Tasman Island Cruises

I've started to “like” pages on Facebook. This is new for moi, as I've really only been a passive FB user in past and never understood the point of liking until this trip, when our podcast lifelines pointed us to their tweets and FB posts. Now having liked a scant few podcasts, bands, and personalities, I get it: they tell me what's going on, so I don't have to remember to check in on what's going on. Genius!

Just yesterday, I “liked” the Tasman Island Cruise page. Not because I need to receive updates about what's happening on the east coast of Tasmania, but because I want to give them due PR. 

During our time in OZ, people have hammered home a ton of “MUST DOS” - a helicopter ride above Cradle Mountain, harness climbing the Sydney Bridge, ferrying to the Kangaroo Island, I could go on... This is one of the few tourist offerings that we've taken up. And it was worth every penny.

Ed and I were last to board the 40 ft, super maneuverable boat with rubber bumpers because we were, as usual, peeing it forward. As a result, we ended up in the front two seats; the otherwise tough Aussies didn't want to be dampened by sea spray.  Bundled and poncho'd, we were thrilled to be crammed right up front. No heads in Ed's picture, no voices in our ears.

The boat went crazy fast, and soon we were pulling into the rock caves we had glimpsed from above. Each time the skipper steered toward a white water filled hole in the 10 story high rock cliff, my heart pounded. My brain was screaming - “don't go in there” and then, immediately, “go in there."  What came out of my mouth was “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

We reached Tasman Island to see hundreds of fur seals draped across the rocks and dozens more playing in the water alongside the boat. An albatross with a 6 foot wing span flew past us, and the whole group went nuts.

Our adorable co-captains looked like surfer/models and happily talked about the birds, phyto plankton, and currents throughout the ride. They also handed out Timtams and high fives at the end of the tour. Not one of us disembarked without a smile on our face. Happy as the seals.