Launceston-With a sleep deprived aching body but a heart full of cheer we touched down in Tasmania.Sniffed and cleared by a biosecurity dog wearing uniform and socks(food from mainland to island is prohibited!Hah!) a cool zephyr and bright sunshine welcomed us to the riverside city in Northeren Tasmania. We also took possession of our ride at the unmanned Car Rental-A Tesla. A visiting card was our key to this motor marvel and no human to explain it.Amol & me were like the 3 blind men touching and feeling an elephant. We rubbed the card along the car sides, expecting a genie to open the car.The car relented when we found the sensor and voila! it was a space craft meant for the roads.A couple of more senior moments and we discovered mandatory seat and steering adjustments in no time.
The sense of adventure in a holiday kicked in a heady mix of adrenaline and oxytocin and we hit the Tassie roads. This road trip for the next 8 days was love I have never experienced before . Asphalt roads recited poetry.
Our hosts were to recieve us later in the evening so we started the day with a sumptous brekkie at the Harvest market held every Saturday in Launceston.My first brush with artisan everything from food to bevereges, (even salt is artisan) and also Aussie humour.It was brrrr cold and I was seated amongst locals while Amol was away to get me a bite and a sip. I was quickly integrated into their conversation and it led from them tracing their ancestors from the first fleet of convicts inhabitants to a couple meeting their respective dates on a nudist beach. And I was like how can romance even be ignited in this cold and in the nude.Amused by my chattering teeth in their so called "sunny day good for a swim kind of day" one guy said that he got to eat quickly and leave beacuse at the stroke of 10 everyone has to take off their clothes in the harvest market. All on a cue quickened their eating pace and got into a sense of hurry. Amol not by my side added to my worry. I watched the time tick and they kept up the charade with straight faces. 9.55AM I panicked. I began to gather my things and Amol walked up with eats signalling not to leave my seat. And rapturous laughter followed. They made a mickey out of me and how.
The Harvest Market was lovely and truly a paddock to plate experience served with brutal honesty. A berry shop had 2 different packaging for the same berries with different prices. When I asked the reason, I was told you get what you pay for. A man wearing a viking hat was selling mead. I asked him innocently if non alcoholic options were available and he remarked why would anyone waste time making that. After the nudist joke debacle I did not want to expose anymore of my ignorance and I left the place in haste , which I regret now because I may never taste such good stuff again.Mead, I learned later that it is an alcoholic drink made from honey from my all knowing boy.
Cataract gorge on the South Esk river was our next stop.Deciphering parking signs and buying a parking tickets is an adventure by itself in our trips abroad.In Portugal we went to buy Percebes(edible barnacles) for 10 minutes and came back to find a parking ticket for 100 euros.We did a short and a easy trail, a couple of photos, saw Tassie peacocks(they looked happier than the Goans ones) rode down the world's longest single span chair car lift and headed out along the River Tamar. A saline tidal estuary that rises and falls with the tide of the Bass Strait that separates Tas from Aus Mainland.
Beauty point - A wharf on River Tamar.Warm in the sun, cold in the shade. Chef's catch, a small seafood place with a great view served us fish and chips with a dash of Tasman salt.Even the salt had magic in Tasmania.
The evening was spent in the company of old friends and worlds best margarita. The magic spilled into the next morning Tamar Valley wine tasting tour with award winning wines, delectable food and lovely banter with friends.
We headed to Burnie to meet another friend and now the charging the Tesla adventure kicked in. Tesla plans charging pit stops very well. As long as we know how to use it. We drove to a Tesla supercharger station place at Devenport. An unmanned charging station like all in Tas. The charging cord wouldnot just come off the dock and there was no one to ask for help. Being a Sunday evening did not help. A man wearing a reflective vest with a board in hand, directing vehicles on the port was the only human I could ask for help. The following conversation ensued
He-"I know how to use it, but I cannot help you because it is in not my line of work"
Me- You can explain to me how it works and then I will do it
He-If I explain and you still end up breaking it, then it would be my fault, so I cant help you
Me- Please lead me onto a helpline I can call
He- I can help you but I will not.
Moron. In reality the supercharging dock keys are kept inside a shop that has it installed and the shop was shut and hence our conundrum. And the moron could not have helped me even if he wanted to. Tas Moron.This is post facto knowledge. We just got more worried at this point and drove to another place as directed by google maps. This time we were led to an almost empty parking lot with 2 vagabond looking men and me a sub 5 feet middling asking for help.We drove around 2 more times in circles and reached a fast charging station that worked with our credit card. All was well again. Only our friend had to report for duty in the next 2 hours and we were 1 hour away. So we partially charged enough to reach Burnie and let the charging continue in Burnie while we caught up and made new memories. Also I found my forever love in Avocados.Meeting old friends in new countries is like comfort food on rainy nights. Warm and heartening.
We headed to Waratah after the last light of the southern sun. And road kills are abundant. The Marsupials are nocturnal and they wander to warmer asphalt roads at night and meet a crushing end. Every kilometer a dead wallaby is not a pretty sight. We reached a pre-heated Air B&B, stocked with Indian food and a bubbly.
Next morning Amol was accosted by an eager white man to sell his plumbing bussiness when he discovered we were Doctors from India.Felt nice to get the, "Indians are moneyed and not the "gareebon ka desh" vibe. The Tesla helped I am guessing.
Cradle mountains and Dove lake has Wildlife, temperate rainforest, high altitude and marvellous scenery.
It rains 300 days a year but we got a bright day to trek around the lake and took classic pictures against the backdrop of the imposing snow peaked summit.Walking on a high of such exquisite natural beauty we ventured into the enchanted forest walk.
Just then a tiger snake , highly venomous, large black and yellow banded snake also decided to sun himself on the trail. I let out such a shrill shriek that the snake slithered away with the sonic transposed terra vibrations but I swore off all temperate rainforest trails from then on in Tas.We were told all snakes are venomous in AUs,Tas. So they have a diagnostic test available that makes it possible to confirm the type of snake venom present in the body of an envenomed patient. This test uses antibodies to recognize specific types of venom produced by different species of snakes.And the snake specific antisnake venom(ASV) is administered to the patient. The turn around time and the logistics involved before treatment would be administered made my head spin, that I did not want any more encounters.Vis a vis in India we have one ASV that is administered for all envenomations(one size fits all) and most of our snakes are non poisonous.
Aus n Tas has so many venomous animals.Even the cuddly cute nature's stuffed toy koalas are vicious and more aggressive than a crocodile.Eww
While we drove out of the parking lot of Cradle mountain we were low on charge in the Tesla but high on camaraderie and by now had figured out charging solutions in a foreign land.
A charging pitstop at Queenstown ( all charging stops were centrally located so we could grab some eats and coffee always and parking fee was included)and a evening show of Australia’s longest-running play,"The Ship That Never Was" . It is a hillarious parody of the last great convict escape from Sarah Island to Chile and when the convicts got caught after 2 years of freedom they argued that the ship never existed.Audience members play minor characters and bring their own energy and I played the jelly fish.
In Strahan for the next 24 hours I was addressed as the jelly fish because the place has only 700 residents and we bump into each other every 5 minutes.Even our residential colony in Goa will easily exceed that number.
Our host graciously shared his meat stew and rice by the side for dinner because all grocers shut by 7 and we lucked out of reservations in all local eat outs. Besides the food they shared insights into aborginal customs,concerns and culture. She was well travelled and taught at the uni.So we got detailed explanations to all our queries ranging from wallaby road kills to First Nations honour.
Gordon River cruise-
Quiet cruising on the Gordon River with an electric motor in the whispering mode shows how dedicated they are about reducing the environmental footprint. The guides(college students with a part time job) on board were so engaging and confident. Facts about engineering marvels of Hell's gates, wild temperate rainforest Huon pines, piners(Aus for lumberjacks) treachorous lives,blood curdling stories of convicts at the Sarah Island were nice .Pristine clear reflections make for the best pictures of the trip.The waters were brown from tanins leached from the dense rain forests.Salmon aquaculture trivia took the crown for me.Salmon in their natural habitat are pink because they feed on small crustaceans. Industrial farmed salmon has grey flesh so a dye is added to get the salmon pink shade which varies according to the market.Oriental market get a brighter shade no 27 while European market demand a paler shade 25. The fresh salmon in the buffet on the cruise was the tastiest salmon I have had till now.
We drove out of strahan on the Lyell highway. The famous 99 bends( not really 99 in number and not that we really counted) a curvy, winding road of perfect tarmac that snakes its way over the mountains above Queenstown is easily the most picturesque road in the whole world.
A road trip especially in an electric car with all its challenges is worth just this road alone.We drove along Derwent valley and saw blue painted tress for metal health awareness, large campers which Amol thinks should be our next holiday,somemore wallaby road kills and reached Hobart in good time.
Hobart - Rose cottage overlooking the Tasman bridge was a home away from home. 8 days into any holiday we start to miss home. This Air B&B run by a teacher again had such eye for detail and instructions that covered practically everything(but we being us scraped the undercarriage of an SUV trying to park , got knocked 3 times on the head by a door that couldnot keep itself open because reading instructions is for weaklings obviously)
Bruny islands- A short ferry ride took us to this highly recommended twin islands connected by a narrow isthmus called THe Neck. The light house on the southern island is the land mass before Antartica.
After we found a spot to charge our Tesla we walked 2 kms for some sea food. I was given Bruny island apple cider to drink while Amol settled down with a beer. Lovely holiday with 2 people in love for 20 years,Tesla charging woes overcome, credit card(Amex didn't work but Visa did)conundrums sorted and 2 more days to the holiday still left Life was perfect.Till I felt Tizzy.I read the alcohol content in the cider was 5.7%.(I did not know cider had alcohol even) So in absolute terms I had had more alcohol than Amol per kg body weight.Rest of Bruny island I was deliriously happy and oblivious to all beauty and surroundings. Amol cajoled me,dragged me,carried me piggy back for almost 2 kms.I was mindlessly talking but I remember the worry on Amol's face.A can of cider flicked the holiday switch off for the big man.By the time my head cleared we had reached mainland. From that moment on I am the biggest apple cider fan. Tastes like appy and hits like an atom bomb. We tried many ciders after that in Tas but not one matched to the bruny island buzz.
Sunset at Mount Wellington(Kunayi for the locals) and the drive up there,the wind speeds at 30km/hr almost knocking me over,the observatory with all its trivia(Darwin was here collecting specimens),sweeping panoramic views of Hobart below is etched for eternity.
Swansea was the charging pitstop. The beach was beautiful and the fish at horny cray was mediocre.
Freycinet National park and the hike upto wine glass bay had us drained in the afternoon sun.
Bloody red raging tempers that followed could not dampen the beauty of Clear blue skies, aquamarine waters, neverending stretches of white sands and a white Tesla on grey roads .In haste We took a C route( The route numbering system in Tas is composed of National Highway 1, and three categories of alphanumeric routes: 'A' routes, which are the state's most important arterial roads; 'B' routes, other important sub-arterial and connecting roads; and 'C' routes, significant minor roads.) This C route was a 'kachha' road (least expecting this with our previou silky smooth roads experience and hence shocked that this could exist in Tas), not a single human for 40 km and even sos on Tesla was sketchy and battery was draining fast. We had no satellite phone and we didnot know where this road would lead. Being nasty to each other did not help. Finally we reached
With a full stomach and a fully charged car the veil of anger and anxiety lifted and when we saw sunset at the Tesselated pavement at Lufra, Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula of Tasmania. This tessellated pavement consists of a marine platform on the shore of Pirates Bay, Tasmania. This consists of two types of formations: a pan formation and a loaf formation.The pan formation is a series of concave depressions in the rock that typically forms beyond the edge of the seashore. This part of the pavement dries out more at low tide than the portion abutting the seashore, allowing salt crystals to develop further; the surface of the "pans" therefore erodes more quickly than the joints, resulting in increasing concavity.The loaf formations occur on the parts of the pavement closer to the seashore, which are immersed in water for longer periods of time. These parts of the pavement do not dry out so much, reducing the level of salt crystallisation. Water, carrying abrasive sand, is typically channelled through the joints, causing them to erode faster than the rest of the pavement, leaving loaf-like structures.The science and the sunset veiws are both memorable.
MONA-Museum of Old and New Art- A disneyland for adults. Either one loves it or loathes it. I loved it and Amol suffered it. One of my faves are the oil room(built out of sump oil and steel. The oil fills the whole room with one narrow viewing path that goes straight into the center. The oil is about waist deep but you cannot tell the depth from looking at the surface. From above, it’s an optical illusion. It looks like another level to the building, but really, it’s the reflection of the ceiling above you).
I am definitely no art expert or culture vulture, but I loved it for its sheer cleverness and willingness to completely disregard farcical adult correctness. It is so overwhelming and exhausting at the same time.
Battery point- We Climbed Kelly’s Steps – a clever inner-city shortcut hacked into a cliff – to reach one of Hobart’s most charming suburbs, Hobart’s first suburb, and widely regarded as the best-preserved colonial-era suburb in Australia.
We walked past a sculpture of Roald Amundsen at the Institue of Maritime and Antartic studies commemorating his historic visit to Hobart in his ship Fram in 1912 where he telegraphed the success the first expedition to reach the South Pole.We had visited this wooden Fram ship in the Fram museum in Oslo a decade earlier with Adi and this scultpture nicely tied up our wanderings with nostalgia.
Salamanca market on Saturdays would have been nice if we had not done the Harvest Market. We walked to the Botanical garden to admire via the war memorial.
We packed our bags with cider and hearts with memories and left Tas and Aus.This time we even packed a chicken sandwich to eat on the flight out.
We walked in as 2 disheveled,hungry people into a dining room of erudite nephrologists of repute and their families.But the kind people did not judge us and made quick friends.
Kayaking , Burma rope bridge walking, guided
nature walks , evening academic session enriched by the chronicles of an ultra cyclist nephrologist(Kashmir to Kanyakumari in 12 days) & new friends made over dinner made this getaway so special.
Early morning I had the priveledge of driving in the ultra cyclists car
Sharing space in the car with Dr Prakash and family felt like a pilgrimage by proxy aka
When one returns from a pilgrimage just being with that person is like being part of the spiritual journey.
Dr Prakash is a trained Nephrologist. He ucompleted an ardorous race but credits his wife Dr Kranti who was part of the crew that guided him to completion. 3873 kms of cycling valahal
The nature walk with swathes of grass on the plateau moving like the sea waves in the breeze was magical. The trivia about the Sahyadri flora and fauna by a brilliant guide made this a trip of a lifetime
The karvi/ kurunji poo( of the Nilgiri fame)
which has inflorescense once in 12 years.
The tree which has flowers of different smells. Multiplex of nature, this tree is bare for most of the year.
Tunnel shaped cobwebs weaving spiders
We thanked Dr Ambekar profusely
