Tasmania's largest city.



On the way to the Cadbury factory.
(photo from Ana)



A souvenir from the Cadbury factory.



Returning to Hobart.
(photo by Martin)

From: Jeff Nyveen To: my friends and family Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 08:21:53 -0400 Subject: Tassie I finally got to my hostel in Launceston. Definitely a different hostel crowd than mainland Australia. Lots of older people, and more Australians. As I was getting ready for bed, an older guy who obviously had a couple of drinks made his way up the stairs and staggered into the room. Ladies and gentlemen, I have never smelt anyone as bad as this guy smelt. And this is after 3+ months of hostelling with fellow backpackers. He smelt like sweaty, super-concentrated vomit. He obviously hadn't showered in weeks. I could barely stand up in that stench, let alone get a decent night's sleep, so I made a bee line to the front desk and demanded that I get a new room for the night. The friendly guy behind the counter nodded and handed over a set of keys before I finished, as if he had been through this procedure many times before. When I went back to the room to get my bags, my smelly friend was crouched over in bed slurping soup. He mumbled something and then went to sleep. The next morning, I got on the bus for my 7-day tour of Tasmania. It was almost entirely filled with young American girls. Very strange. I had met maybe 5 or 6 Americans on all the buses up the east coast and down the center, and then I found myself on a tiny bus filled with Americans. I hate Americans. They're loud and obnoxious. Stupid and stubborn. So willing to show the world how stupid they are. And the girls were no exception. Our guide, Damian, is a really cool Tasmanian guy. A politically aware, nature-loving surfer dude who looks like a young Daniel Stern. Tasmania has been fantastic. Mainland Australia and all of its attractions were so hyped up and commercialized that I always knew what was coming and they rarely lived up to their hype. But Tasmania seems more rugged and undiscovered, and each scenic stop is beautiful and unexpected. I was afraid that it would be cold down here (OK, I'm a wuss), but the weather has been sunny and perfect every day. The highlight of our first day was climbing Mt. Amos. We climbed 450 meters, very rocky and slippery, a more strenuous climb than Ayers Rock. But once reaching the top, we had a terrific view of white beaches, crystal blue water, and surf pounding the rocky cliffs below. After that, we stopped at Kate's Berry Farm and had some homemade strawberry and raspberry ice cream. That evening, we went over to Damian's friend's house to sit in front of a campfire and eat the abalone that Damian had caught for us earlier that afternoon. The next day, we went to Port Arthur, the Alcatraz of Australia. All the convicts from the mainland who re-offended were sent there. A nasty place. Forced labor, solitary confinement, crummy living conditions. There was no way to escape since they were cut off from the rest of Tasmania by a heavily guarded 30 meter stretch of land, and the surrounding bush was impossible to survive in. At night, we took a tour of the buildings, which are supposedly haunted by former inmates and workers. We heard lots of creepy stories, but I didn't see any ghosts. The schmuck of *this* trip is a Dutch guy named Martin. He doesn't speak English, but he loves to talk. Anytime we eat, he offers me a piece of food and tells me it's good for my balls. And as we start to climb Mt. Amos, he shouts, "Let's fuck the animals!" Oh ya, and he smells like ass. Martin is from Friesland, where my grandfather was born. Now I'm in Hobart, or Hobart Town as it used to be known. It's one of Australia's oldest cities and seems like a cute little town. I felt cool wearing my Hobart baseball cap all day long. We had a free day in Hobart, so I met up with a few of my friends from the bus and took a ferry up the Derwent River to the Cadbury chocolate factory. As we walked through the corridors, our guide told us the Cadbury story and taught us how chocolate is mass-produced. I began to have strange "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" flashbacks. We stuffed our faces with samples and then bought huge bags of discounted "reject" chocolate in the chocolate shop. After discovering that I had no money in my wallet while ordering food at a sandwich shop, the woman standing next to me at the counter offered to *drive* me to the nearest ATM which was 4 km away. *Then* she offered to put me up with her brother in Perth when I get out there. Tasmanians are really nice, not weird like everyone says. Tomorrow we begin the second half of our Tasmanian tour, driving up the west coast and back to Launceston. I have the TV on behind me, and I just caught a glimpse of "Fail Safe," a televised play with a lot of name actors that was supposedly shot live. Looks interesting. No Regrets. Jeff

Previous | Home | Next