A Return to Nature, Day 2 - Maria Island, Tasmania

How could we possibly hope to improve on such an incredible start to the long weekend?

We couldn’t.

To be honest, we didn’t really try very hard either. Three bottles of wine in a very short space of time tends to do that to you…stumbling into the tent after the sun went down, the two of us crashed.

The harsh morning light found us seedy, squinty eyed, and reluctant to so much as lift our throbbing heads from our inflatable pillows.

Eventually emerging from our orange cocoon I also found that I’d been the overnight victim of an insectoid ambush! I must have gourmet blood flowing through my veins, because the local mosquitoes had had an absolute feast while I slept.

I stopped counting, but I swear I had up to 20 bites on one hand alone, including my palm of all places!! Then there were the couple of dozen up my arm, over my shoulder, down my back…the little buggers obviously took full advantage of the shiraz flowing through my veins 😀

Then, to top it all off, as my hand began to swell and itch, it became obvious that not only did my skin have mosquito bites, but my mosquito bites had mosquito bites!!!

It was going to be a super human display of will power to not scratch myself to death over the next three days.

Mozzie Bites!!

On the palm?!!! That’s just gross…

Eventually shaking off our self imposed topor, we cooked up a bit of hot breakfast (bacon, eggs, tuna and rice, the breakfast of champions!) and made our way down to the jetty where we met the incoming ferry and picked up a couple of mountain bikes.

While we had originally considered doing one of the two big bush walks on Maria, our fragile mental state meant that we shelved that idea and instead spent the day on our bikes exploring the ruins and fields around Darlington itself, including the Fossil Cliffs, Skipping Ridge, the Cement Works, Convict Reservoir and Oast House.

Inside the Silo – Maria Island, Tasmania

Convict’s Barn – Maria Island, Tasmania

Of course, we were quite proud of the fact that we also managed to be only the fifth couple in two years to get a flat tyre on one of our bikes… A quick phone call to the ferry company (yes there is Telstra reception on the island thank goodness!) and they arranged for a replacement to be brought over on the next boat later in the afternoon. Awesome service!

Bishop and Clerk Through the Grass – Maria Island, Tasmania

Hiding in the Fossil Cliffs – Maria Island, Tasmania

With the sun approaching the horizon and hot food in our bellies, we decided that hair o’ the dog was the best remedy, and cracked open another bottle of red.

Probably not the best idea considering we were going to attempt the epic Bishop and Clerk bushwalk the next day…but hey, we love our wine!

Click here for Day 3 of our Maria Island adventures…