Last days in Melbourne; working working working, another dinner at Lentil with Roos and Wendy, meeting loads of nice people, shopping at DFO, Stefan making tasty cocktails with his new ice crusher. And WTF, again some mistakes in planning at PDC, they send me home Monday morning, luckily they had to pay me 4 hours minimum...relax! My Friday night out with the shared house was not that special, they had some wicked party on Saturday which I missed out. Acid party, hmmm...well they came back late the next day and some of them had wounds and they couldn't even remember what happened. Happy that I was not there on Saturday. Lee on Tuesday morning; 'Vince wake up, you had to check out a long time ago' Damn, I just enjoyed my 5 hours of sleep. Spend the rest of the day with Roos, with some delicious warm muffins at the beach in the hanging chairs. Bye bye friends, bye bye Melbourne.

Can it get any better?...YES!!! Just got a 6 day trip (840 AUD) for free! Just have to do a famil and make a report of the tour. And Sylvia gave me a voucher for a free Bungyjump and a free Canyon Swing in New Zealand. Many thanks to all of you ;-)

In a bus with granny's to Tullamarine Airport, 1 hour driving. Flight with Tiger was delayed and the security at the airport had some arguments and started threatening me with all sorts of stuff, what did I do wrong? Never mind. At 19:00 at Hobart airport, no 10 AUD Airport Shuttle so I spend 17 AUD for a 15 minute drive. They even charge you 4 AUD for a luggage trolley in Australia. I almost managed to jump in a bus with disabled people to Hobart, the girls wanted to take me with them but it was not allowed. Together with 2 Canadian girls (Rachel and Angela) I arrived at the hostel. I got a free night and a double room, what a surprisingly good day! Food from the 24-hour Bakery at Salamanca Square. They hostel is soooo boring, nothing going on, maybe 10 backpackers and they're all watching Australia Got Talent.

Wednesday morning walk. Sunny Hobart, temperature in the morning 0 degrees?! Doesn't feel that cold. The city is small and boring. Chocolate Factory is closed. Sandy Bay and Battery Point have some good views. And just go to Service Tasmania if you want free internet, this is a Government shop that's open till 5pm. The hostel charges 7 AUD for an hour WTF?! Everything is on walking distance. Wednesday night Telegraph Hotel...need I say more? Every Wednesday they have enormous pints of beer/cider for cheap prices; from 5pm it's 5 AUD, from 6pm it's 6 AUD and that goes on till 10 AUD. They have meals for 5 AUD (schnitzels, steaks whatever). So yeah, till place is packed with locals and travelers. 5 liters of Bulmers cider OMG, this night was fun! Ravi, the Nepal guy met in the hostel, was crazy. Asking girls for sex and inviting them to his room after 2 minutes whahahaaa. I met Fiona and Oliver, they recognized me from my striptease act in Habitat last week. Asley, Byron and Lena were just cool locals from Hobart. And there was Claire, I saw here earlier today jumping in the freezing water at Sandy Bay. Some other people from the airplane (Rodriguez and Louise) and many more. Good vibe! But don't tell the policewomen that she looks like a school teacher...they almost arrested us for that hahahaaa. Just around the corner we rolled down the stairs at TheLowestHouse, this was the end for me...enough drinks and time to sleep J

Thursday slept in and no hangover at all. Starting the day with a tasty Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) at The Vietnamese Kitchen in Salamanca. Waiting for the girls to show up with the car to go to Mt Wellington and some people just can't handle alcohol so they don't show up. They day was perfect for a mountain climb. Instead of that I did the Rivulet walk to the Cascade Brewery through the hill and to Sandy Bay. There was not much going on in the city tonight so spent the whole night with Nora at the hostel drinking wine.

