Hello, I'm back! It was a lovely semester until the last 2 weeks - which were mad - but that's all done now, had a wonderful exhibition of our designs for a Visualising Research subject on Wednesday night, and now I have just over a week to get organised before north America! So finally... part II of my cycling trip in Tasmania.
After we hiked down Cradle Mountain, we decided to head for a free campsite a few kilometres from the national park. I'd never done any off-road or mountain biking so it was a bit scary being introduced to it with a heavily loaded bike that would only change to the easy gear if you physically changed the chain. It was worth it though, I will never forget cycling down into that valley during that stunning sunset. This campsite was such a gem, there was only one German couple also camping there and in the evening we sat around a fire together. The guy, being a chef, offered us some ingredients upon seeing our very sad pasta & canned soup situation (I never said we ate well during this trip...). The next day my friend had the idea of making my bike seat lower which instantly made it a lot easier on my knee which by this point was almost unbearably painful when cycling or walking. I really loved this day of cycling, it was quite an easy 80km through beautiful forests and countryside. We had lunch at the tiny town of Tullah and nearly cried tears of joy at the sight of real food (burger with the lot) from the milkbar for lunch. That night we found another great place to camp (with taps and bathrooms, luxury!) in Rosebery, a small mining town not far from the west coast. That night was so good, we went to the Rosebery RSL (last photo) for a beer and started talking to the locals there who instantly bought us blue shots (...) and gave an interesting insight into life in the town and their experiences of working in the mines. The man in the last photo had been working in their mine for 45 years (!), from when it was 15 levels down to now, 60 levels down, 2km under the earth! Conversations with such genuine and honest people are so good and this night was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The next day I got a bus with my bike to Launceston, explored the town and stayed with a family of a friend of a friend. They were so hospitable and lovely, trips like these restore my faith in humanity!
Tassie was so so good and a trip to Hobart and the east coast (hopefully by bike again) is definitely on the cards for next semester.
I'm leaving for the States/ Canada next Sunday! My trip will roughly be: NYC - Montreal - Toronto - Chicago - Seattle - Vancouver - Whistler - San Fran - LA. I would love any tips for those places, especially where to go for walks/ hikes/ bike rides in the vicinity of those cities.
ALSO, I made some zines for the exhibition I mentioned earlier and I've got a few copies left. It deals with a topic I've been researching in depth over the past few months; Australia's offshore detainment of asylum seekers. If you would like one, email me your postal address and I'll mail you one :) madeleine.mtn[@]gmail.com
