Down under the land down under

Day 1 Tasmania (may 3):
Night before flew into launceston from Sydney, a short 2hour flight. After the flight landed there was a fruit and food check that involved a beagle which actually sat on my bag which got me worried, but ended up being the bag next to mine... Thought "oh great what did I pack?". Headed outside to find a shuttle into town and what much, was the last to fit on the shuttle into town, next bus, 30 minutes! Made it to the hostel ...Backpacker hub...but was a bar down stairs that i think was having strip club night, there was a cover charge so I didn't check it out but there was Loud music till late, plus it was hard to sleep cuz so excited.
Next AM met bus at doorstep, met erica the driver and introduced to rest of group that has been traveling together for 3days already, I will continue on with new diver and group once I get to Hobart where they finish their trip. a great mix of people... A few Korean girls, a couple girls from denmark, a couple Italian girls, a couple girls from Germany, a few guys and girls from japan, a girl from isreal, a guy and his mom from Austria, an older Australian lady and a couple of English guys. All very nice and friendly... Small enough group everyone is becoming close, friendships forming fast. Morning drive was a little rough, winding roads and a bumpy bus. A few people were actually getting a little car sick, but I did well. Totally different terrain... Similar to Oregon but no evergreens, all gumtrees but much more mountainous than anything before. Our first stop was at St columba falls, claiming to be tasmanias biggest, over 90 meters. It was beautiful. Was a nice walk down to the base and when we got back lunch was just about ready... Aussie BBQ! Burgers prepared by the guide. After lunch we drove a couple hours to our next stop, the bay of fire. Named because the original explorer that found it saw many fires burning along the beaches at night as he was approaching, some say it's because of the orange/red lichen that grow on the rocks here... Spent a couple hours exploring tide pools and climbing on the rocks. Took a few amazing pictures. Found a weird alien pod... Maybe a shark egg... Don't know. Back on the bus for a couple more hours driving, stopping for a few shots of the setting sun and arriving at the house in bicheno where we would be staying for the night to unload quickly then we all headed to a special place to watch the little (fairy) penguins come up the beach... Only saw a few but they were damn cute. Guess it's the wrong time of the year, earlier they say hundreds come up and rust here. Headed back to the house were dinner was just about done, rice, chicken & veggies. Played a little ping pong.... But it turned into a 8 or 9 person game where we all were rotating around the table taking a single shot then the next person hits it and round and round you go... Later turned into elimination and got real exciting. A little chatting and drinking then bed time.



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