Thank God it's Friday! Fresh morning, ready to be picked up by the bus. A 1 hour driving to Kettering for the ferry to Bruny Island. Our guide Rodd couldn't stop talking about everything! Another long bus trip on Bruny Island. Muffins for breakfast, always tasty. 11:00 the speedboat takes off, some free pills against motion sickness. Why? I just wanted to sit in front for the ‘full' experience...and that is what I got J When the sea get's rough it's just a 30 minute rollercoaster ride, COOL! And that several times. The views were absolutely stunning; cliffs from more than 200mtr high, amazing blowholes, speeding through cliffs and high pillars, heaps of wildlife like albatrosses and seals and much much more. There was 1 Kiwi guy next to me, guess what his name was? So tag team Vincent & Vincent in front of the boat. We set the tone for today when we were flying over the waves. Thanks for all the Tim Tams guys. Unfortunately no whales and dolphins today, but those 3 hours at sea were fantastic. Nice sunset between the 2 islands and no penguins, only 1 with a chopped off head... The night was one I don't forget soon. I met up with the Kiwi's and they keep giving Tequila shots and other stuff. What a night, we strolled down from one club to another. O Bar was fun, the Hip Hop party at Isobar was even better. I had to crawl up the stairs in the morning J

Saturday morning...whoooaa, still feeling drunk after this crazy night out. Maybe slept for 2 hours? Super Six Under Down Under tour, small groups the brochure says...well it definitely is! Only 2 other people joined me, Julian and Julia. The guide was quite boring in the beginning so a long snooze in the bus. He took us to the boring town of Richmond. All of a sudden I woke up, he's talking about the Dutch so I better listen. The Germans thought it was quite funny that I only woke up when he's talking about Dutchies in the past. Well I know why the Dutch liked Tasmania, it's freezing and rainy here. And where do all the stories come from that Ozzie tours are 95% girls and almost no guys? I still haven't experienced that. Many picturesque coastal views. Port Arthur is more a place for old tourists that like slow walking tours, so I just started crawling through the stones and ruins by myself. The prison was the best thing in this historical site. The boat trip was almost suicidal J The Isle of Death? The names sounds more exciting than it is...just and cemetery on an Island. SO after some rainy coastal views Tony dropped us at the supermarket and together with the Germans we made too much pasta in small hostel kitchen.

Sunday surprise surprise! We got an extra member in our team! Robert from Canada is joining us for 5 days. After a boring start in the town of Ross we drove to Freycinet National Park. A place with beautiful bays, walls of mountains, great walks and lookouts. After Coles Bay it was time to walk up to Wineglass Bay lookout. There was a mountain run (Tasmania Mystic Run) going on and because I realized halfway that I forgot my camera I was also one of the runners that day. Completely wet and exhausted I arrived at the lookout. A long walk to Wineglass Bay, the weather this week? Clouds, misty, rain and cold. Not the best time to visit all these places. Keep the positive spirit alive, those places were still amazing to see. And making this tour more adventurous with some rock climbing near the big waves. Finding our own track through the bushes. Feeding those cute Wallabies illegally with banana skins. Awesome walks around Cape Tourville. The afternoon tea with cookies at Honeymoon Bay, what a nice place! There was an optional penguin walk in the evening for 22 AUD, no way we should do that! We did our own, way more exciting penguin hunt J That was way more fun following them everywhere with a bus and torches...poor little penguins. The hostel was again soooo boring. Backpackers, why do you stay in your room the whole evening when you hear that other people are having fun?! At least Tony was happy we cooked a delicious meal for him.

Monday, Nature World. Feeding all those cute Wallabies, Kangaroos, Wombats and Tasmanian Devils! The Devils are already my favorite J Almost washed away from the rocks at the blowhole in Bechino, Tony showed us a rock where we could stand on without being washed away...don't believe hi next time J We're going to the Bay of Fires, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world (they say). The sea was so rough and it was raining most of the time, so I couldn't really say if they were right. We met this funny German with a campervan with everything you can imagine (solar panels, kayak, axes, bike, surfboard, diving gear...just unbelievable how many things he put in and on his small bus). Cheese tasting! They just don't know how to make cheese here, only the spicy stuff was good. So treat yourself on some ice creams then. And chocolate cookies with tea at the bottom of the refreshing Columba Falls is not that bad. Arriving in Launceston, dropping of the Germans and again all backpackers went to bed before 7pm WTF?! So Robert and I went to the Oak Hotel, the only good place on Monday to get tipsy...so we did. Coles Supermarket is open till midnight, so we collected some hangover snacks on the way back home.

