If I were a vampire I'd live in Tasmania

This blog post comes to you from Scottsdale. My favorite little town in Tasi so far. The people are friendly here and actually say hello to you in the street which is a nice change.

Scottsdale is near Launceston and is a good point from which to access the East Coast and the Tamar Valley.

Platypus!

We have found a fantastic little camp ground that only charges $3 a night for an unpowered sight and it has HOT showers! Exciting. It also has a great camp kitchen and a flat surface to pitch a tent. The camp ground is called Myrtle Park.

We visited the Tamar Valley yesterday and tried some of the wineries at their cellar door. The best was Ninth Island and Pipers Brook. Their Riesling was buttery and crisp and their Pino was fantastic and punchy. Other standouts were Velo for their fine Pino and Goats Hill for their great service. Most of the vineyards are family owned and very friendly. We also met some of the dogs from the "Wine Dogs" book.

We took time to visit some orchards and picked our own berry's to eat on the way from winery to winery. As always when wine is added it is a good day.

We went for a drive to The Bay of Fires and as the squeeky sand squashed under our feet as we watched the clear blue/green waves roll in. It was beautiful but very isolated.

Staying warm with a hot choci

Other highlights of the area have been:
    # Platupi in the Scottsdale Park
    # Pyengana Cheese Company
    # The Scottsdale Cottage Bakery that claims the best Vanilla Slice on earth (it is pretty good).

As for the weather well today it is 13 degrees. Its cold. I have a scarf, beanie and coat on. It is mad. The nights are cold and it is always damp. Previously I have said if I was to be a vampire I would live in Moss Vale. I take that back, I'd live in Tasi! The locals seem used to the cold of course...maybe they are vampires. I'm on a mission to find out.

Love lots

Update on my Overland Track blister...sexy!

Krystal

Week 5 Round Up: Worst drivers?

Welcome to the weekly round up! We have set up base in a place called Myrtle Bank Campgrounds, only $3 a night for a site with free showers, toilets and kitchen! (it is a bargain). Unfortunately, there is a year 7 camp there as well which has the effect of lowering my IQ every time I am in their vicinity.

Worst drivers? There is a real legitimate case for Tassie drivers as the worst drivers in the nation. These cousins of ours are highly aggressive and will always chase the ideal racing line on the highway. Whether it is a straight, a bend or a u turn, they won't hesitate to cross the double line even in the face of on coming traffic. The worst case was just yesterday when a rider decided to overtake us on a hairpin (racing terms for u turn), but he had chosen the wrong gear coming into the apex and could only hover the front of the bullbar unable to find the revs to power out. What if we couldn't brake in time or had decided to power out of the corner ourselves? Riders like these give the rest of the riding community a bad look.

Anyway, that is my rant of the week. We are going to check out the Tamar this week. So far, this region has been the friendliest of them all. (Most of them admit to being from Victoria or NSW). Launceston is a lovely place too.


Km Travelled: 4622km in total

Places visited (since Cradle Mtn): Launceston via Perth, Scottsdale, Bay of Fires, West Tamar Valley.

Highlights: Scottsdale in the NE part of Tassie makes excellent pies; Tamar Valley pinot noir wines; cheap accomodation and very favourable weather.

Lowlights: see above.

Overland Track Part III

Day 4: New Pelion Hut to Bert Nichols Hut (Windy Ridge)

Breakfast of cereal and skim milk powder and water. I was begining to really like skim milk powder, I was thinking I could have it instead of real milk cause it taists so good.

Before we left New Pelion Hut I had to tape up my toes and pop a blister on my right shoulder with a pin. I felt like I was at school when the tough kids pierce their own ears with a pin that they have put in a flame to sterilize it. I found myself employing this method to pop the blister...gross. After that we had to tape up my shoulder and pad it with a scalf so I could walk with my pack.

The other thing to note is that I was still wearing the same shirt. I looked over at Mark and he was in a fresh shirt. I did not bring s 'fresh shirt' as I didn't want to carry it. I felt very envious at that point in time!

