Wednesday 29^th February, 2012

Exactly at 8.45pm I was at the bus stop. In a few minutes the shuttle bus should arrive. The minutes passed and I waited and waited. After 25 minutes the bus appeared. The traffic should be the reason and some more stops are required. I thought: “Come on, that will run short on the airport”. Everybody around me was nervous as they have to do the check-in even earlier than I. On the airport the idea was to as fast as possible get the backpack and get to the counter. I got there just on time and should go immediately to the plane. At the gate they said the plane arrived late and thus boarding will be in 15 minutes. OK, somehow everything is a bit late today. After a bit more than an hour we landed in Melbourne. Here I had 40 minutes to change flight. The nice lady next to me said I should take the backpack. So I was the first leaving the plane and I could have a breather before getting into the next plane. Another three hours of flight were ahead. Shortly before landing there were many air holes and slowly I got a bit sick. No wonder as I did not eat anything except crisps and two cookies. Unfortunately I did not find anything without wheat in the hurry. In Perth I could again wait for half an hour for the shuttle bus. The first one said that my destination is not on his tour and I should take the next one in a few minutes. Around 4 o'clock I arrived at the hostel. It took a while until they found my reservation. Tired from travelling I put my luggage into the room. I just wanted to check where I will get the car tomorrow. I started walking equipped with the city map. I soon found the office of Hertz. As it was not yet late I went to the Kings Park. That was a good idea. There is a beautiful view about the northern part of Perth. While walking in the park, I saw three wedding couples. OK, the date is very special. A couple had its ceremony in the park with view to the city. I sat down in the grass, watched them and remembered me of my own wedding. As it is 3 hour later as in Tasmania I was now very hungry. Around the corner I saw a Japanese and as I love sushi, I went there. I was a bit overstrained by the big assortment they offered. A kind Japanese recommended a sushi with chicken and avocado served with a sweet-and-sour plum sauce. Lovely! Then I went tired back to the hostel.

Tuesday 28^th February, 2012

The programme of today is told fast. After sleeping in I went walking. I started in the harbour. There I watched a huge ship which was in the harbour since Saturday. Along the shore I walked to Sandy Bay and was surprised how fast I got there. Back I went through Battery Point which I visited already at the beginning of my trip. After lunch I had to wash the clothes and to put everything into the backpack. To save some space my old trekking shoes finished their trip here. They are definitively gone and the holes are too big.

Monday 27^th February, 2012

In the morning I went to Taroona to visit the Shot Tower. This sandstone tower was once used to manufacture gun bullets. As reward for the many steps I could enjoy the view to the sea and the surrounding landscape. My next destination was MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. Everybody I met was enthusiastic about this museum. I inspected the different objects until late afternoon. Some of them were even from Swiss artists. As I still had some time, I went to the Alpenrail. Here a Swiss made his dream true and created a paradise for his model railway. The railway is laid out in front of the scenery of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (the three main mountains of the Bernese Alps). I learned that the father of the owner emigrated in the sixties to Australia. Back in Hobart I brought my car back, now I can sleep longer tomorrow.

Sunday 26^th February, 2012

My Sunday excursion led to Bruny Island which the locals like to call little New Zealand. As in New Zealand there are two islands, but here they are connected with a foodbridge. Also the vegetation is not the same. On Bruny Island there are white wallabies as one day albino wallabies escaped. As they could not be caught again, they mated with normal wallabies and now there are white ones which are not albinos. At pleasant 25° C I went to the meeting point. The air was weirdly misty. The guide told many things about the region when we went by bus to the island. The said that yesterday someone made a camping fire. This was not allowed due to danger of bush fire. Promptly the fire got out of control and led to a rapidly growing bush fire north of Hobart. I saw the smoke cloud already yesterday when I was on Mount Wellington. It looked like when I am looking at the nuclear power plant in Gösgen out of the window at home in Olten. I already thought then this looks like a bush fire. Now they hope that the rain predicted for tomorrow will eliminate the fire. Now back to the tour. With a ferry we went to the islands. First we saw a fish farm in the sea. Here young salmons are raised in containers. From time to time fresh water is added. This should resemble the natural cycle of the salmons. On the island a small part of the fishes get smoked, the rest will be sold. Many inhabitants live from sheep. They export merino wool. Another income are cherries. There is a huge plantation of big cherries. They mostly get exported to the USA. Another interesting detail I learned. In Tasmania there are three wind power stations and many hydropower plants. If Tasmania produces much energy, it is transported to Victoria (the state where Melbourne is). To do this there is a cable on sea bottom connecting the island with the mainland. If Tasmania is lacking water and cannot produce enough electricity, it gets it from the mainland. Now my tour continues on the south island. First we enjoyed tea and muffins, then we went slowly to the boat landing stage. When everyone was in the boat ginger pills were given out against motion sickness. As I get fast motion sick, I took my own pills before. They were small rubber boats and so we could get very close to the cliffs. We saw many cliffs and caves. To make sure that we did not get bored, the boat got quite rapid in between. Our destination was a seal colony. It was funny to watch these animals while sunbathing or playing in the water. On the way back we also observed birds flying and then diving into the water. Back on the land we enjoyed a salad for lunch. After a short stop at the seaside it was time to go back. At the ferry I had already to wait for more half an hour as also other people wanted to leave. Here I enjoyed the sight to the sea and watched the sky which got more and more misty. I went directly back to Hobart after the ferry brought us back to the mainland. It was good to make that tour today as it was still 35° C when I was back. To finish off: this was not my day. First the toilet door in the Pub fell out of the hinge and in the evening in my room the window was falling down. Good luck as nothing happened to me, I just had to change the room.

Saturday 25^th February, 2012

In the morning I drove to the blow holes. They should actually blow water high up during high tide, at least so I imagine a blow hole. It happened nothing, maybe it is because it looked a bit decayed. I enjoyed a bit the coast and drove on. As I am now on the road since a month and I am a bit fed up with packing and unpacking the backpack, I decided to stay the last few days in Hobart. As it was Saturday, I could visit Salamanca Market. There were many stands selling food, souveniers, bits and pieces. The atmosphere was accompanied with live music of different styles. Today was the warmest day this month, the thermometer climbed up to 39° C! To get it a bit cooler I drove up to Mount Wellington. The view was brilliant as the sun did its best. Now as I surrounded the island once I have now a better imagination as last time. I made a short hike up to the summit, accompanied by the sound of the crickets. I realised that there are different species and I could even take a picture of two of them.