Tasmania Day Number 3

Today we decided to take a boat cruise so once again it was an early morning.  Upon walking outside we saw that it had snowed on Mount Wellington last night as the tops of the mountains were all snow covered.  So we were all bundled up in coats, scarves, gloves, and hoods.  After an hour and a half drive to the boat at Port Arthur we suited up in our supposedly waterproof red onesies!  We were all in matching red waterproof one piece suits - definitely the cover for the next Glamour Magazine Covershoot!  As we set out on the boat, the sun was peeking out behind the clouds but there was definitely some rain clouds in the distance which did not look fun.  We took in the views of the beautiful cliffs and sea caves set among the cliffs.  We even saw hundreds of birds, including an albatross.  There were also sightings of New Zealand fur seals and a whale.

 However mid way through the trip we hit an enormous storm as we approached the Southern Ocean (Did you know there are more than 4 oceans that we learn about in school?!! one being the Southern Ocean).  There were intense winds, white caps on the surf, waves almost coming over the sides of the boat and a crazy hail storm that lasted for almost ten minutes.  The ice pellets were accumulating all around us.  The crew on the boat couldn't do much to protect us from the elements so we sat and tried to huddle and shelter ourselves from the crazy weather as best as we could.

 

If you have ever seen the movie the Perfect Storm, this was it, an exact recreation right off the coast of Tasmania.  Apparently the waterproof onesies were not so waterproof after all as we were all soaked from head to toe even though we had 3-4 layers on underneath the suits.  And our feet were so cold and wet as the hail and surf seeped into our sneakers.  But there was nothing we could do, but sit through the rest of the sight seeing cruise nice and wet and cold and pray we didn't get sick from the elements. 

Once back on land, we had to borrow some clothing from the tour company to have lunch in because they were nice enough to put our clothes in the dryer for us.  So we went to a beautiful lodge for lunch overlooking the water and ate delicious food in sweatpants four sizes to big for us!  Clearly today, was not a day for fashion for us! 

After lunch we went to a chocolate factory for tasting.  The most interesting piece of chocolate that I had was apple chocolate.  It was dark chocolate with a distinct hint of a granny smith apple taste, quite delicious!

The final stop on our tour today was a visit to the Remarkable Cave.  This is a natural rock cave like structure situated on the southern most tip of land in the world before reaching Antarctica which is about 2,000 miles away.
  The wind at this tip of the southern most land mass in the Southern Ocean was so windy - we were only able to enjoy it for a few moments and a quick picture before the wind sent us back to the van.

Once again another fun filled day - and our last cold one.  Tomorrow we head up to Queensland for some summer like weather as we get set to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.  Also, Queensland does not follow daylight savings time, so even though we sprang ahead two weeks ago in New South Wales and Victoria, we will be falling back in Queensland, so I'll be back to being only 14 hours ahead of you instead of 15!!!