Perception is a powerful thing

Term 2 was over and it was time to head to Tasmania. 

We spent a night in Sydney on the way over and went to watch the Eels play. Of course they lost, but that didn't dampen our spirits. We really liked Sydney, it's such a fun and vibrant city. I can definitely see us living somewhere near Sydney down the track - and of course the Blue Mountains are a definite selling point! 

Next stop was Tasmania where we hired a campervan so that we could travel around and see as much as possible. Campervans are such a great way of travelling, they give you the freedom to sleep wherever you like, and you can stop and have meals or a break whenever you feel like it. 

We started in Hobart and made our way up the east coast, across the top, back down through the middle and then back to Hobart. Each region had something different to offer which made for a fantastic trip. Tasmania reminded us a lot of NZ which people had said it would. The landscapes and roads were very similar, but it was also unique and beautiful in it's own way. 

The east coast, Freycinet National Park and the Bay of Fires had stunning coastlines and cliffs. There were so many different bays to explore. Launceston in the Tamar Valley had the incredible Cataract Gorge. We caught the chairlift and explored some of the great trails around the gorge. We travelled to the very top of the north west via Devonport to see The Nut in Stanley which was a very cool feature. The Cradle Mountain National Park was stunning with lots of walks to choose from and a bit of snow around which was cool to see (no chance of seeing snow in Perth, so any little bit is exciting these days!) The lakes region was amazing with so many different lakes and rivers. Hobart was a great city with lots of tourist attractions including my favourite, the Cadbury Factory! Hobart was a really good base for day trips down south. We headed down along the Convict Trail one day and saw some beautiful coastlines and some really interesting historic sites. We had a great time in Port Arthur exploring the old historic site there and learning about how things operated back in the day. We took another day trip down to the Huon Valley and the Tahune Airwalk which was another great tourist attraction.  

Two nights before we were due to leave, we experienced some crazy road rage in Hobart where someone threw something through the back window of the campervan. We couldn't believe what had happened. It meant changing our plans slightly, but we weren't going to let it ruin our trip and enjoyed our final two days in Tasmania. 

I try to learn something new from every experience in life. You never know what's going to happen on any given day, and all you can do is try to make the most out of a bad situation if it arises. Being negative or letting things get you down only makes things seem worse. But if you try to see the positive side to things and try to smile through difficult situations, you will feel much happier. 

I read somewhere recently that if someone says something negative or hurtful to you or acts in a nasty way, and you refuse to let that person's words or actions affect you, then the negativity and nastiness falls back on the person that it came from. This way of thinking can be used in any aspect of life. The situation in Hobart was a perfect example of this. We refused to let the nasty actions of another person ruin our night or our holiday and continued to have a great time. Therefore, the negativity fell back onto the person that it came from. 

I always try to see the best in people. Although I wanted to be angry at the person that threw something through our window, I tried seeing the situation from their perspective. They could've been having the worst day of their life, and me cutting them off in traffic could've been the final straw. Instead of saying nasty things about the person I chose to be sympathetic towards them, and just hoped that things got better for them. Even if they weren't having a bad day, but they were just somebody that didn't know how to manage their emotions, instead of getting angry towards them, it made me think 'What has happened in their life to make them react in that way'. 

Apart from that one person, we had some great interactions with people from Tasmania and found everyone to be really helpful and friendly. We'll definitely try and get back there one day to explore some more. 

After Tasmania we flew to Melbourne for 3 nights to catch up with friends and have a look around. Melbourne is a very funky place with lots of alternative people which makes it a really interesting place to visit. There are lots of fantastic restaurants and bars which made for a very busy few days. 

Before we knew it, it was time to fly home. I love travelling and experiencing new places and meeting new people. A big part of travelling is trying to decide where to go. You need to take into account how long you'll need to see the places you want to see, and the best time of year to visit each place. Because we have school holidays off work we need to fit our trips in around those dates and decide which places we'll travel to first and which destinations can wait until later.

Taking all of that into account we've chosen Thailand as our next holiday destination! In ten days time we'll be leaving on a jet plane.