The start of this day was marred by tree roots. The path was tree roots and it was very difficult to walk on. We made it though and did the 21km to Bert Nichols Hut. We were walking about 3km in an hour and that is quite slow. People were over taking us and that was annoying even though I know it is not a competition. Its silly what you do to keep going but I kept thinking about what I would get for my birthday and the cake I would have. Just like a kid. It kept me walking anyway.

Bert Nichols was warm and dry with lots of tank water. Mark played cards with some of the other hikers and I tried not to fall asleep in my Deb (potato).

Day 5: The End!
We walked and walked and walked. I strapped every one of my toes and Mark took some weight off me to help my shoulder. I could not have done this amazing walk with out him, thank you ML.

We made it home with lots of stops!

I'm also grateful to Sarah and Darryl for making it possible for us to complete the hike. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you so much.

I highly recomend the Overland Track. It was fantastic and amazing. The challenge and the scenery and the comradarie with other hikers is just awesome.

Thanks for doing it with me ML.
Love Krystal

Week 4 Round Up: Sore feet

Km travelled: very little as we only travelled from Snug to Lake St Clair with a few short trips into Hobart.

Places: Salamanca Markets, Museum of New and Old Art (MONA), New Norfolk, Lake St Clair, Overland Track

Next Up: Tamar Valley and Launceston

Highlights: There have been many highlights this week thanks to Sarah and Daryl's generosity and hospitality. Without them we were unable to enjoy Tassie so much. We saw the gourmet farmer and masterchef at the Salamanca Markets. We also checked out the Tassal store which sells salmon and trout offcuts at cheap cheap prices ($10 for 2kg of salmon fillets anyone?). We also saw MONA which was highly provocative and what I regard as one of the best museums I've encountered.
But the biggest highlight was doing the Overland Track. It was done on a whim and over 4 days and 3 nights. Absolutely gruelling on ourselves with the timeline we set on ourselves. Day 1: 18km; Day 2: 31km; Day 3: 21km; Day 4: 27km. (total: 97km)

Lowlights: breaking a tent pole before we start the track, lucky for duct tape.

Camp food tips:
deb, dehydrated peas, dehydrated shitake mushrooms, beef jerky, continental dried pasta meals, peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, skim milk powder, dried fruits and nuts, and lots and lots of chocolate. 

Rainbow over Crater Lake, one of the first lakes we encounter.

The west side of Cradle Mtn

These little lizards are all over the boardwalked parts of the track.

The morning dew and sun shining on the spiderwebs on the alpine moorlands.

Mt Pelion East covered in the low cloud.

The Overland Track Part II

Day 3: Windemear Hut to New Pelion Hut.

Everyone's shoes outside Windemear Hut

A 5:30am start. Mark said I made a lot of noise while packing up. There were about 7 other people sleeping in the hut and it was like opening a chip packet in a cinema. I could not be quiet and the more I tried the worse it got.

Breakfast: cereal, skim milk powder and water. It was not to bad.
Mark asked was I ready to go. NO! I had not had a coffee! We boiled water and had a coffee bag and it did the job.

We put our lives back on our backs and walked...and walked...and walked. It became apparent that we're not going to meet our target of the day as we were too slow. So we walked faster. I can honestly say I did not enjoy the morning as all I did was count. 1, 2, 3, 4 fast as we marched. It was exhausting. My right shoulder started to hurt but we marched on.

By lunch we reached New Pelion Hut. The reason for the rush was that we wanted to drop our packs at the hut and just take a small day back pack and climb the highest mountain in Tassi. Mt Ossa. The problem was it was a 14km return trip including the scramble on hands and knees to the top of Ossa. We did it despite the risk of it getting dark and us not being back at the hut. I was worried we were being stupid but we really wanted to conquer this peak.

Mark made it to the top and I made it all but 1km. The views were awesome and it felt like you could see the whole world and that no one lived there but us. It was frightening and amazing all at once.

Dinner was Deb (potato), peas and can soup.

The most interesting thing is that hiking is the great equalizer. It does not matter if you are male or female, rich or poor, pretty or not everyone is just as tired and as hungry as you.

Topics of conversation:
# What are you eating?
# What hut did you come from?
# Did you or will you climb Mt Ossa?

