As a Melbournian, it’s not uncommon for me to board the Spirit of Tasmania with my trusty four-wheel drive and go on a week road trip around Tasmania. It’s actually fantastic how easy it is to visit Tasmania. It’s so freeing to be able to take my car to the small Australian state and explore until my wheels can’t take it anymore.
Funnily enough, that actually happened one time I went on a road trip in Tassie. My tyres gave up on me. You wouldn’t expect that of rugged 4×4 tyres. Close to Hobart as I was, it wasn’t too much of an issue, but if I’d been in the middle of nowhere it would have been quite the pickle. I thought 4×4 tyres were supposed to be heavy-duty! You could imagine my face when my tyres literally exploded whilst four-wheel driving.
I spent the majority of that trip exploring the town of Hobart, rather than exploring the island. Although this wasn’t my plan initially, I didn’t want to put too much pressure on my new tyres so I made the best of a bad situation. The town of Hobart is actually really lovely, and looking back, I can’t believe I didn’t explore it sooner.
Now, every time I visit Tasmania, I go straight to the mechanic who fixed my tyres all those years ago. I now refuse to begin my road trip without visiting that particular mechanic shop. Hobart and its surrounds are beautiful, and I love exploring them, but I don’t plan on putting myself in a tyre explosion situation any time soon.
The reason I’m mentioning all this in the first place is because I’m actually on my way to Tasmania right now. I’m literally on the boat on the way over as we speak. Writing this little recount has been a good way to pass the time. I’ll be at my mechanic in a few hours getting the all clear to travel around the state. I’m so excited for my next road trip.