[Chat] What to see in Tasmania ?

[Marc MERLIN]

On Sun, Jan 08, 2017 at 08:56:56AM +1100, Christopher Neugebauer wrote:
> On 8 January 2017 at 05:07, Marc MERLIN <marc at merlins.org> wrote:
> >
> > Then, my problem is getting back to Hobart. Is 5H by road, or likely to
> > be even longer? Honestly I don't enjoy these very long drives at the end
> > of a day, but I have a 06:30 flight out of hobart the next morning.
> > Another option is to pay (way too much) for a private flight back to
> > Hobart.
> > Now, I see that there is an optoin to take a bus:
> > https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=bus%20from%20strahan%20to%20hobart
> > 4:30 PM - 10:07 PM (5h37, one connection)
> > http://www.tassielink.com.au/timetables/strahan-lake-st-clair-hobart
> > Is it basically my best bet to skip the long drive?
> 
> wrt the Train -- the *whole* trip is worth it for the rail trip alone,
> but not the trip to Queenstown.
 
Sorry, just to be clear: you are saying that doing the train is a must
do (I got that), but that a half day train ride (they have two) is
enough and that I don't need to do the full day train ride with 1h stop
in queenstown. Correct?

If so, they have:
http://www.wcwr.com.au/
rack and gorge
or
river and rainforest

both half day (one morning, one afternoon)
Do you have one you recommend over the other?

> Wrt everything else:
> 
> Looking at your entire itinerary Marc, you're being *very* brave with
> the amount of driving you're planning on doing around the West Coast

Actually, it's not so bad :)
I'm only driving from Launceston to Strahan in 3 bits, no leg being more
than 3h I believe (probably closer to 2). It's not really about being
brave but more how can I get from A to B otherwise without losing up to
a day waiting for a bus or not having the option at all?
In New Zealand it was the same problem, for half our trip driving was
almost unavoidable.

> (and to a lesser extent the east). The 2h from Cradle Mountain to
> Strahan involves mountain passes and winding roads that are dangerous
> after dark (sunset is around 20:40 at that time of year). Cell
> coverage is minimal on all networks. You should factor in maybe 50%
> extra based on the shortest estimates of driving if you are not
> experienced driving on the left of the road on narrow roads.

Correct about sunset, I already looked it up.
Mountain passes, again, I race cars and do driving around mountain
roads for fun. Straight driving bores me to death :)
My biggest issue with driving on the left side is getting the windshield
wipers mixed up with the turn signal. The rest is not really a big deal.
That said, I realize that for the average driver, it's probably more
daunting, so thanks for the warning.

Marc
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