It has been so long I have not written about my travelling journal. So, here I am writing it again. 😆
Alhamdulillah, I officially finished my first year of the degree. This semester was tough and challenging for me. To appreciate myself, I plan a trip to refresh my mind. Directly after I finished my last exam, I planned this trip with Kak Dina and Kak Anin. We had a plan to have a trip together after the exam, but hadn't planned anything, even about the destination. Thus, this trip was only planned a week beforehand. Overall, I am so glad that finally we chose to go to Tasmania. This place is really beautiful!
Alhamdulillah, I officially finished my first year of the degree. This semester was tough and challenging for me. To appreciate myself, I plan a trip to refresh my mind. Directly after I finished my last exam, I planned this trip with Kak Dina and Kak Anin. We had a plan to have a trip together after the exam, but hadn't planned anything, even about the destination. Thus, this trip was only planned a week beforehand. Overall, I am so glad that finally we chose to go to Tasmania. This place is really beautiful!
Day 1: Hobart City
We departed from Melbourne at 7.15 AM from Tullamarine Airport and landed in Hobart, Tasmania around 8.30 AM. We booked the Airbnb in West Moonah and went there directly from the airport using Uber. I can recommend my place to stay as it was really convenient and clean. The host was so nice as well. Click the link for more information: Airbnb West Moonah, Hobart .
On the first day, we spent the time to explore Hobart city. As we hadn't rented the car on the first day, we tried to use public transport (bus) to the city. The bus stop is located near the homestay. However, the bus frequency is very rare considering the small city. Most of people use their own car. We did not need to buy the card as we can pay the bus driver in cash. For one ride, we payed $2.4.
Our first destination was MONA Museum. To get there, we should transfer to the other bus route and need to pay twice. Thus, actually the price of using Uber was not too expensive compared to using the bus. MONA Museum is a very cool museum I've ever visited in Melbourne. With only $27, we can explore so many things. This money is so much worth it. The building seems to be so small from outside, but actually it has a broad place inside as it uses underground level. It offers exhibition from a wide range of theme. We were provided with a device to learn more about the exhibition.
After MONA, we went to Salamanca to have lunch. Since the bus frequency was less, we decided to take Uber which was more convenient. On Sunday, this area is occupied for Salamanca market. However, on the other day, we can enjoy many restaurants along this area. After looking for a place, we finally decided to eat fish and chips around the pier.
We then took a bus again to visit Tasmania Royal Botanical Garden. For me, this place is very beautiful compared to the other royal botanical garden that I have visited before. Or maybe because it has been spring while my visit to the other garden was on the winter. However, this garden offers different style from Japanese to French garden. I really like it.
Day 2: Mount Wellington - Port Arthur
We rented the car from Europcar for the trip onwards as the locations are hard to be reached by public transport. The car rent in Tasmania is very convenient since we can book it in Hobart and return it in Launceston which was suitable with our trip route. We got a brand new Baleno car which the initial distance was only 10km. Our first destination in the second day was Mount Wellington where we could see Hobart's view from the top. From Hobart city, it took about half an hour to reach Mount Wellington. The view was soooo magnificent!! And we did not have to pay anything for this.
Our next stop was Port Arthur. It was a small area for former convict settlement built during the British Empire. We reached there in 2 hours from Mount Wellington. In Port Arthur, we had a walking tour and listened to the story about this heritage area. This site is very wide and we can take a look to the buildings and houses there. The place is very beautiful and really put into a good care. We also took a ferry to see small islands around the site which includes the cemetery island and other important site. We paid $32 for all this package. Exploring this wide site took a lot of time, but I really enjoyed it.
Day 3: Wine Glass Bay - Cataract Gorge
On the third day, we went to the north. Our first destination was Wine Glass Bay. I drove around 2.5 hrs to get there. The view along the way was soooo beautiful. I really enjoyed my drive since the road was not full of cars, thus it was not boring at all as I could drive smoothly. Things I realized when I was there, I saw so many dead animals on the road. How sad. They must be out during the night, while the road has no road lighting.
Once we arrived, we went to the visitor centre to buy the ticket. We paid vehicle ticket which includes the passengers, $24. Wine Glass Bay is a part of Freycinet National Park. Unfortunately, we arrived at Wine Glass Bay when it was so cloudy. It was even raining at first. To get to the lookout, we did trekking for about 1.5 hrs return. Maybe because it was so cloudy, the view was not as good as I thought. The water was not that blue. The view reminded me of Pulau Padar, Labuan Bajo, which for me is way more beautiful hehe. However, I really enjoyed my trekking there. We also found several animals such as wallaby and echidna! How cute!
