Mark's 6 day diet plan or 2011 hates me or (what would have been) Tasmania-mania

Unfortunately, my cholera joke in the previous post was not far off and instead of losing 4 days, I've lost 6.

Mark's 6 day diet plan: don't eat for six days. lose all water weight through gastroenteric means. too easy, ok, pay me hollywood.

I've been playing regional medical facilities review here in Hobart, Tasmania.

I can't do this...still no energy. 2011 sucks....I'll write this last terrible post later. /Maybe while im dying at the airport.


Ok, to summarize. The great ocean road was pretty awesome, even if I enjoyed it in somewhat agony. I still managed to struggle through a couple small hikes and check out the sites. Hopefully some of my pictures turned out well. Ended up staying in Lorne for a night which seemed like it would be a really cool beach town in the summer. Also, made it out to belle's beach on what looked like a pretty solid surf day. Best thing I overheard was from a middle aged guy running down the dock "I gotta be quick, mate. Only got about 30 minutes left on my lunch break". Keeping in mind that the water is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit right now, maybe colder. That's dedication.

A good portion of my time in Tasmania was spent lying in a hospital bed. I think in the end I was administered 8 liters of saline over my two days there (I was moderately dehydrated). Aside from that, I thought they were a pretty ineffective group; no medicine was dished out to me till the last day and not much in the way of testing was going on. I still don't think I've been given a definitive answer on what it is I have. I guess at least they were nice and got my fluids back in order. And so its clear, I didn't go to the hospital initially, I was referred there by a doctor at a clinic.

I was either: very important or very contagious. Either way, my own private bathroom.

After finally being done my hospital time, I decided I had to do something while in Tas, so Chris, John and myself started headed towards Port Arthur to see what we could see.

Along the way we ran across the Tasmanian Devil Park which does rehab for animals, in particular Tas devils.  This was definitely the highlight of the day. Got to see tons of little tassie devils and watch them eat which is somewhat hilarious. Also though, there was a huge section where you walk in and there are just tons of kangaroos hanging out. At first we were timid and not sure if we were supposed to be in there but we gradually realized that you could just kinda hang out with the roos. It was pretty hilarious. I shook a roos hand; again playing diplomat for australio-american relations. (I'll get some pics up eventually).

Also, forgot to mention this, during the ocean road trip we ran across an Echida chillin by one of the parking lots we were in. So we got out and checked it out. These are the funniest little creatures. Quills all over its back, a long ant eating mouth, and of course, it lays eggs. This one did not care about us in the slightest. We went right up to it and just watched as he scoured for ants. We could have easily touched, if it's entire body wasn't made of knives. (I'll put pics up for this later too)

So at least I got a little bit of something out of Tasmania. With the brief time I got to see it, I might have to say it was the most scenic part of Australia. Around Hobart, it almost reminded me of the pacific northwest.