Monday, August 24, 2009

Tasmania.

A sudden rainbow on our way to Mt Field.


No, I did not disappear from the world of blogging. Our Internet had been at dial-up speed for the last few weeks, so I couldn't even load up my blog!

But after some TLC and lots of curses it is now much better!

A couple of weeks ago the boyfriend and I went to Tasmania, the most southern state of Australia. To get there we flew on the despised Tiger airways (which wasn't all that bad really) and landed on a very provincial airstrip near Hobart, the states capital.

Well, it was love at first sight, for us both. I want to live there...in fact I did look at house prices while we were there.




After a storm, Mt Field national park.



Hobart is a sleepy city, very small by world standards (though not to New Zealanders!), which tumbles down the slopes of the surrounding hills into a stunning bay. To top it off the city is full of amazing heritage buildings and is backed by Mt wellington and the bush.




A strange possum/kangaroo creature in the bush.


We only had a few days to soak up what we could, and we felt we used them well!

The first day was spent landing at the airport and zipping around the area in our wee rental car.

This also involved me yelling "op shop!" whenever I saw one and demanding we stop the car so I could check them out. A tiresome business for the boyfriend...

But I found some treasures, the best being a stunning blue bead and gold leaf necklace, I will take a photo of it soon! One of best op shops I found was the retro St Vinnies on New Town road, Hobart. It had the most amazing range of stuff - all sourced from the Vinnies in Tasmania. I could have spent much longer there, but the boyfriend was out waiting in the car, so I rushed through. I spite of that I managed to find a super cute 70's style deep sky blue maxi dress with lace sleeves, and the necklace mentioned above. The second best op shop was in New Norfolk, about 40 minutes out of Hobart. It had no signs or anything, you wouldn't even know it was a shop until you were right outside it. You know those strange, but wonderful wee op shops that smell bad and are always cold with stuff packed to the rafters? It was one of those places. I walked out with a bag full of goodies for only $3, an unheard of bargain in Melbourne!






Mt Field national park.

The next day we woke up bright and early and made the trip out to Mt Field national park. The weather was overcast, and had turned into sleet by the time we got there. Despite this we had a good time and managed to get in a bush walk before the weather got a bit too fierce. The only real downside being I somehow managed to lose $50 out of my pocket, I hope whoever finds it deserves it! On the way down from the mountain we stopped at a tiny wee cafe and had the most amazing artichoke soup, and devonshire tea mmmmm :-)




I was fascinated by all the wee mushrooms in the forest.

The next day we gave up our rental car and made our way through central Hobart to the Salamanca market. It was amazing, and by far the biggest market I have ever been too.
We tried all sorts of new food, mmmm tempura mushrooms. That evening we ventured out into the cold and ate the best Indian food we have had in a long time (this is turning into a food post!)







Looking from the wharf to Mt Wellington behind Hobart.

Before we gave back the car we drove up the very scenic and windy road to the top of Mt Wellington. It was SO cold, I think the coldest place I have ever been, the wind chill made it that bad! We only managed to leap out of the car and take quick photos before we were so chilled we both were shaking like jelly (to continue on the food theme).






Me shaking like jelly.



Remember a few weeks ago when I put an ad on Gumtree for an op shopping buddy? Well I narrowed the replies down to two that I actually liked. I have been shopping with one girl twice now and she is great! Her friends like mine and we like hers, we have done dinner and all sorts of things! We went on an op shopping trip last week with much good fortune...


Hobart at dusk, from the top of Mt Wellington.









2 comments:

Blog Archive