Well, I made it!! Managed to stay sane during 32hours of travel time, got to experience running through the airport for fear of missing my next flight, read 1.5 books, slept 8+ hours, and survived my first Australian spider encounter!

I had my first full day on the 15th in Hobart, Tasmania, and it was truly such an incredible way to start off my trip!  My friend Alissa took me all around town while she ran some errands – got myself a phone number and bank account set up, checked out the local climbing gym (it’s 3 floors with the absolute coolest set ups!), explored the multitude of outdoor stores all in just a 2 block radius (I’m convinced DT Hobart is at least 25% outdoor stores), and visited one of the local zero waste stores (where I also got told to apply to their location…might land a job sooner than expected lol).

First full day also included getting Peg, my new home on wheels!! A 2003 Kia Pregio that has been given a lot of love and been on many adventures already; still got lots of adventuring left in her.  She’s pretty minimal right now, so while I’m staying in Tassie for the next couple months I’ll be getting her set up for my adventures on the mainland.

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The 17th was a pinnacle day for me because it involved some trials and tribulations… braving the Aussie roads in the middle of the day completely solo… That was an adventure in and of itself but I managed to get “petrol” (they look at you funny when you call it gas lol), go to a thrift store (up a very steep hill – involved practicing using the e-brake to start + not roll backwards lol) to get some things for the van, and my first Aussie beach – Kingston Beach! It was a HOT day (35˚C) so swimming was very much necessary, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tassie waters are actually quite cold! Like Vancouver cold… I’ve also learned that the weather + temperature changes more frequently in a day than it does in Vancouver, so if you thought figuring out how to dress for a day in Canada was hard, just come to Hobart haha.

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Some other fun notable things from this week included getting back on the yoga mat for the first time in a month, bouldering at the local climbing gym, meeting a bunch of Alissa’s friends at one of their house warming parties, big 5-hour round trip to a nearby town to pick up some things for Alissa (lots of highway practice), and visiting a cute market called the Salamanca Market that happens every Saturday.  

This upcoming week is going to involve some camping and first time taking the van out for a proper mini adventure, so I’m really looking forward to spending some time really getting to know her and begin drafting up plans to make her more my own!

Stay passionate and curious,
Hunter 💛