If, dear readers, you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I basically went to Tasmania on holiday with my sister who was visiting from the UK and fell down the proverbial rabbit hole…!! Life has been somewhat on hold for the past few weeks as both us girls battled a tenacious and everchanging virus that was bestowed upon us by a fellow walker who arrived amongst us on Day 2 of our visit and left 10/12 people struggling by Day 5!! We were a small group of 12 walkers thrust together for 3 days of exploring The Three Capes in a wild corner of Tassie. We loved the idea of the trip as we only had to carry day packs and every night we had a comfy bed in a lovely villa at beautiful Stewarts Bay Lodge with a nice dinner and a couple of wines before being whisked off to the next walking location the following day. Sheer luxury in comparison to our last walking ‘holiday’ together when we walked the Portuguese Camino de Santiago and carried our lives on our backs and stayed in Pilgrim Albergues with up to 40 other walkers, so exhausted that we didn’t really care about our bunk bed style accommodation with complete strangers! This was going to be different and we were excited as we landed in Hobart with a spare day before the start of our walk.

We stayed down at Constitution Dock in the middle of happening little Hobart which we LOVED. Our first night was dedicated to meeting up with a girl we went to boarding school in England with 40 years ago and who now lives in Hobart! It was a lovely evening full of local pinot noir and endless conversation about where our lives had taken us in the intervening years and the next day Jenny drove us up to the top of Mount Wellington which looks out majestically over the entire Hobart area and is well worth the drive. We took a ferry to MONA (Museum of old and new art) which in itself is the most amazing building and thrust ourselves into a rather Alice in Wonderland-esque world where nothing is quite as it seems. Some of it was fantastic, others a little weird but we had a great day, including a lovely lunch outside in the sunshine. We were optimistic about what lay ahead…..

So in what can only be said was a state of “not as fit as we thought we would be by now” we turned up at our collection point looking the business in our hiking boots and brandishing walking poles like pros. That’s about where it started and finished as we realised we were probably the weakest duo of the group and could potentially hold these people up on the trail. Luckily the company we booked with ‘Life’s an Adventure’ had 2 guides especially so they could take a stronger AND weaker group at a slightly different pace, ensuring that everyone got something out of the walk. Day 1 was the EASY day apparently and we did complete it despite struggling on the uphill stretches. Our fearless leader Barry was a mine of information and pointed out all the flora and fauna along the way and stopped frequently for photo opportunities. It is certainly a beautiful part of the world. So wild and craggy with huge black sheer granite cliffs with massive waves smashing against them but also inland forests of trees covered in moss and lichen, a fairyland where you wouldn’t be surprised to come across a gnome sitting on a toadstool!!

That night after a hot shower we bundled into our van and had dinner overlooking the historic site of Port Arthur, all lit up and a living reminder of how far we have come since those initial years of settlement. It really is a beautiful part of the world with a special quality that you can’t quite put your finger on. We were all tucked up in bed by 9.30pm anticipating another full day ahead. We had already opted for the shorter walk so that we could visit Port Arthur in the afternoon and the weather was shaping up to be just perfect. The day dawned as predicted and we enjoyed a beautiful walk along to Fortescue Bay showing us more woodland hugging the coastline and many different flowers and evidence of native animals, in particular the Tasmanian Devil. We never saw one but followed their trails. Dappled sunshine and a slower pace meant we really enjoyed this walk and thoroughly enjoyed our tourist status at the Lavender Farm and later on through the now very serene grounds of Port Arthur which was right next door to our Lodge.

This was our favourite day and as the first ominous signs of a tickly throat and cough made themselves present we didn’t think for a minute it was going to affect us adversely. Day 3 dawned and we set off in a Shotover style boat to explore the 3rd Cape – Cape Pillar. Thank goodness we did as we were told for once and donned about 10 layers of clothing as things really revved up once we got out of the Bay and we were zooming at wharp speed towards some of the most awe inspiring cliffs. Hardcore climbers like to climb this vertical pillar and walk along the spine of the cliffs but we were content to stay in the boat and appreciate their sheer vertical-ness and magnificence from the water! It was FREEZING though, a couple of tough German guys had turned up in shorts and tee shirts and I can only imagine how cold they must have been!

Then the final walk, wending our way up stone stairs up and around the cliffs, up and up and up! It was tough and a few people had either stayed in the van or turned back and by the time we got back there were people asleep all over the van, a bad sign of what was to come as it turns out…. Unfortunately the very nature of the van hadn’t helped as we were basically hermetically sealed within it, no windows opened and we had to rely on aircon for “fresh” air as we bumped along the track. This meant we all shared Lyn’s germs,including the tour leader and full grown men with most of us gonners by the time we made it back to Hobart. The final insult was still to come. As we all fell out of the van, so keen for a shower and a comfy bed Barry informed us that we had lost the door to our trailer on the bumpy track and that 2 of our cases were missing. Two guesses as to who they belonged to! Actually we were lucky that Sandy still had hers so we could at least share some clean clothes and toiletries but until I heard a few hours later that the cases had been found I was definitely a bit down in the dumps! A lovely Belgian couple came across the cases looking very out of place on the track and took them back to the lodge (luckily we still had their labels on them) where they managed to track us down and by 10.30 the next day we had them back, a little worse for wear but much better than the alternatives!

So we went to bed thinking tomorrow would be a better day, the start of our more relaxed stage 2 of the walking trip, self guided and looking forward to all the amazing local food and wine that lay ahead for us. Onwards and Upwards and all that jazz we muttered with British optimism……

Sadly this sums us up perfectly……