Why we love Tasmania

Tasmania is the size of Ireland, but with epic mountains, wineries, and endless beaches.  You just need to look past the venomous snakes, and it's a very cool place.  We spent a couple of weeks there, from February 27 to March 11, and could have spent a couple more.  We managed to hit three national parks (see prior posts for Cradle Mountain and Walls of Jerusalem), ending with Freycinet park (pronounced frey-seh-ney) which is a cool peninsula jutting out into the Tasman Sea.  

Between our treks we visited about 10 wineries in the Tamar and Piper River valleys, which specialize in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and bubbly. The cool climate and sandy soil in the Tamar Valley makes for very well-balanced  Chardonnay (or "chardy" - the Australians seem intent on abbreviating everything possible) that holds up to oak well, so you get a touch of vanilla and cream along with refreshing citrus and mineralilty at the end. Same goes for the Pinot: earthy, dark fruit to start and then a long, flinty finish. And the bubbly from the Piper River area is just darned good, French style champagne.

Along with great hiking and wine, Tassie is a very hospitable island - free wi-fi in town centers, enthusiastic locals, and lots of wallabies and other wildlife to view. This also means lots of efforts by the wallabies and brush-tailed possums to steal your food  - we were literally beating (gently, mind you) on one wallaby with a hiking pole with little effect, had our tent chewed through on one memorable evening, and Brook entertained himself by chasing a particularly intrepid possum (which we caught rappelling down to our food bag) through the trees one night.  And we did see a few snakes, but they were pretty skittish and left us alone.  Which is a good thing. 

Great hiking, great wine, and friendly locals - what's not to love?  We highly recommend a trip.  And if you do go, make sure to visit the Tamar and Piper Valleys (for the wine) and the aforementioned national parks.  along with Fish Frenzy in Hobart for some damned-good fish n' chips. You won't be disappointed.  Here's a link to some final photos, including wine country and Freycinet: http://tinyurl.com/k7gdhro