Tasmania Adventures: Day 5, Back Home

We boarded the ship in the evening, and had a good night's sleep, before waking up to the lovely sunrise in the morning.

Standing by the window, watching the sun rise at sea for the first time, it was a wonderful feeling.  These past few days have been the best days I've had in very long time. To see the beautiful wonders of Tasmania, both natural and historical, it's an experience I will never forget.

Tasmania really amazed me in ways that I never thought existed, and it's a place I can say with great definitive sense that I could visit time and time again. It's just been such an incredible ride from the beginning, and I feel so lucky to have experienced it all. Not only have I learned so much more about Tasmania, I've experienced so much over such a short span of time, and it's just been amazing.

Upon arrival, with a bag on shoulders and luggage in hand, I walk out onto Melbourne. A rush of memories plays in my mind, reminding me what a great few days I've had.  Looking around, I realised that I'm home. And I love home, but boy, I wouldn't mind going back to Tasmania again.

Tasmania Adventures: Day 4, Hobart - Devonport

After breakfast, we were back on the road for the last time. We made a stop at Mount Nelson (above) and many took the chance to have photos of themselves taken with the beautiful panoramic scenery in the background.

It striked me that I was a little different from my fellow tour mates. While they take every opportunity to have their photos taken during our trip, I immerse myself in the beautiful Tasmanian scenery and take the opportunity to capture the beauty in pictures. Going through my photos, I realised that I had only one photo of myself throughout the entire trip. I guess I'm more of a photography mused tourist; my love for photography is endless. According to my mum, I should take a photography class next year.

Our next destination - the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.

Ever since I could remember, I didn't think much of botanical gardens. To me, they were huge posh gardens of plants everywhere with names that everyone had trouble pronouncing or remembering (or was it just me?). Even so, I really came to admire those who look after botanical gardens, for keeping the flora preserved so beautifully and creating a serene environment.

We stopped by Ross, viewed the historic Ross Bridge and many of us had scallop pies at Ross General Store, famous for their scallop pies. I had the chicken mushroom pie, second on their menu.We stopped a cheese, cherry and chocolate factory on our way back to Devonport, where our journey first began.

Tasmania Adventures: Day 3, Launceston - Hobart

After a long, long ride on the bus, we finally reached the charming village of Richmond. We visited the oldest church in Australia, St. Johns - built in 1836. After visiting the church, we walked across Australia's oldest bridge to the heart of Richmond. It's a small town, but there's something so magical about it, with old English buildings that you feel like you've stepped into a street in England in the 1800s. I had the most delicious pancakes there, topped with berries and ice-cream, finished with a raspberry milkshake.

Next destination - Port Arthur.

I had been really looking forward to visiting Port Arthur, and I was just in awe of the land. Despite it being a prison, it had really open and picturesque scenery. I had researched Port Arthur for a Geography class,  one thing I learned is that you can read as much as you want off the internet, but coming to the place is where you learn most. We had a tour around the land, and was told of some of the famous and not so known histories and stories. After the tour, we were free to roam around.

We took the opportunity to visit the museum and Separate Prison. Separate Prison is a prison of punishment cells where prisoners are, yes, you know it, confined to a closed cell each to themselves, and not permitted interaction with other prisoners. Many prisoners became insane after experiencing this. We, as humans, we're not built to be alone. We're not built to isolate ourselves from the world. Looking at the cells, I couldn't imagine what it was like to live in a closed cell, surrounded by just bricks with no windows.

When we're little and naughty, adults may send us to our rooms or make us face the corner for a period of time. And even for that short period of time, we feel uneasy and a little lost. Imagine what it's like for these prisoners, who had to experience this for months and even years, in harsher conditions.

We went on a cruise on the waters at Port Arthur. It was a wonderful cruise, with really, really beautiful views. We viewed the other prison camps and was educated more about Port Arthur. One thing I cannot emphasise more is that the cruise really gives you the opportunity to take great photos of the Port Arthur's land itself, and it presents you with absolutely breathtaking views.

On our way to Hobart, we stopped by a couple of attractions, such as Blowhole, Devil's Kitchen and Tasman Arch.

After settling in our hotel, we headed back out and took a 20-minute walk out to the pier, where there was an array of seafood restaurants.  We had our seafood dinner on a small boat on the waters - fish and chips and tiger prawns. We discovered that there was also an overcrowding food festival by the pier, and after dinner, had a short walk around the festival.

I really loved today. Over my life, I've seen so many skyrise buildings and many "tallest monuments in the world" and while it's supposed to be all impressive, it's places like Port Arthur that really touch me. Today was all about the old, and I really loved that. Maybe it's because I'm infatuated with old things to begin with, but today's just one of those days where everything is just so.. perfect.

And to be honest, I haven't had many of those.

