Tassie- Day 1 (finally)

Tasmania
The Wilderness State

Photo disclaimer: I did NOT wear the exact same thing every day. The weather was slightly colder than anticipated, which is why I am always wearing my "jumper" (sweatshirt). I did, in fact, change my clothes.
Background Info:
I decided about a month ago I wanted to travel somewhere during intersession break. I was not particular about Where I wanted to go, the main criteria for determining the location of my travel being the cost of the plane ticket. My friend, Baptiste, is as addicted to traveling as I am, found plane tickets to Hobart, Tasmania, for $138.00 round trip... so I said, "Hell, why not?"
We later invited our friend, Loriane (also French) to accompany us. I think we invited other people to discount the cost of the car (more people=less money for each) and to dispel any awkwardness that may arise from being a single guy traveling with a girl. But anyway. I'm getting off track...

Day 1
Our plane left at an ungodly hour, which is probably why the tickets were so inexpensive. To put it into perspective, i think that any hour before noon can be considered ungodly. Thus, even if the flight was supposed to depart at 11:59 a.m., I would have considered it too early. On the plus side, we decided to fly out early so we could have more time in Tas to explore before flying home. I live an hour outside the city and we had to be at the airport and check in half an hour prior to departure; therefore, I was up at 5:30 a.m. (!!!!) in order to meet Baptiste adn Loriane for the 20 minute walk to the train station at 6:30, catch the train at 7:00, and arrive at the airport at eight, check-in and fly out at 8:40 a.m. So it was a bit of an early morning.
The flight was uneventful. Shocking, I know. You'd expect a two hour flight from Sydney to Hobart to contain something wonderful... but it didn't.
We arrived in Hobart, claimed our luggage and picked up our rental car, a new-ish Hyundai Accent. We would eventually name him Henry and he would become our constant companion and friend. *Sigh* how I miss him!
We drove immediately to Hasting Cave, just south of Hobart. Hastings Cave is one of several large caves located in Tasmania,reputed to among the largest and best in the world. Unfortunately, they failed to impress me. Although the cave formations were beautiful and amazing, the tour was less than stellar. Instead of providing useful information about anything, the woman just walked us up and down slick stairs. I took pictures anyway, like a good tourist.
We drove back to Hobart to find a place to stay. It's been getting dark earlier and earlier, so by 5:30 p.m., we were driving in the dark. I was in the backseat, completely and happily oblivious to what was going on in the front seat. My apathy was spurred along by the fact they were speaking French. Turns out Loriane is not the best at giving directions. Every time I looked out the window, we were on the same street, but I could ahve sworn we'd been driving, making turns, etc. Ah well.
We finally found a hostel. But being so ridiculously tired, we took the room without seeing them first. THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!! The Pickled Frog (we didn't get a clue from the name) was a little on the old and dirty side. The floors slanted, the showers were beyond scary (internal shudder.) And we shared a room with three people we didn't know. Not such a big deal, except when someone snores. Loudly. All night.