In November, when the rest of Australia is usually well into the mid-late 20s, Tasmania still remains quite cold. Martin's brother messaged us two days before we were due to leave, to let us know that as Hobart wouldn't be warmer than 12ºC, we could expect snow atop Mt. Wellington.

We couldn't leave Tasmania without visiting Tasman National Park. Tasman National Park, like other spots in the Tasmanian east coast, has beautiful turquoise water and beaches.

Pumphouse Point is a place for everybody. Whether you’re the kind of traveller that loves to lounge around, finally getting around to that pile of books you have to read, or the kind of traveller that loves walking and exploring.

If you asked me what the absolute highlight of our trip was, it probably would have been this. Our time in Cradle Mountain came in as very close competition, but I'm not sure I could say it beat staying at the top floor of the beautiful, award-winning Pumphouse Point at Lake St. Clair National Park.

After our sunrise walk around Dove Lake and a light birthday breakfast, we were ready for another adventure and drove back to the national park to do more hiking

I celebrated my 25th birthday watching the sun rise at Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain. We left while it was still dark, braving the winding, bumpy road to the national park with our high beams on, keeping our eyes wide open for wildlife (of which there were plenty, the little wallabies and possums spooked by our sudden presence).

I am pretty excited to share this next round of posts with you. Cradle Mountain was, without argument, one of the highlights of the trip.

We left the Bay of Fires and headed inland, to Launceston, where we'd stay for a night. We drove through the beautiful, sunny dairy country, and soon fields with lambs and sheep were replaced with that of cows and calves.

We drove from Bicheno to St. Helen's, a slightly bigger town right next to the renowned Bay of Fires. When we checked into our little villa, we got chatting to the lovely receptionist and got all her local tips on the best places to go that weren't too crowded.

After two days in Hobart we began our adventure for real, leaving the city and driving up the east coast. Our first stop was Freycinet National Park, where we would stay in the nearby town of Bicheno.

This is the first of many Tasmania photo stories I'll be posting on the blog over the next couple of weeks.