Hiking in Tasmania

Location: Tasmania University
Weather: Cold/Rainy/Warm/Sunny/Changing

Well I'm now in Tasmania, flew here last week to Launceston. Just done The Overland Track, which is an 80km bushwalk through the middle of nowhere. You have to take a tent, a sleeping bag(which I hired) and food because there are no shops and only huts(which may be full or may be empty) and camping sites long the way. It turned into an 110km 8 day affair, because I cleverely thought there would be gas stoves in the huts, but there weren't so I had to take a 20km detour back to the start on the 2nd day and buy a gas stove, but I did run into a couple of girls on the way back who felt so sorry for me that they have now invited me to their house in Melbourne, so I cannot complain! Also I did a few side walks and climbed Tasmania's highest mountain - Mt.Ossa which was a proper climb over rocks and all sorts, I even had to dodge 2 snakes during the 2 hours it took to get there! I also had a great time when I was sitting by Fergusson Falls (a waterfall) and some woman decided to fall off a ledge and break her wrist/seriously concus her head and knock my camera in the cascading falls. She had to be helicoptered out and was ok apparently, but my camera is lost along with all my photos from HK/Sydney/Melbourne

Tasmania is a good place, on the track I saw Wallabies, Potaroo's, Pademelons, Possums(who are the most lairy animal I've ever encountered, they have no fear of humans and don't mind going into your tent to try to steal your food), black/brown snakes, Quolls (native fruit-eating cats) but so far no Tasy Devils and I just missed seeing a wild Platypus and Echidna. I'll probably be here until next weekend and then go back to Melbourne.

By JamesReed on 20.02.04 @ 04:40 AM GMT