New Years in Tasmania

Back in October, Korie and I were discussing what we should do for NYE over in Australia. We originally thought about Sydney, but quickly realized it would be quite expensive and a little too crowded for our taste. Korie's friend recommended Hobart, Tasmania, and after a bit of research, we were able to book a cheap flight and accommodation. Our flight left on the 31st at 6:50am, so it was quite an early morning. 

We landed around 8:15am, walked around the docks and grabbed breakfast before we could check into our hostel. There was a big yacht race called "Sydney to Hobart" that had ended a few days before we arrived, so tons of boats and people were around the harbor. 

After browsing some shops, we were able to check in and grab a quick nap since we knew we'd be up late for NYE. We ended up going out to an area called Salamanca with tons of restaurants and bars where we easily grabbed dinner and wine before finding a place to catch midnight. This area was definitely our scene! Low key, fairly casual, crowded but not impossible to get a drink or walk around, and overall the perfect place to enjoy the beginning of 2016. 

We ended up meeting a really fun group at an Irish pub and coincidentally they were staying on our hall in our hostel. We spent the night and the entire next day hanging out with them. Thankfully, they're from Melbourne and surrounding cities so we can see them again. 

On the 2nd, Korie and I woke up early to catch a jet boat tour of Bruny Island (an island off the coast of Tasmania and similar in size to Singapore, but only has a population of about 500 people). The boat tour lasted 3 hours and we got to see some of the highest cliffs in Australia (Tasmania is considered part of Australia). 

It was about 50 degrees and windy out so these jackets helped a bit...

We sat in the back and made friends with the captain so he let Korie drive for a bit!

The best part of the trip was seeing dolphins swim and jump alongside our boat for about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any pictures to turn out, but I'll never forget it. Once we returned to shore and warmed up, we grabbed dinner and were in bed by 9:30.

We weren't scheduled to leave Tassie until 9pm on the 3rd, so we made the most of our day and took a bus tour up to Wineglass Bay. It's about a 2.5 hour drive north of Hobart and had some of the best views I'd ever seen. 

Then we drove back down a bit to Honeymoon Bay and Tourville Cove. Honeymoon Bay came super close to measuring up to the Fiji views we had.

Tourville had cool views of the Tasman Sea. It reminded me a bit of Western Ireland. 

Around 3:30, we made our way back to Hobart and headed to the airport for our flight "home" to Melbourne. Now it's time to plan our trip to Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, and Brisbane!