Time traveling – in Tasmania.

NB: with this post about the place I visited before the lockdown I want to bring you some positivism, beauty and the reassurance that we will all get a chance to see great different places again. Meanwhile I encourage you not to violate the stay-at-home regime. Instead I hope you’re using this time for catching up on what you never seemed to find the time to do… ‘before’ :).

These here tales from the Tasmanian side hail back to the pre-lockdown era. When planes flew in the skies, ships sailed upon the seas, more than just a trickle of cars drove on the roads, and similarly more than just a few folks walked along sidewalks. Alas, that’s all in the past; in the future too, eventually, but who knows when? All the same, I’m going to write this here blogpost as if we have traveled forward in time – to when planes actually take off and land around the world!

Now, Tasmanian tourism, at least for folks who don’t live in the southeastern corner of a world map, well, it suffers a bit a ton for one simple reason: its very location. See where I’m going with this? Here’s a clue: to get to Tasmania you first need to fly to the nearest (enormous) land mass and then take a connecting flight. And there’s that (not small) simple reason I mentioned – mainland Australia (let’s not forget that Tasmania is an island state of Australia)! And as you’ll probably know – especially if you’re a regular reader of this here blog of mine – mainland Australia is off-the-scale oh-my-grandiose when it comes to its many tourisms. I mean, there’s Sydney. There’s Surfers Paradise. There’s Ayer’s Rock (pics only; Russian text). There’s Kimberley. And a whole lot more. Accordingly, normally you need to be one of two kinds of folks to ever get as far as Tasmania: either (i) a tourist from afar (e.g., Russia!) who’s been to Oz, done Oz, and already lost the t-shirt somewhere long ago; or (ii) someone who lives in Australia! And when it comes to the mix between (i) and (ii), it’s the latter that make up most of the tourists who come visit the island.

So, considering that most of you, dear readers, have never been to Tasmania, and maybe never will (this is rather a depressing thought, as this place is outstandingly beautiful and deserves hoards of incoming tourists), I think it’s only right for someone who’s been to share with you his experiences while there and also all his photos. And so that’s just what I’ll start doing in this here post and future ones in a mini-series. So. Ready? Popcorn procured? Nacho sauce nicely warmed? Beverage of choice poured? Let the show begin!…

First off – where is Tasmania? Will I be insulting your geographical general knowledge if I told you it’s not far off the southeastern corner of Australia? Hope not! If I didn’t, you can always blame that geography teacher you never really liked at school.

As per tradition for me with a tourism mini-series – this post is your starter: all the very best pics to whet your appetite and encourage you to continue to the main courses of the series as it goes along.

First pic: west coast – calm, laid-back, small towns:

…Also beaches. But the water here – brrrr. And the weather – hardly tropical beach style.

Roads – amazing. Reminiscent of NZ‘s…

Red rocks – a topic for a separate post…

The Three Capes from a helicopter. We walked around two of them…

Southern Tasmania from the chopper:

What’s this? Surprise! Tell you later on…

Arches!

Sky – different down here. And the dawns – Australian too.

The cliffs – Stolbchaty-esque!

Scenery – sensational.

Funny fauna:

Woah:

Ok, that’s your first course. Coming up – several main courses. Meanwhile, I want to say thank you to the people who helped us along with our Tasmanian tourism – alas, now without work given that tourism is one of the most vulnerable industries these days. Let’s wish them luck in getting though these very tricky times.

Big thanks to:

– Osborne Heli Tours;
– Our guides from the Tasmania Walking Company at the Three Capes;
– Especially – Andrew Belik:

Yes, Andrew was reeeaaally helpful. Attention to detail and 100% customer care? – this is your man. Example: not only did he put bottled water and a few bites in our rental car, he also included there… some loo roll, which turned out to be very useful! In short, if ever coming to Tasmania – ring Andrew!

Btw: our route:

More pics from Tasmania – here.

To be continued…