After a short flight from Melbourne across the notoriously choppy Bass Straight, hire car is collected and we’re off! Tasmania is 226 miles long and 198 wide – about half the area of England, but with a population of just 520,000, so even the capital Hobart is small and uncrowded.
There is stunning coastal scenery, beautiful rugged mountain scenery, huge forests, bushland, farming areas and tiny villages and towns. Much of it reminded us more of driving through rural England than being in Australia… until this hops by!!!
Our first day was spent on the lovely Tasman Peninsula, exploring beautiful coves and fascinating geology.. the tesselated pavement at Eaglehawk neck was my favourite. Millions of years ago, the siltstone rock cracked along natural joints, creating the shapes we see today. Subsequently, the action of sand, water and salt has eroded them… but differently. Those furthest from the sea are left for hours with salt water drying on the surface, so the flat part has eroded more than the edges, creating pans. Nearer the sea they are underwater longer, so the joints have eroded more, leaving domed ‘loaves’!
Short walks along the cliffs took us to an array of natural features – the blow hole, Tasman arch, Devils Kitchen – a collapsed arch, and the Remarkable cave.
The Tasman peninsula is beautiful and sad in equal measure, as it was the location of the infamous Port Arthur penal colony, the first to be established.
The peninsula is linked to the mainland at Eagle Hawk neck, a narrow, 30 metre strip, so this was the site of the feared dog line. No convict would escape by land.
On a warm sunny day, the honeyed sandstone ruins of the penal colony made it harder to imagine the awful conditions and punishments here.
It started well, aiming to give prisoners trades for their future lives, but eventually sank into a harsh, punitive regime, using solitary isolation as a misguided method of reform. The worlds first boys colony was here too, on a separate island.
Onto our great air bnb in the riverside Hobart suburb of Bellerive. Day 2 dawned bright so er drove to the top of Mount Wellington. Astounding views and a nice walk to view the dolerite columns that make up much of the top.
After a great lunch at fish restaurant Blue fin… (delicious oysters!)
, we explored Hobart, including the quay, Mawson’s Hut – a replica Antarctic explorer hut, and the lovely botanic gardens. It’s summer here!!
Then back to BnB, carefully selected as just 3 minutes walk from the Hobart Cricket ground.. and we had tickets for England vs Australia T20 game. I had no idea where seats were.. turned out they were right next to Australian players tunnel! Luckily, they were a fairly kind crowd, so we survived! Sadly, after a great start, England weren’t quite good enough, and we ended up cheering with the Aussies when Maxwell won the match for them, getting his century with a 6 on the final shot of the match. Lucky really, because our BnB host might have locked us out if England had won!
The next 6 days are spent touring the island. We stayed in 5 Air BnBs ranging from a modern luxury annexe to a mobile home cabin by the beach! All were great, and about 60% of the price of a hotel, with far more amenities.
Here is a summary of our tour!
Up the east coast visiting Buckland church with 14th century stained glass windows from Battle Abbey, brought over by ship in the mid 1800’s. Then magnificent Freycinet National park whete we hiked up a very big hill for a view of beautiful wineglass bay.
Favourite walk was to Sleepy Bay. Great pink granite rocks, and paddling in the chilly southern Ocean.
On to Bichenu. Great blowhole, and cute nightime fairy penguin watching.
This meant a night time drive up a twisty pass to our accommodation – dodging wallabies and possums on the road.
Next day, off to Cradle mountain National park. Lovely long hike around Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle Mountain. Saw echidna and snakes!
Staying at pretty Port Sorrell on N coast, we stumbled upon Moroccan night at George and Dave’s cafe. Walking back at dusk with Wallabys on the pavement, and a possum jumped down from a tree making us really jump! Slept with door open as it was so hot. The sounds of the wildlife were amazing, including possums raiding dustbins!
Part 2 to follow!
Chris and I love islands. This trip was originally designed to visit as many islands as possible. When we realised that the Maldives are just a 80 minute flight from Cochin, we thought we ought to go and see this unique and remarkable set of islands. 
Facts and figures. Over 1100 islands make up the Maldives. 800 are uninhabited, 200 are ‘Local’ islands, and 110 are resorts. The islands are either coral atolls which formed on sinking ancient volcanoes, or reclaimed land. The Maldives is a strict muslim country, with some alleged dodgy human rights practices, but an excellent education system with 98% literacy. Alcohol is banned except on private resort islands. Women should cover knees and shoulders – except on resort islands, or on designated beaches on local islands! When we looked at costs, resort islands cost between £350 and £3,500 PER NIGHT!, so we chose to stay on an island inhabited by local people, in a guest house. Local people have only recently been permitted to offer accommodation, and it is a great budget option. However… do research your island. Some are noisier/ dirtier / less tolerant than others. Distance from the airport is crucial too…some are a 7 hour boat ride away. 
We ate out on the sand every day. 
There were some very cute cats. 
The key things you want on the Maldives (so I’m told) are a house reef with lagoon for snorkelling, an underwater cliff for diving and a surf break. Thulusdhoo has all 3! 
The blue colours in the water are stunning… nearly as good as Tresco in the Scilly isles, our favourite place ever! Now those of you that know me will be aware that there are a few things I don’t get on with. Watersports is one of them! Sitting still is another. I survived the 4 nights. I read 3 books, walked round the island a few times and loved meeting local people and seeing their culture. 
We played Rummikub, and had a super aromatherapy massage. Excellent pizza at Contagious pizza. Lovely American owners who are ‘living the dream’. We did a boat trip, saw lots of beautiful fish and had dolphins swimming past the hotel. Now lets get busy again please! (But how is this for a title?!) 
The bad points… well, I know it is a cliche, but towels on sunbeds were an issue! There were only 6 really comfortable sunbeds. One couple literally tied their towels around 2 sunbeds and left them there, night and day, even when they were away from the hotel! There were many suggestions as to how to move the towels. Take them in to Hotel lost property was the best (and politest!) But no-one did!ĺ The Maldives are truly a very beautiful place, but with a mean height above sea level of 1.5 metres, global warming means their future is seriously under threat. We are very glad to have experienced this remarkable area, especially meeting local people rather than in a resort. We are now back in lovely Sri Lanka for 1 night before our flight to Australia! This time we are alone…no Tissa to hold our hand! I booked an air bnb near the airport – Villa Domenikuu. £24 for the night, and they arranged a cheap taxi to and from airport. It is amazing! Such a very friendly family…. and, completely by chance, he is a friend of Tissa 
Tissa had delivered the suitcase we left with him, AND the hat Chris had left in a hotel. Tissa had collected it! What service! Then went to the excellent Lords restaurant in Negombo beach by TukTuk! Zooming around these crazy streets in an open sided 3 wheeler is certainly an experience! It was great fun. Our last Sri lankan meal was superb. 
As was our last breakfast, with delicious Sri Lankan pastries. 
We are very sad to be leaving. PS. We also love Sri Lanka airways. Lovely staff, nice food and even in economy you get a foot rest, movies, games and a pillow! The female stewards wear gorgeous outfits – turquoise, printed with peacock feathers… there are wild peacocks everywhere here, they are the national bird of Sri Lanka. 
However the little logo for air India wins my favourite boarding pass award. He makes me smile every time I look at him. X 
Bimbling! 