To Hobart and Tahune

I was on the road today. I stopped at cool antique stores on the journey, slammed on brakes ---safely, since I was basically alone out there today--- to pull over and get a picture that's imperative to the trip, and I didn't get lost though my anxiety ran high sometimes that maybe I was. I bought a map. I followed it and freaking rocked Tasmania! I'm cozy in my room at Tahune Airwalk Lodge now. I was high on life leaving Hobart, having just accomplished a perfect touristy day. Navigated a city, didn't get any parking fines, listened to boys with guitars playing all along the street at the Salamanca Markets. I even had the Mt Wellington Descent prebooked but thought it would be mediocre at best. It was actually siiiiiick!! These 2 chill Aussie guys ran it, the one called Alistair was my fav and the navigator of the bike crew ------www.mtwellingtondescent.com.au for general pics under "gallery"------ We were driven up the mountain and for good gd reason, it's far and steep and this was supposed to be a fun activity. Now... it was so ridiculously cold and unusually windy that we couldn't even start from the top. We walked around the top of the mountain, where I took pics, then drove back down a smidge to get on the bikes. As we layered up, rain fell, thatswirled around. And sometimes bounced off the ground. Even a Florida girl knows that's snow and hail and mixed together its possible called sleet. IT WAS NUMBINGLY FRIGID. We cycled down as a group. Riding the brakes hard lest you'd fly off the edge. And even in gloves, my hands were struggling to grasp the grips. I was reminded of the scene in Dumb & Dumber where they're driving that little moped to Aspen....! Frozen to the bike.

So after minimal back wheel wobbles, I descended that mountain and cruised through the city to the end with my crew. It was great.

Fast forward to a pleasurable drive along the Huon River, then through small valley towns, passing fields of dirty little sheep, and finally into the Tahune Forest. The sun started to set, there weren't anymore cars or humanity. Winding through mountains. IT WENT ON AND ON AND ON. At one point, this is where the anxiety set in, I passed a happy troup of campers perhaps my age, with a roaring bonfire, and I flirted with the idea of stopping just so I wasn't glaringly alone. But I kept going, keeping this image of Tahune Lodge in my mind, obviously from the pictures online when I booked this foresty oasis, of a sprawling light pine lodge with a front porch running its length, floor to ceiling windows facing the front, warmly lit from within... with people enjoying it all. Now, I will HAVE TO go check why in the hell thought the lodge would be this way. It's not. Driving up, I didn't see anything and I panicked thinking there was nothing at all, quite shocking. So it's funny how relieved I was to at least see "the lodge". A place to sleep. Keys were in a box next to my room, with an after hours note saying that room 2 is for acook.

I will post pics after I get some sleep. Thank christ for the internet. It's quite unbelievable this part of Australia even knows what the internet is...