Hello, Tasmania!…Little did we know…

The fine white sand of the beaches of Tasmania invites leisurely walks and endless observation

Why did we choose to come to Tasmania? I suppose looking back 16 months ago when we booked this location we had visions of wildlife, clear blue waters, unspoiled terrain and a slow and easy pace. We aren’t disappointed.

This morning’s view from the living room. It’s a cool, sunny day.

In order to illustrate the fulfillment, we’re deriving and will continue to derive from this unusual island, its imperative we share a few facts we gleaned from this site.

“POPULATION OF TASMANIA
Tasmania is also known as Tas.This Island state is situated 240 km towards the south of the Australian mainland. It is the 26th largest island in the planet and about 334 more islands. Tasmania had a population of about 507,626 in the year 2010 and around half of the population lives in Greater Hobart, which makes the metropolitan area of the state capital and the city of Hobart. It is known as a natural state and around 45% lives in national parks and reserves. 

View from other living room window.

When we arrived in Hobart a few days ago after picking up the rental car, our intention was to take the shortest route to Penguin in order to get situated as quickly as possible. Once we began on the road, in awe of the scenery, we asked ourselves, “What’s the hurry?” We had all the time in the world. 

Ocean views along the highway.

And, after 33-nights at sea, to now be traveling on land through some of the most exquisite scenery in the world, it wasn’t a difficult decision. We approached the coastal highway signs and were on our way, looking at each other smiling from ear to ear, knowing we’d made the most sense and worthwhile choice.

White sand beaches with rarely a human in sight.

If we took the time to see the east coast of the on our way to Penguin, we’d avoid backtracking later on when we’d want to see more. Plus, when we leave in six weeks to head to the Huon Valley for another six weeks, we’ll have the opportunity to take yet another route along the western coast as the roads allow.  

Traveling through Tasmania we discovered endless bodies of water, including while driving on inland roads.

We’ve discovered its not a simple drive around the perimeter to travel the coasts of this Australian state. Adequate roads are sparse in many areas of this low population state. As a result, the route didn’t allow us to see every part of the eastern coast due to inaccessibility but we managed to see as much as we could. 

We drove through many mountain ranges we spotted on the horizon.

It wasn’t many kilometers/miles from Hobart to Penguin via this route, but it was slow going through many winding mountainous roads, oftentimes reminding us of the roads we traveled in the mountains of Tuscany, Italy, many moons ago.

Forests, fast moving rivers, streams and ocean inlets enhanced the views.

Also, from time to time, we became reminiscent about New Zealand and its lush rolling green hills, panoramic ocean views and picture-book farm after farm of sheep, cattle and horses. 

We hardly encountered any other vehicles on the road over the weekend drive.

On a few occasions, we even spotted the unusual Belted Galloway cattle (see our post here) that we’d seen nearby the alpaca farm where we languished in pure pleasure for three months beginning this past January.

From one area to the next the scenery changed.  With almost half of Tasmania’s entire population living in Hobart, most terrain consisted of the untouched areas of pure beauty.

Over these next few months in this special land, we’ll make every effort to ensure a good experience to share with all of you both in story and photos. Each day, we’ll be on the watch for the unique, the outside-the-box adventure and those special occasions when the simplicity of life in itself provides an inside peek to a new and exciting morsel that warms us to the core.

Winding river.

We only ask ourselves to achieve a modicum of understanding, a depth of emotion and the gift of the essence of life in Tasmania we’ll always carry with us in our hearts and minds forever. For now, once again, we are home.

The ocean surrounding Tasmania is bright blue as compared to sandy brown waters we’d seen when we lived at Trinity Beach, Australia beginning mid June in 2015. Was that really a year and a half ago?

More photos of our vacation home will follow in future posts after we’ve had a chance to put all of our stuff in order.  Soon..

Photo from one year ago today, December 5, 2015:

On our three years of travel anniversary in Fiji, we posted this photo when we’d visited the Namale Resort for a tour and luncheon celebration. For more photos, please click here.