Tasmania Adventures: Day 2, Devonport - Launceston

Our second day of the tour started off wonderfully. Our first attraction was the Cradle Mountain, which was about an hour and a half's drive from the hotel. Upon arrival, we took the shuttle bus to Dove Lake, which was where the Cradle Mountain stood. Being listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, Cradle Mountain is a beautiful place. Seeing Cradle Mountain for the first time is like stepping onto a whole new world, with its beauty so gratifying and remaining yet so mysterious.

We stopped by Sheffield, a small town known for their unique and artistic murals.

Our next destination was Cataract Gorge. Now, a little insight about Cataract Gorge. Cataract Gorge is the longest single spanning chairlift in the world, located just a 15-minute walk from the city centre. Apart from the chairlift, you will find walking trails, swimming pool, peacocks and many other aspects of the wildlife. Mum and I took the chairlift, and it was a wonderful experience in which I would recommend to everyone. If chairlifts aren't your thing, go for one of the walks and you will also get the opportunity to capture the magnificent views Cataract Gorge has to offer.

Now, by this time of the day, I thought, 'Wow, this day's been really good. Could it get any better?' The answer? Yes, yes it could.

Our next activity was a cruise down Tamar River. There's one thing about me, and that is that I absolutely love cruises. There's something about the water, the boats and the amazing views that just simply draws me in, and to this day, I have no idea why. The Tamar River cruise seemed timeless. Chances are, it probably only took about 45 mins at the most, but our skipper, Jeremy, had an impressive mount of knowledge about Launceston and the views, were just- well, I was simply in awe. The rock formations, the houses sitting on the hills, the water, the sunshine, the buildings and the boats both old and new -- it was enchanting. And I learned so much more about Australian history. By the end of the cruise, I felt like I had been washed over by a cascade of life, and it just felt so good.

And that was the end of the day. After settling down in our hotel room, Mum and I went down to the shops and after a long walk and familiaring ourselves with the town while looking for a place for dinner, we found a Turkish restaurant by luck, and was served by a really friendly lady, who was handling the store on her own, something which I found of admiration. We took a walk back to the hotel and had our dinner in peace in our hotel room, while having a movie on the telly. Speaking of our hotel room, here are a few photos of it:

I thought it was quite unique to have another room of beds within a room, and had never seen anything like it. If you're ever in Launceston, I would recommend this hotel (Best Western: Balmoral). The rooms are very comfortable and very roomy, and the facilities are great

Gosh, I sound like one of those brochures advertising tourism and how great a country it is. I sound like one of those travel shows with presenters that say 'so just sit back and relax' like they're living in paradise. But you know what? That's exactly how it is. Tasmania has been amazing so far, and truly a paradise. I'm loving it here. It's like.. I haven't had this good of a time in ages. And it's.. it's great.

Tasmania Adventures: Day 1, Devonport

My first photo of Devonport

I’m now sitting on the bus, waiting for the bus to depart Devonport for Launceston. It’s 7.13am and it seems as though everyone is sleepy and tired, as we were to wake up at 5.30am and I suppose not everyone is used to waking up that early. I look out to my right, and I see two ladies taking turns to snap last photos of themselves in this beautiful town, Devonport.

After a long ship cruise, we arrived in Devonport at around 6.45pm last night. As I had never been to Tasmania, it was hard for me to picture how Devonport would be like. In fact, throughout the 9 hours of the boat ride, Devonport had not once crossed my mind. I guess I was just too immersed in experiencing my first ship ride. When the ship had finally stopped with a halt, we went to the open air on the boat and it was then that I got the perfect panorama view of the town. Being me, I grabbed my camera at once and took my first photographs of Tasmania, and I haven’t even step foot on land yet.

From then on, everything was quick and easy. We picked up our baggage, and to my surprise, the bus was already there ready to pick us up. As we moved through the small town of Devonport, I noticed little things here and there about Devonport. I saw that unlike many suburban areas in Melbourne, many houses had large front yards, and most houses cared about their gardens, and this became more and more obvious as we moved through more houses.

It doesn’t take long before you realize that Devonport is a town which has decided to keep their greens and their nature, while developing a neighbourhood with facilities like a cinema, eateries, winery, clothing stores, dentists, doctors and supermarkets.  It’s rare to find a town that’s not fussed about building statuesque infrastructures and keeping up with the ‘trends’. Living in Melbourne, I experience the ‘trends’ and while I’m not about to condemn it, coming here into Devonport, I truly appreciate the small town-y feel and its beautiful parks and piers.

After walking around for about half and hour, Mum and I finally agreed on Pizza Hut. Mum had a margarita pizza while I had lasagna. After we had finished up, we went to Coles and bought fruits, yoghurt and fruit juice. It was a chilly night, but none of us complained as we had a great liking to the town and not even the strong winds could bring us down. We watched a bit of telly, snacked on our fruits and took our showers. We went to sleep at around 11.30pm, both exhausted.