tasmanian stowaway
...rry, we blew the engine on the van and had to replace it, which took four days and $900 AUS. We had cold rainy weather the majority of the time, and got kicked out of at least 4 caravan parks for “being too disruptive” and even had the threat of a park ranger turning the fire hose on our tents! Apple picking was a week long disaster since the local pickers disliked us enough to throw apples at us, and the local pub was filled with all kinds of creepy men trying to pick up foreign ladies. We did have a few nice days where we went on some beautiful hikes, especially Wine Glass Bay in the Frecienet National Park. Tazzy is very scenic with all the gorgeous lakes, mountains and beaches. But by the end of the third week we were more than ready to leave the strange locals of Tazzy, who unlike most Australians, hated Canadians! We failed to get sufficient sleep the night before we were due to leave and did a very poor job of packing the van because of the hangovers. It was probably quite obvious we were stowing people away because it didn’t take long before the security at the ferry terminal slid his had under then bed onto our faces and radioed for backup. In the pouring rain the other stowaway and I slowly climbed out the side door of Ruby being intently watched by the hundred odd other vehicles lined up to board the ferry. I think some people even got out their video cameras to later show their families this amusing event. It seemed like something that would only happen in the movies. Being completely overtired from lack of sleep we failed to think of any witty excuses to get us out of this one, so we tried to be as sad looking and cooperative as possible, while being herded away from our van in the downpour. The security guard who caught us called into his radio “We have a situation here involving stowaways; we’re going to need backup”. And police soon arrived. Lucky for us...