Tuesday feeling good! Ignore the warning from your guide and take the ‘rough' tracks at the Gorge walks in Launceston, it was still easy to make it back in time. Amazing how beautiful this nature gorge walk is in the middle of a city. Sheffield, town of murals was a nice little town full with paintings everywhere (also on the buildings), a special sort of street art. We bought our ciders here for the next couple of days, because Cradle Mountain Park is expensive. Tony bought some delicious pies for us for lunch, they are so tasty together with fresh salad. Start our first walk at Dove Lake around 2pm. Because it was getting dark before 5pm it was not possible to climb all the way to the top...at least, that's the warning our guide gave us. 'Don't go further than Marion's Lookout!' Hahahaa, we were twice as fast as the signs and we didn't see a thing because of all the fog at the lookout. So run on, try to get to the top. We passed Kitchen Hut and did most of the Face Track, but not enough time to go all the way to the top. Our ‘reward' for all the effort we put in this walk; a few minutes of clear sky to see the top. The way back passed Crater Lake and Robby Creek Falls. Spot all those fat Wombats near Robby Creek and just back in time when darkness falls. A nice Tim Tam tea stop in a dark but warm picnic hut. Our good deed for today; looking for some stranded climbers that didn't make it back in time for the last shuttle bus. Or ride back was awesome, we chased all sorts of wildlife in the night; wombats, possums, wallabies, quolls and loads of other creatures. The evening in our cabin kitchen was finally a nice one. Funny chats with the crazy Taiwanese biker and the hitchhiking Japanese girl...how many times did she say 'Oh really?!' whahaa. Good times.

Wednesday fucking freezin'! Stay positive, there is still a possible sunshine today. Tony warned us again; 'Don't try to get to the top of Cradle Mountain!'. We did a walk around Dove Lake and a short steep slippery climb through a mossy forest to Lake Tilla and a small waterfall, actually it was more a creek. Robert listened to Tony, I didn't J I wanted more adventure so I started some real steep rock climbing up to the Face Track. I needed all my clothes, jacket and even gloves! It was windy and actually below zero here. I realized that I didn't have enough time to make it to the top. So rushed back down to do a 2,5 hour track within 1 hour. Tony and Robert already got worried. It was an amazing experience to do parts of The Overland Track for the last 2 days. Back on the road again for the mining and wood towns like Tullah, Roseberry and Zeehan. Henty Dunes were massive! Up to 30 meters high. Unfortunately because of the bad weather there was no quad riding today. Ending the day in Strahan, a small town which is nothing more than a touristic street and too many holiday parks. A boring evening after a special sunset at Ocean Beach (Westcoast of Tasmania).

Thursday the last day of this ‘free' trip. It was a day filled with speeding Tony. I told him to organize a tourbus rally on Tasmania. A road with more than 336 curves and he is driving around with his bus up till 140k an hour J For some people; Bring your motion sickness pills! Stops at Nelson Falls and a short jungle walk. Walk around famous Frenchman's Cap, we only walked around 30 minutes for crossing the river over the swing bridge. Dutchies like to jump and swing on these bridges to see how much they can handle J Otherwise this is a stop for kids, it's not really a thrillseeker place. 2 stops at Lake St Clair, the deepest (more than 200mtr) in Australia. The 1^st stop was the best spot after a bumpy dirt road. Another crazy race to the next spot; Mt Field National Park. Climb along Russell Falls, spot some platypus and a walk through the forest with the tallest trees of Tasmania. Tall they were, but we were not that impressed. Choice for tonight's hostel; The Pickled Frog (known as the crazy party hostel). It is one of the better places now to stay for meeting people. So I met Amy and Valerie and we gonna go to Bruny Island tomorrow!