View from Mt Ossa. Cradle Mt on the right

# How heavy is your bag?
# Where are you going tomorrow?

It is very here and now and very primal as it is really about survival.

The other funny thing is money means nothing. You cannot buy a chocolate bar for all the money in your wallet as the money was worth nothing out there. The chocolate is worth so much more. It is your hope, your thing to look forward to, your boost when you cannot walk any more, the thing to help you forget your blisters for 1 minute and the reward at the end of a day. It is your survival and you cant buy that with money.

Having said that one guy had 24 mars bars with him! Next time that will be me.

still looking like a smurf

The only past time was looking at the map. Studying the terrain, the km, the descriptions, working our how long it will take and looking at it again and again. We did not need a book for entertainment, a book would not have helped us survive. The map is your best buddy.

Bear Grylls?

A heavy back pack.

Day 2 was heck-tick and my blisters had started to form.

The Overland Track

We undertook the epic hike from Cradle Mt. to Lake St Clair, the Overland Track. It is a 75km hike not including side trips and is one of the top 10 hikes in the world through National Heritage Listed country.

Day 1:

I have not overnight hiked before and I was very nervous. We purchased weird food from Woolies like dehydrated potato (called Deb by those in the know), dehydrated peas and skim milk powder. I purchased the essentials; fredo frogs and snakes. It soon becomes clear I  know nothing about overnight hiking when our wonderful friend Sarah says she will lend us her Trangia. "Great!" I said. "What is a Trangia?" It turn out it is a little cooking stove. Clearly I am in way over my head.

Mark and the broken tent

I looked down at the gear I am wearing.
# Hiking shoes -blue
# Cargo Pants from Just Jeans - black
# Long sleeve shirt from Katmandu said to be quick drying - also blue
# Borrowed Gortex Jacket - blue
# Big backpack that I cannot lift - blue again.

It occured to me that if I had white pants I would look like a smurf! Perfect.

I looked over at Mark and he actually looks cool, how is that possible?

My pack was about 6kg, it feels heavy. Mark's was about 12kg, I felt like a pussy.

We catch a bus to Cradle Mt from Lake St Clair so that when (if) we finish the hike we finish at our car.
Night 1 at Cradle Mt before we even started the hike our tent pole broke. We attempted to fix it with tape. It rained all night and we go wet. Our tent sucked.

Day 2: We started the hike.

We caught the shuttle bus down to the car park. As the bus driver was unloading our backpacks he looked at mine and said; "That is a terrible pack, you will not make it 3km."
OH MY GOD! I freaked out. What an awful thing to say. It was an 75km hike, and I am not going to make 3 km. HELL!

We started anyway and as I looked at my watch and it said I had been walking for a total of 8 mins I thought that the stupid bus driver was correct. I could not do this. We stopped every half an hour and ate all our lollie snakes. Fail.

Hiker Smurf

There are huts all along the track and we made it to the first, Waterfall, by about 1pm. We had lunch; Mountain Bread and peanut butter. It tasted AMAZING because I was so damn hungry. We hiked on and the views were spectacular. Thinking that this was country that you could never drive on, that you can only walk through kept me going. It was very liberating to have everything we needed on our backs but it was also frightening. What if we ran out of food? Oh Hell I thought not for the first time.

A long way to go!

That night we made it to Windemere Hut. The huts are warm and dry. It had 4 tables in one room and bunks in another. It also had platforms to set up your tent. As our tent was a fail we grabbed a bunk. When I say bunk I really mean a piece of board that we rolled out a mat and sleeping bag on. There was no privacy and no where to wash. We cooked Deb (potato), peas and a can of soup and again it was awesome as we were so hungry.

There was a snorer in our hut but we got some sleep.
19km covered.

More to come

Amazing views!

Love Krystal

The beginning

About to start 80km of walking over 4 days. Wish us luck. I'm very nervous! Xxxxxxx

MONA amazing!

MONA deserves its own post, it is amazing. First I will tell you the story of MONA as it was told to me by our lovely friend and land lady for the moment.

MONA is an art museum. It has old and new art. MONA stands for Museum of Old and New Art. Pretty self explanatory you would think.

Then Sarah says that it is a private collection of Art. It is owned by 'David', he is a mathematician and pays people to use his money to gamble for him and make money. Apparently he has an algorithm that makes him lots of cash.

David decided to give back to his home town of Hobart and spent approx. $83 Million on his museum.

We decided it was worth a look on Sarah's recommendation.

It was very busy when we arrived in the poorer suburbs of Hobart where the museum is situated. We parked and as we walked into the park area it is a sea of hot pink. There were markets set up and the first one had above it the head of what looked like a big pink worm, like the jumping worm you see at the show.

Each market stall is then a segment of this worm with feet to hold down the 'legs'. It was fantastic.

There were hot pink bean bags set up on a grassy hill to sit in and there was a band playing. Fantastic.
We ate Paella on the bean bags and soaked in the atmosphere.

We entered the museum. Cost was $20 an adult, $10 for students (us), and free for Tasmanians. We received a free Ipod touch that would take us through the museum and told us about each art work as we stood near it. On the Ipod we could log if we liked or disliked a installation and it would tell us stats of how many others felt the same as us.

The Ipod also told us not only the background of an artist or art work (called the 'wanky bit') but shared David and the curators thoughts on the work. It was just so excellent.

Highlights:
# The blank library; a room that is set out just like a library but all the books are white and blank. Mark loved this one.

# The stomaches that took up a whole room and were machines that were 'fed' twice a day. The food passed through 5 chambers that reproduced what the human stomach does and then...you guessed it...iot produced poo! It stank.

Burke and Wills painting which I will put up for you later. It shows B and W having a party in the aussie bush, not lost at all! It depicts the famous political incident when Hawke accused Keating of calling Australia the 'ass end of the universe'. You will see how it is depicted when I put the pic up.

Other highlights were a fat car to depict consumerism, a waterfall that made words and the Egyptian artefacts.

MONA is one of the top art museums in the world and it is worth a visit if you are in Hobart. We enjoyed it. It really did blow my mind.

Now we are preparing for the overland track, a 67km hike. Very excited.

Mum and Dad if you do not hear from us by Saturday...call the Cradle Mt Visitor Info Centre.

Love Krystal

TV Star x 2

Sorry the pictures are sideways! I cant fix it so you will just have to tilt you head or screen.

Another amazing day in Hobart town today.

Salamanca Markets were our first stop. They are a food, craft and everything market. Second only to Darwin Markets in their excellence.

Where Darwin Markets are loud and fast and hyper these markets are Darwin Markets + Ritalin. Calm and organised, soft music played by buskers and lots of cheese to eat.

As we were meandering our way through the Markets and Mark was lamenting about having to stop at every craft, clothes, food stall he again tapped me on the shoulder.

Annoyed I had been interrupted from my market shopping I turned to see a crowd of people. "ITs the boys from Master Chef!" he said.

"Holy Dooly" I said. (I did really say that).

Matt was in fine form getting make up put on while wearing his famed cravat and George really does look a little like Dion.

I took a quick photo with the iphone. You know the photo where you hold your phone above your head and hope for the best. It turned out ok and security came to disperse the crowd as they were clearly finished with Matt's makeup and it was time to film.

Diligently I returned to my market shopping and Mark wandered off. He returned a moment later to interrupt me...again. This time he had located the Master Chef tents where the teams were cooking! Excited! Not to be perturbed by security or the crows we elbowed our way to the front of the blue tent. I asked a lady that was waiting what they were making. She said; "I don't know love but it is taking a long time." I was very impatient in case there was voting to be done. I did not want to miss out.

We cut our losses and moved to the yellow tent. They were making honey caramelised apple crepes with cream. They were also making a complete mess and were completely diorganised. I spoke to the team leader and asked was it stressful. This was her response:

Camera Rolling: "No its fun!"
My response: "Oh great."

When she thought the camera was off in a loud voice: ITS REALLY STRESSFUL! AHH! WHAT DO YOU THINK!"
My response: "Oh Dear."

After a little wait we got our crepes and they were pretty good. I signed another TV waiver (like I did yesterday lol) and the man said it would be in week 5 of the new season! How hysterical. I hope it makes it to TV.

After the markets we went to MONA! MONA was so great it gets its own blog post...so stay tuned.

Love Krystal

PS its still cold!

Overland Track

Booyay!!
We just made the decision to tackle the Overland Track. Thanks to a little encouragement from Sarah and her offering backpacks and gear!! (Also a big thanks for giving us a bed and hot showers for a few nights too).

Gourmet Farmer

Some days everything just goes well. You wake up and know its going to be a great day.
On the other hand some days go to sh*t and there is little you can do about it.

Today was one of those magical days where things went right, the stars aligned and cool things happened.

Snug is our home base this week and a big thank you to Sarah for providing us with a bed, shower, washing machine and excellent company!

We tripped into old Hobart town today with a plan just to have a look around. Firstly we grabbed a coffee at Salamanca Place and as it was a cool kinda coffee shop they used those old spoons that little old ladies have in display cabnets from different towns. I look down at the spoon next to my coffee and it is a picture of a silver tree. I thought to myself, I know that tree. Then I looked at the writing and sure enough, you guessed it: Broken Hill.

I could not believe it! As we had such a good time in Broken Hill and miss our home and friends I took this as a good sign.

Mark then taps me and says 'LOOK!' is a whispered but loud voice you only reserve for seeing someone famous or for talking in church. 'What?' I answer wide eyed in that same whispered but very loud voice.

'Gourmet Farmer!' says Mark.
'Really?' I say. Its very exciting as Gourmet Farmer is a show we like on SBS about a man who moved to Tasi to make his own food and be a bit of a high class hippy.
The farmer was not seen again so with the exciting moment passed we finished our coffees and moved on.

Then we spotted this shop filled with people and a camera crew. "Whats happening?" I say to Mark in...you guessed it...the loud whisper.
"I dont know ." he says.

So we pushed our way into this very little shop trying to look innocent. It turns out it is the Farmers shop! He served us and we tried some cheese and honey all on camera! He was nice but a little weird. We bought some cheese and on the way out we were stopped by a girl who asked us to sign media release forms.

This further confirmed my suspicions that we were about to be TV mega stars! In the shop I had tried to seem as interesting as possible but probably just sounded silly! I asked the girl what the chances were of being on tv. In a well worn reply she said "Well we have fillmed lots of footage." Ever the optimist I am sure we will make it on a show...so keep your eyes out!

We walked around the city, got a parking fine (this did not dampen our spirits), shopped at Katmandu, purchased some salmon and damper and ate our Gourmet food at the Botanical Gardens.

It was one of those days where everything just goes right!

In terms of celebrity spotting I think I did quite well not to get over excited or make an idiot of myself. Last time I saw someone famous was at Central Market in Adelaide. He was off Master Chef and as he walked past I looked at him and thought...I know him...so I said hi. Must be someone from Broken Hill I thought to myself. Only later did it dawn on me that I did not know him at all, he was just on the telly. Shame!

Hope everyone had as good a day as us.

Love Krystal

Have you fiddled with the fire?

Innocently sitting by the fire

Its been a few days since we have had enough reception to blog so there is a bit to fill you in on.

Since leaving Hobart we visited Huonville and tasted apple cider and some wines.

We spent a night at Arve River Picnic Grounds which was a beautiful spot by a running stream surrounded by rainforest. When we first arrived it was deserted but there were flushing toilets (very exciting when normally they are holes in the ground) and fire places with fire wood. After checking out the camp ground we were undecided if we should stay there the night. We got back in the car and drove around and found no where better so decided the picnic ground would be our home for the night.

On returning to the camp we found a bus had pulled up with 6 people in it and they had piled up the wood that was there. By this time it had quickly become 'our wood' according to the rule of finders keepers. Possession is, however, 9/10 of the law so we were quickly loosing claim to it.

In a sneaky and underhanded move Mark grabbed the wood and began to make a very haisty fire with the wood. The idea being that if we are using it you cant have it! Well it worked and we got to keep the wood.

 There was a price to pay for the stolen wood and hastily made fire, it was a terrible fire! It smoked and smoked and was getting embarrassing. The group who we won the wood off came over and tried to help Mark fix the sad excuse for a fire and that helped a little. I was desirous of stepping in and taking over but was keenly aware of the challenge this could pose to Marks ego. I let it go.

I little while later, with a still smoking fire, I said to Mark..."permission to touch the fire?" it was granted as he was well and truly over it by now and I think his ego had vacated the camp site. After fiddling with the fire for a little while I was able to at least stop the smoking from happening.

I left the fire to make a cup of tea. On my return the fire had begun to smoke again. I said to Mark; "Did you fiddle with the fire?"
"No." Was his firm reply.

I started to try and fix it again when a little voice behind me said; "Well, I might have kicked a log in."
"That would explain it." I said.
Bear Grylls he is not, love him I still do.

Looking for a ship!

The next day we visited Arve Falls which was beautiful and then made our way along the Huontrail where it is advertised that all good foodies should go. It was ok, with fresh produce and a winery or two but I must say Victoria and SA definatly match it in terms of restaurants and produce, not to mention wine.

We visited the most Southern tip of Tasi and tried and failed to catch a fish.

Tonight we are lucky to have a bed at Sarah's in Snug! We will be snug as bugs in rugs tonight.

More soon.

I like this quote from a French explorer who landed on the very Southern tip of Tasi 

before the English arrived.

Love Krystal

Week 3 Round Up: It's the End of the Road...

Km Travelled this week: 1057 (3362 Overall)

Places: From Lake Arthur to Port Arthur, Hobart, Huonville, Franklin, Hastings Thermal Springs, Southport, Cockle Creek, back up to Huonville, Cygnet and Snug

Next Up: an explore in Hobart and Salamanca Markets

End of the Road sign, stupid blogger automatically turns it to the side.

Highlights: Getting to the "End of the Road" at Cockle Creek, it is the lowest point in Australia by road; completing the Hobart fun run in Vibram shoes; Port Arthur ghost tour - we went down to a small cellar where they believe dissection of convicts occurred; getting the fuel economy down to 9.7L per 100km on part of this leg; beautiful fresh local seafood in Frankston; and the warm spring water in Hastings.

Low Points: it was very very very cold waiting for the bus at 530am for the fun run, and the massive march flies around.

Roadkill Count: proud to still be on zero.

This cool dog loves to play ball. I miss my own dog.

The view on top of Arve River Falls.

damn March flies.

The 10km run and skorts.

Today was the day of the big run. It was the B and E Hobart Run the Bridge.

I was very nervous; this being only my second 'competitive' run after the Broken Hill 5km fun run. I had only ever run 10km once and that was before my shoulder op so I was worried I could not do it.

Poor Mark had to put up with me being a nervous wreck.

Did you know that fun runs normally start before the sun gets up...thats not fun. Mostly it is freezing...also not fun. The fun part comes later Mark tells me as we get on a bus like cattle to be taken to the start line. Despite this seemingly unfunness I was so excited and nervous that it did not matter.

One of the most interesting things was looking at everyone. Previous to this morning I thought that Tasi people did not own any shorts as who would need shorts when it is always to cold to wear them. Was I wrong! There were short shorts, hot pink shorts, big shorts and tight shorts but the best one was a skort (a pair of shorts pretending to be a skirt for the uninitiated). This short phenomenon had me intrigued.

The next most interesting thing was the seriousness of people. Men were sucking down gels (its a 10km run people, not a marathon), people were warming up by running up and down the hill at the start line risking running 10km before the race even started.

The funniest thing must have been Mark and I in our sunnies, while it was dark trying not to freeze. We had to wear our sunnies as we both wear glasses and therefore have prescription sunnies. The catch is you cant carry anything with you so we could not carry our glasses and our sunnies. A choice had to be made at 5am on what to wear; sunnies or glasses. Sunnies were a clear winner as it would be sunny while we were actually running (we hoped). The only draw back was that it was dark but when we took our sunnies off we could not see! Maddness!

The race started and it was mad; people going at all different paces trying to get past each other. I was lucky not to fall over. It was exhilarating though and I ran one of my fastest 1km splits ever on the second km of the race.

I would like to publicly thank my wonderful husband for running the first km with me as I was so nervous and for carrying my jumper that kept me warm at the start. I love him. After the first km he gave me little pat on the behind and ran off way ahead of me!

The run was great and Mark finished in 55mins. I did it in an hour. For me that was a fast time so I am very happy.

We got a medal at the end which I wanted to wear all day until I realised I looked silly; never mind.

Love a very sore but happy Krystal

Port Arthur

Port Arthur was on my to do list and I am happy to say it lived up to expectations. I am feeling a little better after last nights downer of a blog and have lots of good stuff to tell you all.

Port Arthur was amazing. The buildings are great and you really feel as if the convicts are still lurking around. The silent prison got to me the most where men were put in there and stripped of identity. It was a total sensory deprivation and they were made to wear masks when they left their cells for 1 hour a day.

There was also the beginnings of the Juvinille Justice system (or to those in the biz; jj's). It sounds as if Port Arthur's JJ's may have been more successful than ours currently are and turned out young men who could contribute to society. At least that is what they say.

The ghost tour was a high light and you will understand Bridgid Edwards that I was frightened out of my skin but excited at the same time. Apparently it is a very haunted sight and there have been many ghost sightings. I could not decide if I did or did not want to see anyone! I felt sick when we went into the dissection room and very cold when we went into the silent prison. We took photos but did not catch any ghostly premonitions...unless you can see some in the pics we took???

Driving to Hobart today we stopped at The Devils Kitchen and the Tessellated Pavement which was amazing and difficult to get a good photo of. I will put the best up for you tomorrow.

Hobart is not as cold as the lakes area and our main focus for the moment is the 10km run that is on tomorrow. We are competing and I am very excited! They close of the bridge in Hobart and we race over it. I hope I finish before they reopen the bridge. Otherwise that would be embarrassing.

Tasi people seem a little funny. It seems like it is stuck in a bit of a time warp. The people are sometimes unfriendly and I cant work out if it is because we are a mixed race couple or they just don't like tourists. It then occurs to me that most of these people are only 100 year from being convicts. Maybe this has something to do with it? They seem gruffer, a lot like my Great Grandmother; not smiling in photos, shows little affection, hard working and stoic. Its very interesting and unlike any other group of people I have come across. Maybe they are a little miserable because the weather is shite! Who knows.

Tomorrow the big run...hopefully I will be able to blog after.

The dissection chamber!

Love Krystal

Week 2 Round Up: Crazy rotating apple things!

Sorry for the late round up guys, we have been in a no reception area for the last few days in Tassie!

Km Travelled: about 1100km on the road and across the Bass Strait! In total about 2800km.

Highlights: Beaches at Wilson's Promontory; Mornington Peninsula chocolate shop!; Victor and Frankie in Melbourne (there will be a round 2!); the beautiful lakes in Tassie; hippies in Deloraine; free hot showers in Devonport (booyay kasha); and the awesome hospitality of other travelers (Gary and Renata offered their freshly caught trout to us)

Low Points: wintery and rainy weather in Tassie making it so so miserable when setting up - where did summer go?; moving camp at 11pm at Lake Barrington because of some dero teenage drunks invading our area.

Roadkill count (as requested): nil. Have seen plenty of little (alive) echidnas!

I leave you with a photo of one of those crazy spinning apple things for play equipment in parks. these things are obviously too dangerous for NSW kids but not for Vic kids at Wilson's Prom. I had the biggest headspin after that...

Tasmania; just add wine.

Leaving Melbourne...very exciting. It involved a HUGE ship that I got to drive Mendoza onto, recliner chairs, a great view of Melbourne by night, poker machines, restaurants, a shop, you name it and its on the spirit. Excitement was flowing.

Arrive in Devenport a little tired but ready to go. We found free showers and went in search of things to do. The light house was great and I sang "Have you ever...ever felt like this...have strange things happened are you goin round the twist?"

Drive an hour to the most beautiful lake. We have a bit of a fish with no luck and settle in. 11pm drunk ferals turn up and ruin our camp spot. Its starts to get a little dangerous so we pack up, fast, and drive back to Devonport. Not a great start.

We slept in the car in a car park.

The next day we enjoyed a Salmon and Ginseng farm and more chocolate.

Night 2 was spent in a free and safe camp in Deloraine.