After that, we continued our trip to Cataract Gorge in Launceston. From Wine Glass Bay, it took around 2 hrs to get there. It is a free big public reserve. There is a sky lift there to enjoy the view from the top. However, when we got there around 5.15 PM, it had been closed. Thus, we just walked around to enjoy the scenery. We even found peacock there! And he was set free. This place is very suitable to relax with family. It has a big pool and even public BBQ spot.
We had a dinner in Launceston city before going to our Airbnb. The city was small and quiet at night. Although we did not have a lot of options for dinner, luckily we found a good Thai restaurant. We then took about 1.5 hrs to get to our Airbnb in Barrington. We wanted to save our time by choosing the place which only 1 hr away from Craddle Mountain, our next destination. Barrington area is in the suburb. As we drove at night, we just relied on our car light. Our Airbnb is quite unique. We stayed in eco-friendly homestay which even has composting facility for their toilet. It was like back to nature since this place has no wifi and there is no data signal in that area. Click this link for more information: Airbnb Barrington.
On the third day, we went to the north. Our first destination was Wine Glass Bay. I drove around 2.5 hrs to get there. The view along the way was soooo beautiful. I really enjoyed my drive since the road was not full of cars, thus it was not boring at all as I could drive smoothly. Things I realized when I was there, I saw so many dead animals on the road. How sad. They must be out during the night, while the road has no road lighting.
Once we arrived, we went to the visitor centre to buy the ticket. We paid vehicle ticket which includes the passengers, $24. Wine Glass Bay is a part of Freycinet National Park. Unfortunately, we arrived at Wine Glass Bay when it was so cloudy. It was even raining at first. To get to the lookout, we did trekking for about 1.5 hrs return. Maybe because it was so cloudy, the view was not as good as I thought. The water was not that blue. The view reminded me of Pulau Padar, Labuan Bajo, which for me is way more beautiful hehe. However, I really enjoyed my trekking there. We also found several animals such as wallaby and echidna! How cute!
After that, we continued our trip to Cataract Gorge in Launceston. From Wine Glass Bay, it took around 2 hrs to get there. It is a free big public reserve. There is a sky lift there to enjoy the view from the top. However, when we got there around 5.15 PM, it had been closed. Thus, we just walked around to enjoy the scenery. We even found peacock there! And he was set free. This place is very suitable to relax with family. It has a big pool and even public BBQ spot.
We had a dinner in Launceston city before going to our Airbnb. The city was small and quiet at night. Although we did not have a lot of options for dinner, luckily we found a good Thai restaurant. We then took about 1.5 hrs to get to our Airbnb in Barrington. We wanted to save our time by choosing the place which only 1 hr away from Craddle Mountain, our next destination. Barrington area is in the suburb. As we drove at night, we just relied on our car light. Our Airbnb is quite unique. We stayed in eco-friendly homestay which even has composting facility for their toilet. It was like back to nature since this place has no wifi and there is no data signal in that area. Click this link for more information: Airbnb Barrington.
Day 4: Craddle Mountain
This was our last day in Tasmania and I was so excited to go to Cradle Mountain. It took about 1 hr from Barrington. In the morning, we could see so many farms with many cows, sheeps, and Llamas along the way. It was so cold in the morning and little bit cloudy. Once we arrived, we purchased the ticket in the visitor centre. Since on the other day, we had gone to Freycinet National Park, here we could get the discount since Cradle Mountain includes in Tasmania parks and wildlife service. We got $10 discount which was not too bad for us.
In Cradle Mountain area, there are several points to explore. People usually spend days to explore this place. However, we had no time for that. Thus, we just picked the most popular ones. There was a shuttle bus which brought us to several different points from the visitor centre. First, we went to Dove Lake which is the most popular destination. We took 3 hrs walk around the lake. I really enjoyed my walk and the view I could see from the different angle of the lake. We entered the bush and forest, went up, and went down again.
Actually I would love to walk around wombat area, however we did not have time. Thus, we just took another 20 minutes in Enchanted Walk to enjoy the river. But, we did see wombat from the bus! We then had our lunch in visitor centre and directly went back to Launceston Airport which took 2 hrs from there. It was not that surprising that our speedometer had reached more than 10,000 kilos when we returned this new car hahaha.
Alhamdulillah I got the opportunity to go to Tasmania this year. This place is so adorable. All the nature beautiful scenery are so enjoyable. One of the best thing is that all the places are super clean. Thanks to Kak Anin and Kak Dina who made everything was so easy and absolutely fun. In total, we drove more than 10,000 in four days and at least walked 15,000 steps per day. I love this trip so much! Really want to go to NZ next year. Hopefully I have another opportunity to go! :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment