Week by Week 12: Postcards from Tasmania

Tassie’s had me wonderstruck from the start, ever since I first caught sight of its supersaturated blues and greens from the plane window. Two weeks later, I’m still in awe.

I’m here with my little sister Casey, who flew over during her winter break from college to join me in exploring one of Australia’s most overlooked destinations. Back in Broome, some of my friends were amused by my plans to spend three weeks here, telling me that was a really long time for a place so small. During my sister’s flight over, the guy she was sitting next to laughed when she said she was headed to Tasmania. “There’s nothing to do there!” he told her.

Wrong — so wrong!

Tasmania may be tiny compared to Australia’s other states (it’s about the size of West Virginia), but it’s crazy beautiful, unbelievably diverse and ripe for adventure — particularly if you’re the outdoorsy type. There’s so much more we want to see that we’re already planning our return trip for who-knows-when!

So far, we’ve spent our time here exploring by both car and foot. Our week on the road took us north to a lavender farm outside of Launceston, down Tassie’s spectacular east coast and around the otherworldly cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula, while our second week saw us hiking through the iconic Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park on one of Australia’s most famous Great Walks, the Overland Track. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that every kilometer has been nothing short of incredible.

Unfortunately for the blog — although refreshingly in most other ways! — my travels here have left me mostly away from phone service and internet on the road, and entirely off the grid on our trek. Cue the late update on top of an already slow month. Oops!

For now, I’ll leave you with a few snapshots of our adventure here so far. There’ll be a lot more Tassie coming up in the next couple of months, plus plenty more from one of my favorite-ever travel destinations: Western Australia!

//THESE DAYS

Reading…

Casey brought with her some fresh reads — perfect timing as I’ve been slowly (and sadly!) emptying my backpack of books recently! During our road trip, I read Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, a memoir about her sometimes magical, often difficult childhood growing up with freespirited parents. It’s a beautiful book. On our trek, I tore through Chuck Palahniuk”s Survivor, definitely one of the most outrageous books I’ve read this year. I wouldn’t call it a favorite, but it’s thoroughly entertaining.

Listening to…

Lots of Vampire Weekend, Grouplove and Local Natives courtesy of Casey’s DJ-ing — tunes for the road!

& Feeling Inspired by…

My off-the-grid travels have kept me away from my usual internet reads. The past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting all the inspiration I need from Tassie’s jaw-dropping landscapes. After having finished the Overland Track — our first big backpacking trip! — Casey and I are feeling seriously inspired to start planning another trek.