Outward bound ...

[crispysince70]

Thanks Susie, now it makes sense! Though I wish they could improve their receipts, it feels like you come out carrying a novel sometimes!

 

Hi to Chris and family, how long have you been in Tassie? We drove down to the Kingston area whilst house hunting, its very beautiful around there. How is travel time into Hobart in the mornings?

 

Continuing our adventure story, on Friday we drove out to Seven Mile Beach. Its around 30km from Hobart. Wow! Its just lovely there, so quiet and peaceful with the waves lapping on to the beach, and we couldnt believe the number and size of the shells along the waterline. We were there for about an hour and saw maybe 6 other people. Will definitely be going again!

 

Yesterday morning we hit Salamanca market. For me the best part is when after staring at stalls for an hour you glance up and get Mount Wellington as a backdrop. It reminds that you arent just in any old market, you are in Hobart!

 

After the market we walked along the sea in the harbour, before popping into town. Then we took our first drive out to Eastlands in Rosny Park. This was our first time shopping at Woolworths and we were very pleased to find both Sarsons vinegar and proper mint sauce! Its the little things that matter in life.

 

Today we are planning a trip to the Royal Bottanical Gardens. Hoping we get internet soon, typing these reports on an iPhone is just ...

 

 

Hiya

We've been here for about 7 weeks now, though havn't really been to many places, due to job hunting and then working,lol

Went to the wildlife sanctuary on your recommendation and as expected the kids had a cracking day out, ( along with ourselves of course ! )

I can totally agree with you about the seven mile beach, it's another great place to visit ( often I hope! )

As for getting through the traffic on a morning, I don't really find it too bad to be honest, compared with the Uk traffic.

I work at The Celtic Barbers at Moonah and have to start work at 8.30 and finish at 5, so hit the rush hour both ways, it takes me on average about 30 mins to fight my way through.

 

Chris x

[BearRules]

Yesterday we went to Zoodoo in Richmond. Its a lovely drive along deserted roads, passing by vineyards (still on our list of things to do). My first impression was that it really is more of a zoo than an animal sanctuary. I'm not a great fan of zoos, I dont enjoy seeing animals in cages. That said, it was still an enjoyable few hours.

 

There are lots of roos to be interacted with, and watching the lions stand stock still, quivering with anticipation at the sight of children, was intriguing. Nice to see they maintain some natural instincts. The guides do their best to entertain, though I felt they weren't as educational as the guide at the wildlife sanctuary.

 

The highlight was definitely the safari ride! Feeding emus from the back of a truck when their heads are tall enough to reach inside is great fun (though not for those with a nervous disposition). After the warning to hold on tightly to your cup of food, the first emu promptly snatched away Sams cup on first attempt. She was given a replacement in time for when we moved to feed the ostriches, but given they were about 2 feet taller she lost her nerve and threw the food to them!

 

Today the weather is wet, so time for a bit of shopping for odds n ends we havent got round to yet. Looking forward to spring!

[BearRules]

As of a few days ago, we now have internet again! It took a good 3 weeks to get it sorted out. The first week was just waiting for the phone line to be activated (new house). The second week there was a delay as they ran out of ports in the exchange and had to add new ones. By then we'd received the router but it still wasnt working. Another week and lots of calls to BigPond support later, and I got an engineer out who tried four different routers before going away to the exchange and moving the line to a different port. Now it works great!

 

A few updates on things we've done over the last week or so. We took the long drive down to Port Arthur, which from a drivers perspective was quite intense! Around 100km distance, most of which seemed to be S-bends! Sam was constantly uttering phrases like "ooooh" and "wow" as we drove along the beautiful scenery. When we came upon Pirates Bay, we felt compelled to stop and have a closer look. We went down onto the beach and stood for a while watching the rolling waves. Then we continued onwards to Port Arthur.

 

Its strange to think of it as a harsh prison environment. When you look around at the natural beauty of the land and the water, its just so peaceful. We took the cruise to the Isle of the Dead which presented an interesting history of a few of the former inhabitants. We plan to revisit again, so I guess it passes the "did we enjoy" it test!

 

The day after was a Saturday, and we wanted to be a bit lazy after all that driving, so we just went to explore a few local beach areas including Clifton Beach and Opossum Bay. Then on the Sunday, it was a one hour drive to Mount Field National Park and Russell Falls. The walk to the falls from the visitor centre is a very easy path that takes a leisurely 10 minutes. The falls themselves are breathtaking, seeing photographs doesn't do justice to the feeling you get standing in front of them, whilst getting splashed with cold water! I would strongly recommend anyone to go visit Russell Falls, I'll defintely be going back!

 

Our next adventure took us to the top of Mount Wellington. We were waiting for a nice clear day, and headed up around lunchtime. The drive up the mountain took around 30 minutes, constantly winding slowly up the narrow roads. I was surprised by all the large boulders on top, and whilst I expected it to be cold and windy, it was a lot worse than I'd anticipated! After wrapping up in jumpers and coats, we went to see the view. It gives a very different perspective of Hobart than anything you can see from ground level. We could see the shape of the land, and the rivers. We could identify landmark places we'd visited such as Seven Mile Beach and Opossum Bay. When driivng around you can't appreciate the true lie of the land, so it was really nice to be able to see it from a birds eye view. We took refuge in the viewing platform a few times to thaw out! Another of those must-do activities for anyone visiting Hobart.

 

Our most recent outing was to the Tahune Airwalk. It took over 1.5 hours to drive there. I've read a lot of positive comments about the Airwalk and I know its very popular, but to be honest it didn't really do it for me. Whilst I enjoyed it, it didn't give me that wow feeling you get at Russell Falls, or the top of Mount Wellington. That said, the trip was definitely worthwhile! After leaving the Airwalk, we decided to follow the path to the swinging bridges. This walk takes around an hour and includes two swinging bridges that cross the rivers. They don't call them swinging bridges for nothing! I think the fun comes from the sense of danger you feel as you bounce your way across the bridges with the river waters flowing beneath you, feeling the bridge swaying with every step. I would recommend anyone doing the Airwalk to do the bridges as well!

 

Thats all for now, looking forward to many future adventures!

 

Colin.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

What a great update, thanks for sharing, it sounds beautiful.

[Guest JamieandMel]

Brilliant posts, we move out to Launceston next month and can't wait.

[Skani]

 

Our next adventure took us to the top of Mount Wellington. We were waiting for a nice clear day, and headed up around lunchtime. The drive up the mountain took around 30 minutes, constantly winding slowly up the narrow roads.

 

Colin.

 

It's very interesting to read others' first impressions of one's home stomping ground, so thankyou for your report, BearRules. I did actually reply at the time but the message was lost somewhere between my computer and PIO.

 

For a bit of variety next time you go up the mountain you could join the "Point to Pinnacle" race in mid November - about 2000 mad people who go by foot from the Casino to the top of the mountain. :wideeyed: (I just wave graciously as I stumble out of bed about the time they pass my house.) The organisers suggest that, if you don't want to race, you can just treat it as a relaxing walk :biglaugh:

 

I agree with you about the Tahune airwalk - I was rather underwhelmed. There are so many old growth wilderness areas with huge trees in Tasmania. Being in them at ground level is more awe inspiring for me than on a bit of metal up in the air.