Maria Island

 My next day started fantastic. I was the only guest at my bnb and after a nice FaceTime chat with my parents I went to breakfast where my host made me pumpkin soup and homemade bread. It was magnificent. I packed up and headed for Maria Island (pronounced Mariah). I parked my car at the docks and got on my ferry across for a few nights. The island is absolutely crawling with wombats which is delightful. Even on the middle of the day I saw probably 40. I put my stuff in my cabin have a nice chat with my neighbors and headed for my first hike up a nearby mountain. I was the only one hiking it this afternoon and after a tough hike and scramble I made it to the top for an incredible view were I was able to look over the cliffs watching the fan tails flitter, the skinks dance, and  the waves look minuscule far below. I sat on the top of the mountain reflecting on all my good fortune over the past months and all the joy Ive experienced and looking forward to much more. I headed down an hour before sunset look forward to finding many wombats on the way back. 

I was not disappointed. I was so many wombats I lost count and kangaroos and padymelons and bandicoots and other critters whose names I don’t know. It was magical and amazing. The sun was settling as I walked along the grassy slopes and it was the most incredible sunset I have ever seen. I’ve seen a lot of incredible sunsets, but none before have moved me near to tears. A 6 hour beautiful hike without a single other human with the most incredible sunset over the ocean, wildlife, and landscape was just so incredible. The sky was so many shades of blue and purple and pink I couldn’t even comprehend it and I was absolutely enchanted. I’m often struck by the contradictions of living the most incredible life with so much joy contrasted with the state of the world. It’s so complex to hold intense mourning for the horrendous wars and climate crisis and unrest in the world while also seeing the absolute best of the world and feeling my luck and privilege. It’s something I think about constantly, and especially in these incredible moments cannot help but reflect on my privilege to live in a way most of these things don’t largely impact me. 

Anyway, after this incredible hike I returned to the camp where I made dinner and chatted with some other travelers. I was introduced to a French girl, Aylin, and we made plans to go for a long hike the next day and traded stories of our favorite adventures. She’s been in Australia for 2 months and Tassie 4 weeks (halfway through). She’s done a number of multi day hikes in the area and has been hitchhiking around the state. She told me some great stories about the people she’s met hitchhiking and how it’s been an incredible experience (my parents are surely relieved reading this that I already have a car so will not be inspired to follow her lead cause she was pretty convincing about the great adventure of it). She was a civil rights lawyer, but quit 2 months ago and has been traveling Australia and New Zealand since. 

Well, my new friend tried to kill me. Okay, that might be a *touch* dramatic, but the next day we went for our hike. I was already a bit sore from my 10 mile, 2100 foot climb the day before and said “yeah I’m going to be a bit slow but it will be fine”. Well, it turns out she’s a trail runner and we did 15 miles 2400 feet in 5 hours. That’s with a lunch break as well as a few breaks I demanded and a swim in the ocean. I think my legs will fall off tomorrow. It was a great day, but wow. I’m exhausted. I basically collapsed as soon as we got back. I wish I brought more junk food to snack on. I could eat a pound of chocolate after that hike. Instead I had wasabi rice and salami. It was not enough food. 

Aylin is so lovely and I really enjoyed her company, although I’m grateful we leave tomorrow cause I don’t think I could survive a second hike with her. I prefer a meandering hike where I stop to look at a plant every quarter mile. 

It’s funny her and Quentin are both French, kind, and the same age… that’s where the similarities stop. While Quentin and I hike for 8 hours with few words other than murmured adoration of a plant/lichen/tree/bird/view, Alyin filled the walk with stories of the many dramas abd adventures of her travels. I actually enjoy both fairly equally, although I naturally tend toward the former, but I did enjoy her many dramatic stories. 

The next morning I got up slow nursing my sore muscles with lots of coffee and good chats with all the fellow campers, before going for a slow relaxed walk where I admired all the wombats and kangaroos before heading back to the mainland. 

The place I stayed at has a bunch of bunk house you rent for a couple nights without electricity but just a wood fire stove, but it has a large common room with burners and lights where everyone meets. 

Breakfast and dinner everyday I chatted with all the other people staying and met so many interesting people. Maria island seems to be a really common family vacation destination, where they rent out a 6 person bunk and the whole family comes together for a few days. Almost everyone besides Aylin and myself were from Queensland visiting Tas for a couple weeks which was really interesting. There was also a girls school group tent camping down the hill and I ran into them a few times, about 20 teenage girls and 5 adults, and they were a riot and clearly having a grand time. We also did Mt Maria and we crossed their paths on the way up and back down. They were very entertaining. 

My room was so cozy with its wood stove and I often put too much wood to the point where my room was a bit of a sauna but it was so cozy and warm and I just sat by the low light of the stove watching the fire and relaxing.