Tasmania Day Two

Today was the big day - our zip line tour through the forest canopy!! Our tour was taking place at Hollybank Treetops Adventures, which was about a two hour drive north of where we were. We were really impressed with how well run the place was and how thorough and safety minded they were. There were about 10 of us that headed out and it ended up being a really fun group to spend three hours with. First, our two guides Jackie and Alex got us all rigged up in our harnesses and safety gear, and then we all went outside to do a practice run down a cable they had set up in back. Once they were satisfied with all of our abilities, we headed out for the actual trip. There were six “cloud stations”, which is what they call the platforms that have been built around the trees in the middle of the forest. Fortunately, the first run was not too high up or too far away for those of us still adjusting to the idea! Basically, our harnesses were clipped on to a pulley system attached to the overhead cables which ran the whole length of the track. There were six cloud stations with stretches of cable of varying lengths and heights between them. In a nutshell, it was TOTALLY cool and we would do it again in a heartbeat!! It’s hard to describe how amazing it feels to sail through the treetops above a valley with a river flowing below you…….it’s the closest thing to flying I’ve ever felt. We were instructed on how to tuck our legs in and do a “cannonball” run to really pick up speed on one of the longer runs and were also told that if we slowed down too much before we reached the station, we would have to sort of scoot our bodies forward to get our pullies close enough so the guide could get us hooked and pull us the last few feet to the station. Well, I was the first lucky one to somehow slow down - even though I thought I was going pretty fast - and I didn’t quite make it all the way to the station. So there I was, hanging I don’t know how far above the forest floor, with the guide telling me to do what they call “the walrus” and scoot and swing my body to make my pulley move up to where it needed to be. Now, I do actually have somewhat of a fear of heights which usually isn’t too bad if I’m not in a position to dwell on it. Hanging there, I either could have looked down (bad idea) and frozen in fear or just focus on the task at hand. Focus I did, though, and after a bit of swinging back and forth, I scooted up to where I needed to be and the guide pulled me in the rest of the way. Hooray!!! Now I’m ready for that Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb on my birthday!

Tomorrow, we’re going to head south from Hobart and explore the Tasman National Park on our way to Port Arthur, which was one of the first penal colonies in Australia. It sounds like we should see some really beautiful scenery on the way, so keep your fingers crossed! All in all, Tasmania has exceeded our expectations and we would definitely return here as there is so much more to see & do that we didn’t have time for on this trip.

Oh, we did get a CD of pictures from our treetop adventure, but since it’s on a disc and we don’t have a disc drive on the computer, I don’t think I can get any pictures of it on the blog for now…..darn!! If that changes, we’ll let you know for sure.