Tasmania: Team America vs. the World

Tasmania was absolutely incredible (and surprisingly large too). As the only American on a 21-person trip through western Taz, my very creative trip-mates nicknamed me, "America," "Team America," or simply "Oh my God!"

We covered over ten nations, with big representation from the UK, Germany, and Japan.

Coming back to mainland Australia and the big city life of Melbourne after five days in the wilderness of Tazzy has been the biggest culture shock that I've experienced so far. I could rave forever about the amazing time I had, but I don't want to make you too jealous, so here's my four favorite parts of the weekend:

1. The sights: the landscapes were gorgeous and so diverse. One minute we'd be driving through open pastures and suddenly we'd be entering a temperate rainforest. From climbing giant rock slab mountains to trudging through kilometres of sand dunes, I couldn’t believe I experienced so many different environments on one tiny island.

2. Okay, so there were times when I was the typical tourist in a bus. Sit sleep for a few hours, groggily file out of the bus, snap a few pictures, and repeat. BUT we also went on tons of walks (Australian for "hikes") to explore the island, and were able to see waterfalls, wombats, wallabies, and so much more.

Wombats: just as cute and cuddly as a koala bear. Plus, they're slightly more active; you can't tell by looking at him, but this guy can sprint up to 40 km/hour!

3. The people: I entered this trip on my own, but I left with so many wonderful new mates. Spending every waking hour for almost 4 days with the 20 others on my tour may have quickened the bonding, but people in Tazzy are just so friendly - I knew Brett, my 60-year-old airplane seat-partner, for exactly 10 minutes before he offered me a ride to my hostel!

Dutchie, America, and Mexico.

4. My favorite part of the trip by far was Saturday's 6-hour hike that took us to the top of Cradle Mountain. Most of the hike had no path; instead, we scrambled over loads of huge boulders, with nothing but a tight grip on the rocks and shoes with minimal tread to prevent us from tumbling to our death below. It was exhilarating, especially when we six survivors finally reached the peak. The mist had just burned away, giving us a clear 360-degree view of the beauties all over Tasmania.

We climbed up this..

..through this...

..to get to the top of this!

I was going to leak a clip of my first documentary, but the internet here moves slower than a sleeping koala bear, so you'll have to wait until its big debut on the Discovery Channel :).