Friday Bruny Roadtrip Day. Amy, another cool chick from Amsterdam, drove us in her car Christine to Bruny Island. At the pier I met some friends; Dutch speaking Steve from UDU and Rodd from BIC, handy to get some advice about the island. Our first walk was the 2,5 hour Fluted Cape walk. It took Amy and me ‘a little bit' longer. She had to do some penguin walks on the rocks to give all the tourists a good time on their boat cruise...so funny, people even recognized her on the ferry. On our walk we tried to make it more adventurous; climbing down the high and steep cliffs all the way down and climbing the huge pillars. Climbing the pillars was not that smart, but it was worth the fun J Because sandstone a loose rocks are not that safe. The twigs and trees that I tried to grab just broke off whahahaaa. After all that climbing we were starving for the Fudge Farm, but they closed just before we arrived. So happy that Amy brought her tuna pasta in sealed bags. Heading with the car to Cape Bruny for some nice views...not, they close that area at 4pm. On our way back Amy and me were so hungry...Domino's and McDonalds!

Saturday Salamanca Market. Already there at 08:30. Good place for nice breakfast and cool stuff, but a bit too touristic. I walked to North Hobart to taste some of the café's and bakery's. A few chats with locals and a Dutchy who was working here. I need a diet after the last few weeks! The rest of the day I spend in bed...needed some sleep after months of hard working. Woke up around 4pm with a cozy couple in the room. A night in front of the fire at Pickled Frog. There was a good concert tonight at Republic Bar, Martin (Denmark) and me went for a 20 minute walk to buy the last tickets, when we got there it was sold out! On our way back there was the funny Japanese hitchhiker again with a friend. We decided to have a good night out around Salamanca. O Bar was full with drunken high school kids, Salamanca Square had some interesting bars. Bar Celona is an absolute go! Damn what a good bar, nice atmosphere, funky tech house music, hot fire and not to forget...hot Tassie chicks all over the place! This is the most trendy place to go to I guess.

Sunday...and I woke up with sunshine indeed. Time to climb Mt Wellington. This time better prepared; enough food and clothes. There are only 2 busses (49) going up on Sunday, and the concession fare is only 3 AUD for a day! 10:45 I started on of the walks, walking around, sweating, in my t-shirt. It's going to be the naked mountain climber again J Just 100 meters before I reached the Pinnacle (the top of the mountain) it started to snow! WTF?!?!? Jacket and gloves on, the wind starts to blow and all of a sudden everything turned into ice. So weird and at the same time so awesome to see. It was a climb of 3 hours and this was the best treat you can get, what a scenery. I met another Ozzie and German backpacker and we knocked on the window of somebody's car for a lift. And they gave us a lift back to the city centre of Hobart. Official temperature was -2.0 but the wind made it much colder. Back in town the Ozzy girls Emily and Chantal wanted to go out. Why not, another night out in Hobart J Sunday is quiet, don't expect a booming nightlife scene. The Irish Pub was the best spot, with several locals doing their live thing, some of them pretty good. And I met almost everyone in the pub that I met the last couple of weeks!

Monday roadtrip from Hobart to Devonport with Amy. Took us 3.5 hours I think. At 3pm still no breakfast so we went to Amy's favorite restaurant; Maccas! (For you Dutchies that never leave the country; this means McDonalds). Time for a sunset run around Devonport after that. This town is even more boring than watching the ‘snow' screen on TV...

Tuesday and again Devonport...yeah! The Spirit of Tasmania leaves at 7.30pm so just hang around. Tuesday is cheap CineMaxday in Devonport. Went to Prince of Persia for 9.50 AUD, which is just the some sort of movie as Pirates of The Caribbean. Ow and of course I found another spot to climb down the bushes and cliff for a spectacular place in the ocean to relax. Theirs is a 2.50 AUD miniferry (Torquay Ferry) that takes you to the other side of the river, but you still have to walk a long way to the check in desk. So you can better walk all over the bridge. The cruise takes about 9-10 hours. Bars and food on the boat, but bring your credit card! J 25 AUD for this trip, it's sick sooo cheap, but thanks Spirit of Tasmania. Arriving at 06:30 in the morning at Port of Melbourne, a 2 minute walk from the tram stop. First thing I did, buying a ‘Patatje Oorlog' at Lord of The Fries J