Our first
month in
Australia got better with everyday. We started off badly when our airline, Air Pacific (never use them), screwed us over with tourist visas. But when we finally landed in
Australia things got only better.
A friend from Nebraska, Joe Ferring, and his girl treated us to dinner our first nights. It was nice to get some ideas and tips from locals. We did the average tourist activities in Sydney; sea cliff walks
(some dude has an illegal tarp city set up on a cliff), the downtown tour including the opera house, governor's mansion, "the" bridge and
the beer tour. We found a free beer book, so made it a goal to see how many free beers we could get in - 11 outta 20.
We quickly escaped the city by flying south to Tasmania. A kid we met several years ago climbing in Joshua Tree picked us up from the airport - Crazy John. Yes, he has earned his name (ask me how later). He allowed Jason and I had
1 hour to pack and get groceries before we
headed to climb at Ben Lomond.
Fresh off the plane, this was a challenging place to ease back into climbing.
Dolerite crack climbing - ripped Jason's hands apart.
After a few days of climbing and relaxing in the climber's cabin we drove home at dusk enjoying an impromptu wildlife tour called Swerve the Car between the Wildlife Creatures (wallabies, wombats, deer, possums - different than those in the US).
No rest for the wicked, the next day we climbed at Mount Wellington, the mountain just outside of Hobart (the capital of Tasmania) then enjoyed a BBQ - wallaby burgers and Australian beer.
The next morning we left for another climbing trip, this one to Freycinet National Park, a beautiful sea cli
ff park along the eastern coast. Our first afternoon we took a hiking tour of wineglass bay with cheap wine bottles - classy huh? We did a few days of sea cliff climbing, possums stole John's cheap port, and returned to Hobart just in time for a free short film festival. Australian Humor.
Our "home" in Hobart houses all sorts of characters passing through town. All you gotta do is clean up once and awhile and in return you get free lodging, showers, laundry and food. Granted its bin dive food, but its probably the healthiest I've ever eaten (not that it takes much for me), but tons of fresh fruits and vegetables. One night we made 4 large pizzas of all bin food. We turned it into American night; pizza, beer, movies (Cliffhanger, a classic!)
Our next climbing trip took us to the center of Tasmania and its surroundings. We were a random mix of 5; Jason and myself, Crazy John, 19 year old Billy (all 4 Americans) and Danger Darren (Tassie). We spent more time sitting around, laughing till it hurt, and drinking beer. That's a climbing trip right? We ran outta gas one night at a gas station that wasn't open. Unfortunately it was a 24 hour diesel truck stop whom liked to honk at the sleeping dirt bags.
Eventually we made it back to Hobart, just in time for an 80s party. Problem - the college age, non-Americans kids played 90s music and dressed in 90s style. I guess they were a little young in the 80s.....or not even born yet! Pretty funny. Or maybe it really does take that long for things to get to Tasmania!
Sometime during the party we agreed to go rafting early the next morning with the Uni (University) rafting club. The run was short, in distance, 5 minutes, and in duration, they released the water for only 4 hours. There was a class 4 drop into a strong flipper eddy, with fun class 3 water. We ran it about 8 times in 5 different types of boats. Freezing rain and wind threatened hypothermia, but we lived.
This last week Jason and I drove on the wrong side of the road for a tour of Tasmania in Darren's $50 orange toyota corolla. It started.....most the time (sometimes with the key, a good ole role start, and a jimmy rigged starter button). We hiked the interior mountains, part of the overland trail, took in the coasts with freezing ocean water, and met up with some familiar faces randomly in Launceston. Jason's favorite day of our trip was our impromptu gluttony tour; we found free chocolate, cheese and raspberry tastings and a super cheap fish and chips place.
We have a few days left in Tassie then head up to the mainland for our next
month+ of travel.
Our first month in Australia got better with everyday. We started off badly when our airline, Air Pacific (never use them), screwed us over with tourist visas. But when we finally landed in Australia things got only better.
A friend from Nebraska, Joe Ferring, and his girl treated us to dinner our first nights. It was nice to get some ideas and tips from locals. We did the average tourist activities in Sydney; sea cliff walks
(some dude has an illegal tarp city set up on a cliff), the downtown tour including the opera house, governor's mansion, "the" bridge and the beer tour. We found a free beer book, so made it a goal to see how many free beers we could get in - 11 outta 20.
We quickly escaped the city by flying south to Tasmania. A kid we met several years ago climbing in Joshua Tree picked us up from the airport - Crazy John. Yes, he has earned his name (ask me how later). He allowed Jason and I had 1 hour to pack and get groceries before we
headed to climb at Ben Lomond.
Fresh off the plane, this was a challenging place to ease back into climbing.
Dolerite crack climbing - ripped Jason's hands apart.
After a few days of climbing and relaxing in the climber's cabin we drove home at dusk enjoying an impromptu wildlife tour called Swerve the Car between the Wildlife Creatures (wallabies, wombats, deer, possums - different than those in the US).
No rest for the wicked, the next day we climbed at Mount Wellington, the mountain just outside of Hobart (the capital of Tasmania) then enjoyed a BBQ - wallaby burgers and Australian beer.
The next morning we left for another climbing trip, this one to Freycinet National Park, a beautiful sea cli
ff park along the eastern coast. Our first afternoon we took a hiking tour of wineglass bay with cheap wine bottles - classy huh? We did a few days of sea cliff climbing, possums stole John's cheap port, and returned to Hobart just in time for a free short film festival. Australian Humor.
Our "home" in Hobart houses all sorts of characters passing through town. All you gotta do is clean up once and awhile and in return you get free lodging, showers, laundry and food. Granted its bin dive food, but its probably the healthiest I've ever eaten (not that it takes much for me), but tons of fresh fruits and vegetables. One night we made 4 large pizzas of all bin food. We turned it into American night; pizza, beer, movies (Cliffhanger, a classic!)
Our next climbing trip took us to the center of Tasmania and its surroundings. We were a random mix of 5; Jason and myself, Crazy John, 19 year old Billy (all 4 Americans) and Danger Darren (Tassie). We spent more time sitting around, laughing till it hurt, and drinking beer. That's a climbing trip right? We ran outta gas one night at a gas station that wasn't open. Unfortunately it was a 24 hour diesel truck stop whom liked to honk at the sleeping dirt bags.
Eventually we made it back to Hobart, just in time for an 80s party. Problem - the college age, non-Americans kids played 90s music and dressed in 90s style. I guess they were a little young in the 80s.....or not even born yet! Pretty funny. Or maybe it really does take that long for things to get to Tasmania!
Sometime during the party we agreed to go rafting early the next morning with the Uni (University) rafting club. The run was short, in distance, 5 minutes, and in duration, they released the water for only 4 hours. There was a class 4 drop into a strong flipper eddy, with fun class 3 water. We ran it about 8 times in 5 different types of boats. Freezing rain and wind threatened hypothermia, but we lived.
This last week Jason and I drove on the wrong side of the road for a tour of Tasmania in Darren's $50 orange toyota corolla. It started.....most the time (sometimes with the key, a good ole role start, and a jimmy rigged starter button). We hiked the interior mountains, part of the overland trail, took in the coasts with freezing ocean water, and met up with some familiar faces randomly in Launceston. Jason's favorite day of our trip was our impromptu gluttony tour; we found free chocolate, cheese and raspberry tastings and a super cheap fish and chips place.
We have a few days left in Tassie then head up to the mainland for our next month+ of travel.
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