BagLady's Travels and Torments: Maria Island and Before

January 17, 2016
Maria Island, Tasmania, Australia

I'm camped on an island that is a National Park off the east coast of Tasmania. No cars here other than Rangers' utes and trucks for hauling big stuff etc. that makes it pretty quiet...ahhhh! This place has had many lives, starting with it being a convict station in the early 1800s to a cement factory in the early 1900s. There were even farms on this rough, steep land over the years...and a school. The land has been allowed to recover itself back to native bush. And they also use it to restore the Tasmanian Devils population as there are few predators here. There's quite an array of wild life that go-exists with the people in Darlington, the "town" here (a ranger station, fairly primitive campground, some houses for the Rangers, some buildings as museums, a penitentiary that provides accommodation in the form of about 10 rooms with 6 bunk beds and a table and a wood heater, and a mess hall where you can prepare your meals....no cafes, no stores, no food provided.)

The oldest building on the island.

The Miller's cottage and rock foundation from a windmill.

Funnel web from the most dangerous spider in Australia!

Ruby Hunt's cottage. She lived here until the 1920's

When I finally ferry back to Triabunna on Tuesday (today is Sunday), I'll have been here a week. Jane's idea. I'm not complaining. Jane is a cyclist from Melbourne that I met on the road over a week ago. We were both headed south and just hooked up. She's got quite a tour under her belt. Her first and only other cycle tour was from Bejiing, China to Melbourne, Australia (home). 19 months. She's currently a student at Uni studying primary education. And on her summer break. And she's glamping! She's got a trailer attached and in there is everything imaginable! Except a camp chair. We hope to rectify that omission in Hobart:) And I'm the benefactor of her work pulling this gear around Tassie! Her intent was to cycle and then camp or extended periods. And it's working.

Soon after meeting, she came down with a bug that caused fatigue and nausea so she got a room for the night in Swansea. I found out how feral I've gotten when I camped along the base of the open sliding glass door for the night just to still feel breezes blowing over me and to smell and hear the rain. I'm having a harder and harder time being inside anywhere. Tough for me to regulate my temperature. Tough for me not to feel suffocated. I need AIR!! A fetish that's just getting worse and worse. I rarely even close the flaps of my tent (you remember My Big Sky Revolution 2 P with the Porch feature). I can leave the vestibules open in the rain most times and do!! Oh the air through it at night is delightful! This has to have some past life reference or sure.

So, since Jane, we've camped a couple of nights in Bicheno at a campground, then on the edge of a golf course overlooking the Big Oyster Bay at Swansea (with permission of the grounds keeper), then a motel room in Swansea with a killer view while Jane recuperated, then behind the pub in Triabunna awaiting the ferry the next day. Here in Maria Island we stayed at the campground in Darlington 2 nights and then pedaled out to Encampment Cove for 3 nights. The roads are gravel and sand. Sometimes good. Sometimes require pushing through deep sand. That's not fun with the trike. Nope. Not fun at all. I damaged my dereilleur in deep sand outside Perth so now I'm doubly nervous about re-injuring in it's fragile state. (Yup, a Rohloff hub for my next tour...enough of this!)

January 18, 2016
Same place. 7:30 am

Sitting down by the shore watching the water twinkle with cloudy sunlight. So calm. Utter tranquility. Similar to last night's sunset only different lighting. This morning is more greys. Last night was pinks and blues.

Over the weekend the campsites out here have filled a bit. Some people come in for just a night, others for a few days like us. There's a dad with his tween daughters, a family with tween boys, and a group of 5 backpackers (the kind that go from city to city with their backpack not hikers) that are all traveling solo but grouped up to buy a car and tour Tassie for a month. Then there are some coming in by mountain bike, a few solo guys. We're about 15 kms from Darlington. Done arrive by private boat, or walk or cycle from Darlington. Then there are the sailboats that just anchor in the cove for the night. Sure wish I could sail. Looks like such fun. Wonder if that patch really works for motion sickness. Maybe I'll get it while I'm home so I can give it a try sometime. What fun would that be to bop around through SE Asia by boat?!?

There are 3 kinds of kangaroos on the island: pademelons are the smallest, think small dog...wallabies are next, medium dog, then the kangaroo which is the size of a large dog.

And there are wombats. I want one as a pet! The look like cuddly bears walking on all fours, but the size of a medium dog and quite stocky.

And then there are the birds. Lots of kookaburras here to serenade us with their laughter song.

And seagulls. And then there are these long billed white birds that dive straight down into the water. I don't think that it was a seagull. I'm so bird illiterate:(

Been struggling lately with planning. I have to be out of Australia the end of February. I've decided to fly to Sydney for a week and visit my dear friends there (Carina I met on the Camino) before flying out. Out to where has been the question. I know I'm going to the states sometime this year but how long do I need there? Lots of people to visit, for sure. Gear to replace. Body parts to fix. And then back on the road, no question about that. I'm truly happy out here. A simple life, few stresses. I've toyed with going to Vietnam for a bit. Or cycling back to the states from Mexico. I fear I've had my fill of sun for awhile. My skin is parched. Maybe just go home and enjoy that for a bit. I do miss my daughters terribly. I sometimes find it challenging to decide what to do next. So many places to see. This is quite a big world at 50 kms a day!

But I still have a month left in Tassie!!

January 19th
Triabunna, Tasmania

Yesterday we meandered our way back to Darlington, the main spot with the Rangers station, campground, and accommodation. And feeling pretty grubby we were looking forward to showers. Too bad. The main tank on the island sprung a leak and they lost 90,000 liters of water. Everything was shut down. No showers, no toilets. We had water to drink from a tank at the toilet block and that was it:(. No showers for us.

I forgot to mention some of the prison ruins we saw out near Encampment Cove. There was a row of brick solitary cells, about 20 of them. 6x8 feet, I reckon. With only one window in the door facing out over the inlet. Solitary confinement. It drove many of them mad we were told. The camera I had with me had a dead battery so no pictures of that unless I can get some from Jane.

So today we ferried back to Triabunna and the sea was calm and delightful. Sure beat the rough crossing we had going out. I was a bit fearful of a repeat performance. And we decided to stay around town this afternoon. I had gotten a shower this morning when they had pumped water from a reservoir into an old tank and everything was operational. But Jane didn't so she needed that. We need to restock groceries. (I'd gone with food for three nights and we stayed 6...I ate everything I had!). So instead of camping behind the pub like we did before catching the ferry, we found public grounds overlooking the inlet. Sweet! I can always find good spots, Jane...stick with me! She's quite good at finding them too! And finding power. We're charging up our iPads and power banks in the outlet at the fire hall nearby. There was a water tap there too. Tis a most interesting life when every day is a scramble for water, power, food, and a campsite. Then there's weekly showers and washing clothes to figure out. But somehow it all does work itself out. Just can't be too fussy about cleanliness:)

Some more Maria Island pics: