YHA Hobart
A YHA you say? Shocking, I know. Once again, I found myself making a home at the city YHA. I had arranged work for accommodation before arriving in Hobart, providing myself a solid homebase as an introduction to Tasmania and to plan the best route to road trip around the state.
Nadia & Sandra - the fearless leaders of THIS hostel. Nadia, a gentle but fierce woman, with a seemingly natural ability to offer constructive criticism that immediately addressed the problem while finding a quick solution. Sandra, very pregnant with her Camino baby (conceived during her honeymoon walking the Camino in Spain), with a dry wit and easy laugh. The two easily fell into “Mom of the Backpacker” roles - asking which one wanted to play good/bad mom for this question - Do you know the strangers you met off the internet and now intend to travel with? Have you heard of this hike, make sure to check it out!
Sarah - master and commander of the vollies. German. Platypus lover. Student. Best friend to Andrew, who I met in Fremantle. Just a few of her defining characteristics. Clara - an Italian (although DO NOT tell anyone, apparently it’s a secret…), another student but this time in pastry, attempting to gain longer residency in Australia. Wavered from friendly to cold depending on the day and her mood.
I think Ruben can be best defined in his response one afternoon when I asked if he wanted to hang out - “No. I am going to go to my room, eat these fries and watch Brooklyn Nine Nine. Bye!” Never one to shy away from sharing his feelings - Ruben loved to walk for hours up and down the bridge, had been “job searching” for months in Hobart without sending out a single resume, and create masterpieces in the kitchen.
Willemijn and I only overlapped for a few days, but she eagerly shared her Tasmanian road trip itinerary and approached her farm job search with a passion. In fact, we only overlapped for a few days because she got a job on a dairy farm! Ane & Marie, the Norway girls. Lovers of dancing, drinking, and sharing their experience working on a tourist boat in the Sydney harbour. This is where they met Juri, our German fellow, who managed to disappear within 5 minutes at a Jamaican night dance club and enjoyed frolicking in fields of flowers or showering in blowholes.
And of course, Maria. My roommate turned travelmate.
Sam & Jess. Not YHA mates, but instead local mates! Well, actually Jess and Maria met at the YHA and then met Sam on a night out…so YHA Local Mates! Sam, born and raised in Hobart, took on our pack of misfits. From cooking homemade dumplings to hosting a weekly karaoke gig, Sam has a huge heart, quirky wit, and great dance moves. Jess, another Aussie but new to Aussie, quickly found a job at a local cafe bakery and a room in a house with a possum in the wall and a backyard ripe with blackberries and possibilities for gardens, firepits, and a chicken coop.
