn't horrible. but it is an acquired taste. They usually put it on toast. They have wonderful debates on whether you should put it on thick or thin.

Apple and Pear stands are all over country. These people are trusting. Basically they are just open stands with bags of apple and pears and an honor box for payment. In the states this is refered to as free food.

The country side is gorgeous. No billboards.

Some notes on traffic laws. Parking signs say 1P or 2P or something like P5. It may even say 4P meter. Basically this means this 1P is parking one hour. 2P is two hours parking. Not be confused with P5 which means 5 minutes. The number is after the P not before it. If the word meter is on the sign that means you poy to park there for up to so many hours. If you don't pay the ticket is $25

Since there is a lack of artificial colors chocolate milk is still basically white. Chocolate milkshakes are also basically white. However they are heavy on the blender. They make their shakes pretty thin. If they ever had a Frosty from Wendy's they would think it was a food joke.

Lobster is not called lobster. It's Crawfish, which is nothing like the New Orleans delicacy that comes in a bite size snack. Also it's Craw-Fish (kraw-fish) not (cray-fish). And they have no idea what a crawdad is.

My wife has been thrilled to notice the lack of Mosquitoes.

Today we drove up to Freycienet Park and Wineglass Bay. This is a gorgeous drive. It is rement of driving the Pacific Coast highway around Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. The roads are narrow and winding. In driving school they teach you to drive with one hand at 10:00 and one at 2:00. That is a recipe for disaster here. You have one hand at 12:00 and the other on the shifter. If you want to rent an automatic in tassie you pay extra if they even have one. If you can't drive a stick you are in a bit of hurt. They really don't have those down here.

The long and winding roads have a speeds of anywhere from 25k to 100k and feel like you are on an wild ride at the amusment park. It is great driving.

Small sidenote:
Tassie has very dry air. You must drink lots of water while you are here. Else you get dehydrated.

I mention this because my wife failed in this. And driving on this set of roads is like a carnival ride. She got car sick. There are no emergency lanes.

Warning it is not nice to snicker when wife is getting car sick.

The drive to Wineglass Bay is about 2-3 hours. I suggest for your first time you double it. There are many gorgeous bays and beaches along the way you will want to stop at. There are also wineries you will want to stop and sample a few glasses at.

So as we made our way to Freycienet Park we stop at one of the beaches and checked the area out. Saw some starfish and gorgeous shells.

When we finally reached Freycienet Park we went to a game reserve they have there. There is an abundance of huge ducks that hang out there. It is a prime hunting area. My wife thanked me in advance for getting us shot. Meanwhile it was off season. The ducks never let you get close but in a few pictures you might see a few of them. You will also learn every little island or growth in the lake is fake and used by hunters for camoufloge. They place tall grasses around a frame and hang out inside. And with the good aussie spirit most of the frames are made up of signs and posts that restrict certain activities.

Now wildlife in Tassie is a bit different. In the city you are not likely to see much. Maybe a Bitarong that has escaped from a nearby wildlife park and that is about it. However for roadkill you will see all sorts. We say dead Platapus, Wallibies, Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, and maybe a fox(debatable). But live wildlife is tough. Now I know why most of it is nocturnal and avoids human contact for the most part.

Well I get the exception. I was driving back from the game reserve on a unsealed road(dirt road). And in the middle of the road is a huge Echinda. This is not some small cute little thing it's huge. So we follow it back to an empty stump took some photos and left it alone. My wife refered to it as the most tramatic five minutes of the Echinda's live. I refered to it as the perfect moment in my vacation.

As we drove through the Park we saw soem Wallybe. Even one with a baby in the pouch.

We finally made it to the main area of the Park. I would recommend if you ever want to go camping and hiking go here and dedicate at least 4 days. Yes you can easily spend that much time there if not more. We went simple and took the 3 hour excersion to Wineglass Bay lookout. This area is simply amazing. The path right now is not easy. It isn't handicap accesible. They are building a wimpy boring path that will be finished next month but this was much more fun. I have to admit though I was a bit discouraged by the gent who insisted on jogging up the path. Setting his watch checking his heartbeat made me feel like I was back in the states. I felt like chasing him with a pack of cigs and some twinkies yelling you forgot something. But that would mean I would have to exert myself and find a pack of cigs and twinkies.

I have to admit I was just stunned by how amazing this trip was. If this place had some heat it would be just about perfect.

More pictures:
http://www.brendhanhorne.com/coppermine_dir/thumbnails.php?album=117

One small note I mentioned before the lack of pennies. The one place they will get you with that is at the gas station. They always round up to the nearest nickel or dime. So remember that when you pump your petrol.

When you are lounging around in you hotel room make sure you have a bag of Tim Tam's. It a chocolate biscuit (cookie) that is just fun to munch on.