If you thought we were done with van life, think again! What better way to explore the tiny* island of Tasmania? (*it didn’t feel quite as tiny when we got there, we could have used another week or two!)
Even though we swore if we ever lived out of a van again we would get a bigger one that we could at least sit up inside, our budget consciousness prevailed and we got ourselves another Spaceships van rental (with a loyalty discount, we’re probably their best customers). Our Tasmania van was named Shooting Star, and we can’t say we felt the same fondness of it that we did our dear Spyro in NZ. This one had a bad smell (we think mold), didn’t have a solar panel to recharge the battery so we had to turn off our fridge at night, and overall was a bit run down. We won’t hold it against her though, Shooting Star got us across all of the wild Tassie roads and kept us warm at night. And we got to explore a special part of Australia that a lot of people don’t get a chance to!

Hobart and the Surrounding Bush

The biggest town on Tasmania is Hobart, which is where we flew in and picked up/dropped off our van. Our first day we went to the top of Mt. Wellington and got a beautiful view of the city, plus our first taste of the cold. I thought Australia is supposed to be hot in the summer??

We spent a morning in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, where we learned a lot about the horrific history of how the Aboringal people were treated. Tasmania’s history is especially horrible compared to the rest of Australia, and the exhibit laying out the timeline was very well done and we highly recommend it.

We didn’t make it too far out of the city for our first wilderness adventure. We did a waterfall hike to Russell Falls and Horseshoe Falls in Mt. Field National Park and decided to just spend the night there when we saw how beautiful the campground was. It was our first experience with Tasmanian wildlife with wallabies all around us, and we could not have been more excited! We also spent a couple days in the Hartz Mountains National park but got rained out of the hike halfway through. Can’t win them all.

The East Coast

We started our east coast journey at the north end in the Bay of Fires. We figured it was named after the spectacular orange color of the rocks along the coastline, but learned it was actually after the number of campfires typically lit all along the coastline by the aboriginals. We spent a day driving and walking along the coast admiring the rocks. 

Our next stop was the Freycinet Peninsula where I found a truly epic hike up Mt. Amos. The reviews I read mentioned it was pretty hard but that the views were worth it, so I figured we were up for the challenge. I had no idea what I had gotten us into though! We literally climbed up a mountain, about as vertical as you could get without just calling it rock climbing. The going up wasn’t so bad, but I was definitely nervous about the going down. Once we made it to the top, though, it was absolutely worth it. 360 degree views of the water, including the absolutely gorgeous Wineglass Bay. So no regrets, even for having to slide down the entire trail on my butt on the way down.

We ended our coastal journey at the south end of the island on the Tasman Peninsula, where I admittedly once again got us into a hike that was much harder than expected. But this one wasn’t my fault – the AllTrails elevation map didn’t list the last ~1,000 ft of up and down elevation. I can’t say it was a fun surprise, but it was truly breathtaking despite the added workout! We also stopped at the Devil’s Arch and the Tessellated Pavement on the way out of the peninsula. The Tessellated Pavement was especially interesting – created only by natural forces, the rock has been cracked and formed into almost perfect geometric shapes. Nature is cool!

On our way back from the Tasman Peninsula hike, we saw a “free beer” sign pointing to a camping group in the campground where we parked our car. Hard to say no to that of course, so we ventured over to introduce ourselves. It turned out to be a group of local guys who had spent the day crayfish trapping and were celebrating their huge haul and starting their crayfish boil (they had clearly started celebrating a while before we got there). They were very nice and we ended up hanging out for a beer with them and admiring the HUGE crayfish they had caught. Before we left, they let us try one and it was truly some of the best seafood we’ve ever tasted. They were eating well that night!

The Wildlife

The true highlight of Tasmania was all of the wildlife. As much as we loved New Zealand (and it’s lack of poisonous critters), it was very exciting to see some animals again! 

• Wallabies – Starting our first night camping in the bush, there were about 5 wallabies that were hopping around our van. We couldn’t believe our luck at choosing such an exciting wildlife location! Fast forward to the end of our week however, and we had seen so many wallabies that it wasn’t even noteworthy if they were near. They’re not exactly a rare sight, but are definitely cute!
• Echidnas – we didn’t even know these existed before we got here, but they have officially become one of our favorite animals. They look like a hedgehog but are actually most closely related to a platypus and are one of the only mammals that lay eggs. The first one we saw didn’t care about us at all and let us get pretty close to gawk and take pictures. We’ve since come across a few more while hiking and they all get scared and try to hide (pretty unsuccessfully, maybe not the smartest little guys). We will never get tired of seeing them!
• Pademelons – they look like tiny wallabies, maybe just a bit bigger than a squirrel. We saw dozens of them our last couple nights camping.
• Possums – we came across a few ravaging through the outdoor kitchen at our last campsite (gross). They’re actually a protected species in Australia, a huge contrast to NZ who will pay you to kill them!
• Kookaburras – very cool looking and quite common. We find them a little creepy, they’re always watching and their laugh sounds like they’re plotting a world takeover.

The Roads

We’ve driven on some pretty bad and narrow roads on this trip, but I think Tasmania takes the award for weirdest roads. At one point we were on a major highway when it turned into a 4WD only dirt road so we had to turn around and find a different highway (which also ended up as a dirt road for like 10 miles, I may add). I guess you can get away with that on such a tiny island!

Spirit of Tasmania

Rather than flying to mainland Australia, we took the true Tassie route and took the “Spirit of Tasmania” ferry. At a journey of 12 hours, it felt more like a little cruise ship than a ferry. We treated ourselves to a little cabin so we could sleep on the way, and the time went by surprisingly quickly. It’s a cool experience if you have the time!

We somehow only managed to scratch the surface of all Tasmania has to offer. We would love to come back someday and explore the west side of the island, and maybe even see the elusive Tasmanian devil!

Christine