Our Tasmanian travel party has formed and we have settled into our Air B&B, four-bedroom house in the New Town neighbourhood of Hobart. We have been here for 48 hours so I have a little catching up to do.
Our flight from Vancouver to Melbourne was relatively smooth (as smooth as being cooped up in a steel tube for 17 hours can be). Our plane was a very new, comfortable Air Canada 787-9 Dreamliner. Deborah and I played the old gambit of choosing the aisle and window seats, daring someone to choose to sit between us. It doesn’t always work but in this case, it did. The plane was almost sold out but we high-fived as they announced the door was closed for take-off and the empty seat between us remained. We happily built our nest for two over our three seats. The service was great. We find Air Canada International flights consistent in their service, domestic not as much.
Our goal was to stay awake for the first six hours and sleep for a few hours before landing at 10:30 am, Melbourne time. Deborah had a few cat naps and watched 5 movies while I watched 2 movies and squeezed in seven hours of sleep. I think the two bottles of red wine with dinner finished me off (not to mention the sleeping pill I washed down with the wine).
We landed in Melbourne to bright, sunny skies without any smoke from the Australian fires. We enjoyed our first Flat White (coffee) while waiting for Gord and Margo to join us from Sydney. With our Tasmania crew intact we boarded our one hour flight to Hobart. We bussed into town and Ubered to our rental house. After ordering a pizza and having a few drinks, we simply crashed. Door to Door travel time was just under 30 hours.
The following day we were up early and took a self-guided walking tour of the city. There is a lot to like about this city of 240,000 souls nestled at the mouth of the Derwent River under the shadow of Mount Wellington. Back in 1804, it was home to a few British Navy marines and the first wave of British convicts. It is now the state capital, an outdoor adventure tourists' haven, Australia’s southernmost city, and a jumping-off point to Antarctica.
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Beautiful Gardens and Stately Homes
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Lots of Early 1900 Architecture
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It was good to put in 12 km of walking the first day and get a feel for the area. We learned very quickly that although we share the same language with our Commonwealth cousins, they can be very difficult to understand. Aussie English seems to include dropping the final letter or syllable of most words and simply add “ie”. Tasmania is simply Tassie. I sort of get it for place names but when told “just go to Wollie’s”, how is a tourist supposed to know you need to go to Woolworths to get what you need.
We also learned "the price is the price" when shopping. If there are any taxes, they are built into the posted price. Restaurant prices appear to be slightly more than home but when you consider that we buy Australian dollars with only 92 cents Canadain, they seem similar. On top of all that, "there is no tipping" in Australia. So ... no tax and no tip, this is a good place to travel. Our tour guide was a 25-year-old, enthusiastic, knowledgable, friendly young man who would certainly earn a tip in most parts of the world but here is happy to work for $30 an hour.
Day two saw us up early and picked up by Peter of Tassie Tours for a 12-hour tour of Bruny Island. It is truly a beautiful place to see and the site of the first British explorer, Captain Cook, to land in what is modern-day Australia. I will let the pictures tell the story.
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The Whole Coast is Dotted With Bays & Marinas
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The Neck - Connecting N. & S. Bruny
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Built-in 1838 After Too Many Ships Lost to the Rocks
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View From Bruny Lighthouse
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More of the Same Viewpoint
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The Boys Enjoying Bruny Oysters
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Bush Walk - Stay on the Path & Look Down for Critters.
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Bruny Group Shot
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p.s. We have had a few interesting situations occur as we get accustomed to three couples sharing a house. None of the bathroom doors have locks. One of our female members had quite a shock when using the loo in the middle of the night, with the door closed and the light on. Much to her surprise a male crew member opened the door and walked in unannounced. The crew members will remain nameless but the female is capable of a loud scream and the male likes to perform the full monte accompanied by some scuba-like gear hanging on his face. It is an image the female crew member will have a hard time forgetting,
