#FindingTasmania

My last solo trip in Australia has come.
Tasmania.
Like most of my trips, I went in blind with just a rough idea of the trip before me. Mountains, wildlife parks, lakes and beaches to look forward to but little preconception about what they were going to look like. I enjoy the surprise of discovering a new place for myself without glitzy Googled images to obscure my perception but to be honest, I think I would have been just as impressed either way.

The waterfall we visited in Mount Field National Park was stunning, it fell in layers like giant steps with splashing water pouring down them viciously. I walked with Julia, Rachel and Iris, who I had made fast friends with.

We moved on to a power station which we all joked was the highlight and took a group photo in front of it. Michael didn’t realise I was kidding when I squealed, “oh yay! A power station!” And clearly thought I was insane or just incredibly easily pleased! He commented in an incredibly obnoxious tone that it was "Cute" that I still found the small things exciting because, and I quote, "I've been travelling Australia for two years so I just don't find them

exciting anymore!" It was then that I knew Canada and I just weren't destined to be friends. (Don't worry, he'll never read this, and if/when it does hit the shelves of best-selling diary of all time then I'll edit his name to Michelle.)

We continued on to a walk with a view. Red grasses and mountains surrounded us as we looked down into the valley below. It was silent. The tourist season had well and truly ended which meant we were more often than not the only group of people around for miles.

Along the way Jack, our tour guide, shared some of the history of the land with us. He told us a tale of a bushranger (which sounds like someone who cares for the bush but is actually someone who goes around robbing people and hiding in bushes...subtle difference) his name was Michael Brady.
He became famous for his gentlemanly manor when robbing people (Aww), despite having a gang of 500 escaped convicts working to steal and control the land, he was a lady’s man and wouldn’t allow his men to lay a finger on any woman. This made him a hero of sorts so when he was finally wanted, many people petitioned to protect

him. The governor put wanted signs offering a huge amount of £25 in every community around Tasmania so Michael made posters of his own.
Wanted The Governor of Tasmania
40 gallons of beer!
He stuck his poster on the door of the governor's house in the middle of the night before sneaking away back into hiding.

The governor had had quite enough and was desperate to catch him so he sent all of his men out into the bush to look for him. In the meantime, Michael became aware of his plan so he decided to hide in the one place no one would think to look for him- the prison he escaped from.

Him and his men snuck in and attacked the few guards left on duty before freeing all the prisoners, they left the governor close to defeat as he debated just giving up the land to these bandits. But, Michael got cocky and eventually was caught. He was sentenced to be hanged, a painful and terrifying death, but was only annoyed that he was to be hanged with a criminal as gross as a cannibal as he thought himself a hero. (More on cannibals later).

Jack also told us of how the British took the land from the aboriginals who had inhabited the land for at least 20,000 years and told us how the Black War came to be. Even aboriginals from different tribes turned against each other and more blood was spilt. The aboriginals were able to find out the weak spot of the English’s weapons however and knew that they would have to pause to reload their guns, when this happened they would attack with spears but clearly their efforts were never going to match those of the British army and they lost their land to the monarchy. Today there are no full-blooded aboriginals left in Tasmania.

The land is full of history and nature which makes it a special place to be, even today, the towns are tiny and the buildings old. The pub we went to for dinner was situated in a town with no more than 200 residents. Julia and I stayed a while after dinner and played pool and darts with some local guys who worked nearby. I think my joke about them sandpapering the balls for pool was unappreciated but it was still proven that Australians are terrible sportsman even in pub sports! Lots of cheating and being a sore loser occurred...okay that was me but they cheated once or twice too!

We got kicked out at 10pm and joined the others for a few games. Laura was making everyone play a game called werewolf which is possibly the most boring game ever, it's like wink murder but you don't get to die dramatically! I was killed off in the first round by my so-called friend Julia! I think she was just mad that I called her team Team Trump in the darts competition. Being dead isn't exactly the most exciting of activities so it's probably why I found the game boring.

We also all played G'day Bruce but annoyingly everyone was quite good at it so it took forever to get people out! Lastly, Laura suggested we played I have never- a game where you find out people’s darkest secrets and giggle about the naughty things you’ve all done. Some examples, "Never have I ever

kissed a boy" giggles... "Never have I ever kissed a girl!" The boys and some girls drink -Even bigger giggles! Then ...“Never have I ever stolen something,” Little did she know then that she was about to cause a political debate that would last an hour and a half! This started a debate about communism as some of the people believed that you shouldn't have to pay for food and therefore stealing from big supermarkets is ethical, that then turned into an argument and it all went horribly wrong. Voices were raised, countries slammed- no one wanted to go back to “never have I ever wet the bed!” It was a disaster!

Never mix politics and drinking games people!
We tried to change the subject but it just got worse! Finally I decided I would have to go to bed, so I snuck away and captured Julia to save her too. Many others had long since departed- too tired and bored to be involved.