In Search of the Tasmanian Devil

After Christmas we took the ferry to Tasmania. After being told "you have to go to Tasmania" 5 different times we decided we better check it out. It is a very beautiful unique island. It has the lush green rolling hills like New Zealand. But most interesting to me were the people. They are very down to earth and will go out of their way to help ANYBODY out. They take pride in their simpler life and state, "we are 10 years behind and we like it that way". While we were there we biked around the northern half of the island. That is where we had gotten jobs in an apple orchard so we needed to stay around that area. We had some great bike rides to Canyons and some beautiful hikes. While free camping we experienced the life of the nocturnal animals. We had kangaroos, wallabies, tasmanian devils and even penguins roaming around our tent at various times. We were literally in a zoo with no bars!

We attended a bicycle race that included Olympians and World Class riders. We met 4 American cyclists. It was so fun to have people to cheer on. We also attended a local Ho Down. What a hoot. They had 2 country bands and various wood chopping competitions. We shared spirits and lies with our new local friends. From here we took the ferry back to Melbourne and flew to Thailand.