Night 3 and 4 we spent in Lake Arthur. I will not lie...camping in the rain is tough. I cried after the food box and I had an argument. Everything is wet and cold and miserable. Its hard.

Sometimes when everything goes to shit whom ever is in charge sends in some reinforcements, some relief, a little comfort. Our comfort came in the form of a couple named Garry and Renarta. This lovely couple were gold fossickers. They looked for gold for a living and made enough money in the 6 months of the year that they did it that they holidayed for the rest. Garry was big and ugly and kind with a gruff manner and bushmens sense of honour. Renatta was tough and did well to enjoy their chosen lifestyle.

Garry invited us to his fire, smoked us trout that he caught that day and gave us trout to take away with us. This coulples kindness and warmth to strangers made us feel so much better and less alone.

Thank you to Garry and Renatta for your kindness.

Today: Port Arthur and it was excellent and well worth the money.

Tonight we are in a BnB near Port Arthur and the more wine I have the better I feel!

We are going back to Port Arthur now for a ghost tour! Ahhhhh!

Love Krystal

The Victor Jiggle

Do you know what the worst thing is...when you get into your vehicle (which is your home), you turn the key, and it does not start.

Initially you look around dumbfounded...as if those near you can help. Then you look down at the key, as if it might look up at you with some words of comfort. It then dawns on you that you are not going anywhere.

This experience has happened to us all at one time or another. It happens to our friend Victor regularly. He does not do the look around for help he just gets out, pops the boot and gives the battery a little jiggle. It works and because it works he has no need to get it fixed. I must admit that I thought this was stupid the first time it happened and Victor did his jiggle. I thought to myself "Just get it fixed."

However, my perspective changed when we were on the way to the Spirit of Tasmania to sail over the Bass Strait. We got in Mendoza the ute, Mark turned they key and low and behold...nothing. Mark looked at me...still nothing. He looked at the key...no words of wisdom there and then we got out of the ute. Of course it was raining, as it is on all days when your car breaks down.

We popped the bonnet and pretended we knew what we were doing as we looked in...again nothing. Mark began to call the NRMA and then it occurred to me...jiggle it.

So Victor gave it his famous jiggle. I got in the car and turned the key and boom we had ignition! The excitement, relief and joy!

We proceeded to St Kilder for yummy pizza and then dessert which was divine. We got take away dessert for the boat ride to the Apple Isle and said goodbye to Victor and Frankie who had not only provided us with accomodation, hot showers, great company and good food but had saved the day with the Victor Jiggle.

Sonext time you get in your car and find yourself doing the look around because it will not start. Try Victors jiggle. It might just save the day.

Love Krystal

PS we have not fixed the offending battery terminal in true Victor style. We are going to rely on that jiggle.

The coolest thing that has ever happened!

Melbourne...I love you!














The coolest thing EVER happened to me today. We were walking around the Melbourne CBD in the dingy back lanes looking at the street art with M, Frankie and Victor. The street art is freaking excellent and so cool!

It's cool because graffiti is against the rules but its cool at the same time. Good graffiti is, however, art and this street art just so excellent it has become a tourist attraction. Its a full 360 degrees of the idea of graffiti. That it would be accepted by the wider public and condoned when it is normally illegal.


















So back to the story; we are walking in these back lanes and there is a group of teenagers in a group making a bit of noise. Now that we are in our late 20's we have lost that invincibility that comes with your teen years and early 30's. You know that feeling that you are awesome. So we were a bit hesitant when approaching the group to see the street art that was on the walls around them.













Then I saw it...in the middle of the group of youths...two youths were freestyle rapping!!!!

Oh My God Freestyle Rapping! It was awesome and fulfilled all 2Pac teenage fantasies of actually being a part of something like this! It was the most awesome thing I have randomly come across ever.

Mark, Frankie and Victor did not seem as excited as I was so I rang my little brother Gerard who was suitably excited. I know that Bridgid and Rob will find this story cool as they read it...as will Karrie and other high school pals.

As a wrap up I would like to thank Victor and Frankie for a great day. A run around the river, lunch, waffles, sight seeing and wonderful company.








Til next time...Krystal