Tasmania

I have come to the conclusion that conferences are one of my favourite parts of my work/PhD. Not only do you get to hear about fascinating research projects, expand your network by meeting these researchers, get inspired and motivated about your own work but you also get to travel to wonderful places. This time round it was the annual conference of the Institute of Australian Geographers that gave me a much appreciated excuse to board a flight to Hobart and the magical island that lies between Australia and Antarctica - Tasmania. The 5 day conference was superb and I came away with lots of food for thought, positive feedback about my own research and good ideas about how to move my research on to the next level. Excited and exhausted my wonderful fellow PhD'er Pat and I hired a car after the conference and drove south-east from Hobart down to Port Arthur - Britain's most feared convict settlement in its day. From there we followed the east coast of Tasmania for the next 3 days, along rugged coastline, through magical forests, hiked over the Hazards at beautiful Freycinet National Park before turning inland at St Helens to the stunning Pyengana Valley in the north-east of Tassie. Here we enjoyed a hearty home cooked meal at the Holy Cow Cafe - a part of the completely self sustained Pyengana Cheese Factory - before exploring the wonderful fern forest that surrounds the base of St Columba Falls. I fell in love with Tasmania despite the cold short winter days. I can't wait to go back in summer with a tent to hike through the wilderness for days at a time...