From beyond Tasmania at the edge of the outback

So the Tasman Penninsula was AMAZING. I had such a good time there, if you check my facebook you can see some photos of the hike, or as they say in Aussieland 'bushwalk', that I did whilst I hung out and chilled at a community that my friend Ilan was attempting to create. They had just put up the 'for sale' signs on the different lots on the property.

While I was there I helped out by doing a bit of garlic planting and cooking. There was a couple from Taiwan that were wonderful and we took turns making our local dishes from our home countries. They were fascinated by my gourmet mac and cheeses as well as the hamburgers where my friend Lian (Lee-Ann), also from Taiwan, and I made the buns and dipping sauces for the handmade french fries. It was all good fun. I was only going to go for a couple of nights, but ended up staying 5 and got a free ride back to Hobart with another backpacker that was also moving on after being there for 2 1/2 months. He was from Holland. It was quite an international crowd with another girl from England and a couple from France topping it all off. Wonderful place.

I stayed with a friend and his family at their home just outside of  Hobart for a couple of nights. Two beautiful young daughters, the oldest of which, 4 years, challenged me greatly by wanted to play the game 'how much does that hurt'. I told her I wouldn't play with her if that was the only game she had in her repertoire :) A couple days, a few curries, and a lecture from Vancouver about midwifery, isn't the internet wonderful, later I was dropped off at the airport with a hug and a warm adieu and back in Melbourne.

Melbourne wasn't hugely exciting, but it was nice to see old friends and have a bit of a chin wag (I learned that one in the past couple of days.

I decided to wait till the last minute to decide where I was going next, and headed to the train station on a bright early morning. Needless to say the teller wasn't too impressed with me not having a destination in mind and made me stand to the side for a while until I could give him one. I saw a sign that said Swan Hill and gave him the word and 3 hours later I was off.

Luckily I made friends on the bus who made sure I was safely in an accomodation before leaving me to my own devices, she even got me a discount on my room. The town was so small and not really touristy so it only had motels and single rooms. I spent a lovely night by myself with a hot shower and some telly before heading off the next day to cheaper beds.

I ended up in Mildura and booked a couple nights at the backpackers that looked like it had the most character, it had shoes hanging off the electrical lines out front. Mildura is a huge grape, almond, and citrus growing area. There are lots of people that go there to do some seasonal work in order to earn their 2nd working/holiday visa for Australia. I quickly made friends with the family of backpackers who had united together in their efforts to reach this goal. They were from England and Germany and Italy and Korea. I had such a wonderful time, but knew that despite this I was not ready yet to settle down.

So I decided to come here to Broken Hill. It's a strange little mining town that is literally in the "middle of nowhere". Actually. My new friend Nick and I had a bit of a drive around in the nothingness and ended up in the next town Silverton, population: 42! Hahaha. His friends were the proud owners of the Mad Max II museum which I got a free tour of. Interesting.

I'm off to Adelaide tomorrow or the next and shall continue to blog along the way.

No more pictures from here on out, it's too hard with not knowing when I have to pay to use the internet everywhere.

Love to all!

Tasmania

 I decided to take the ferry from Melbourne...

 I'm on a bit of a ground transport kick, it's nice to feel the distances your traveling in real time. The ferry was quite relaxing, read, slept, lounged...

From the port I knocked on the window of a future Olympic rower, lucky me, who drove me to Launceston. Then from there I got a ride to my first WWOOFing host on the Northeastern coastline from a lovely man named Clive. He had two babies, sold wheelchairs and was building new house in Launceston, your typical family man. We stoped in a tiny little town on the way to pick up a boat and I was facinated by the petrol station...I'm guessing it's self-serve?

My host dad, Todd, taught me how to eradicate Spanish Heath, which is a pesky weed that took over their property. One bush at a time, there were throusands...they are the rosemary-looking brush behind us.

 

 

 On the last day I was there, it was mother's day and my host mum, Astrid's, Birthday so we all spent the day baking cupcakes and cake and...

Host mum with all our yummy baked goods.

 Vegemite scrolls. That would be vegemite and cheese rolled into bread and baked..deeelicious. I grew a love for vegemite when I lived in New Zealand and have rediscovered it since I got to Aussieland.

Todd and Astrid had 2 daughters, Eve and Grace. Grace lived in Launceston during the week, but came home for the weekends and Eve in this photo is still in high school.

This was my home for the first week. I snuggled up in my sleeping bag like a cocoon, with a hot water bottle shoved down by my feet. You could only see my eyes peeking out, it was pretty cozy.

After a week I sadly parted and made my way south to a new family. Brenda and Stephen, with little 3 year old Quinny and 6 year old Elanta their two 11 week old kittens. Living in a purple house, much like the one I grew up in back in Kauai. Little did I know how much work it takes to be a parent, but I walked away with a much better idea of what life can be like when you have small people to take care of.

I luckily found a ride to the lovely Tasman Penninsula, which I arrived at last night and am about to venture out into the town of Nubeena, population 277. See what I can find. Until next time....