They say Tasmania has the best roads in Australia. I don’t believe they. They sometimes lie. In order to prove they right or wrong I will set out on an adventure. A road trip if you will. A journey to Tasmania to spite they and call their bluff. They didn’t expect this!
Did you know that Tasmania used to be the 25th largest island in the world? All this ended when a decade ago some explorers bumped in to an ice land and called it Greenland. They are now the largest island in the entire gigantic world. Those stinking Greenlanders with their ice and stuff bumped Tasmania from the coveted 25th largest island classification to the despised 26th place. Ever since, the once-proud-but-now-devastated people of Tasmania have been exporting industrial sized hair dryers to Greenland. The hope is their citizens will melt their island away to nothing so that the Tasmanians can once again claim the coveted 25th largest island of the entire world. The Tasmanian spies report the plan is working and the government assures its people success by the year 2853. A suggestion to increase exports of the hair dryers has just been tabled.
The island is only 364km from top to bottom and 306km from side to side. It boasts a massive 40% land area of reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites. A little over half a million people inhabit the island, half of which reside in and around Hobart in the south western capital of the state. They claim, I will confirm this for you during my road trip, more than 1,000 mountain tops and more than 300 islands surrounding their mother-ship-like island. They also boast a lot of the world’s rarest animals. I take it they became rare after the mass animal suicide of 1998 when Tasmania lost its 25th largest island classification. It was a sad time for all concerned.
Amongst all the beauty and wonder of the state, each April, the whole mother ship goes insane with the worlds best tarmac rally, the Targa Tasmania. It’s a 2,000km event held over 6 days on closed public tarmac roads. The cars entered vary greatly from early classics to modern marvels. The Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R made its tarmac rally debut in the 2008 event but sadly had to be pulled out as there were no 20-inch R spec tyres at the time.
My plan for this road trip is to drive my car down to Melbourne, sneak it on board a ship that will take me the 240km to Tasmania and then tour the state’s B roads while camping out. During this trip I hope to confirm if they were right about the roads of Tasmania, confirm the mountain tops and island figures quoted and visit the industrial hair dryer manufacturing plant. I will keep you posted as I prepare for the trip.
Last night I made an impulse purchase of a tent and a portable stove. The tent is made by MSR and it’s called the Hubba Hubba. I must admit I bought it for the name alone. As it turns out it’s a pretty decent 2 man tent.
The stove I purchased is made by Optimus of Sweeden with two e’s. Don’t mistake them for the other Sweden found in Europe. I purchased a weekender package that comes with a stove and cup system that all folds away like the Optimus Prime we all know and love.
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Comments ( 2 )
by Sam Ho on 09 Mar 10 at 6:10 amWell written! Tasmania is still a big island and extremely beautiful…. then as you said it, there’s the rally. Hope you bring us some of the adventure there!!
by ccc on 09 Mar 10 at 1:01 pmThanks Sam. It certainly looks beautiful and I can’t wait to visit it. I’ve just about finished planning the route on Google maps and will post my itinerary soon. :)