Tasmania!!

Welp, it's official.  We kind of love Tasmania.  It's that little island off the Southeast corner of Australia.  It's one of Australia's states, and it may just be the most superior. We didn't spend nearly enough time on the island but man, but we enjoyed every moment of our mini vacation!  (Minus the moments when it seemed like we were going to drive off the road.  Driving on the left side of the road isn't easy, mind you.  Just ask Clark.)

Our first night in Tasmania was pretty uneventful.We arrived into Hobart around seven in the evening--too dark to sight-see-- so all we did was eat at some extremely overpriced Chinese restaurant.  It was good, but I've never paid $19 a plate for Chinese IN MY LIFE.  But at least it was good.  Good food makes me and my belly happy.

The next morning we awoke bright and early to a beautiful, sunny sky.  We strolled down to the nearest Woolworth's (grocery store) to purchase breakfast and some snacks.  We ate our muffins in the comfort of our private hostel room.  And we're not ashamed of our unkempt bed/room.  Don't judge us!

Clark oh so carefully peeling back the wrapper of his decadent chocolate muffin.

We also decided that cheese and crackers would make for a tasteful addition to our breakfast feast.  One thing that Tasmania is known for is it's cheese.  So of course we had to test some out.  And it was delicious.  We highly recommend the Wild Wasabi.

The Brunswick Hotel.  Our classy accommodation.

After breakfast we started out on our self guided walking tour of Hobart.  We marveled at the architecture.  This photo was taken from a park and it's a picture of the Hobart Post Office.  This post office is right up there with Madrid's post office in picturesque architecture. I guess Hobart takes it's letters and packages seriously.

Clark was already tired at the beginning of our self guided tour of Hobart.  But he sure does look handsome resting on the bench!

Here I am gazing up in awe at a statue of Abel Tasman, the explorer who first sighted and founded Tasmania in 1642.  Only he claimed the land as Van Diemen's Land and not Tasmania. And I bet I am probably taller than he really was.

Literally 100 feet from Mr. Tasman's statue is theSalamanca Market.  It is a well known area to get your eat on and your shop on.  It's full of cafes and art shops/galleries.  Oh, and a Fairy Shop.  Or Faerie shop, as Australians like to spell it.  I wanted to go in so bad but there was a party going on and I wasn't invited.  

I wish I would have been invited to Kate's party.  This is the Fairy Shop I mentioned above.  Have you ever seen a pinker store!? 

Another view of Salamanca Market.  Notice the car driving on the left hand side of the road.  We have yet to get used to this... phenomenon.

On our way to see Tasmanian water!

You can read the sign, I don't need to interpret this one.

The views from the water were beautiful.  Only we didn't capture the beauty so well.  I have yet to learn all the functions of our camera and I don't think the camera was on the correct setting for such a bright day.  Oh well.  At least Clark got a good picture with a pirate ship.  Aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh!  

I don't know that we were that exasperated at this point in our tour, but I guess our faces state otherwise.

A park near Salamanca Market, as we made our way to the Harbor.

Figuring out how the drinking fountain worked was much more complicated than it should be.

 And here it is.  The Hobart Harbor.

Much to Clark's vexation, we took a self timed photo down at the Harbor.

From the Harbor we decided we wanted to walk to see the Tasman Bridge and the Government House.  On our way to the bridge we came across this well groomed War Memorial.  Being that my little brother served two tours of duty I'm very sensitive to War Memorials and monuments.  Places like these always trigger a deep appreciation for the courageous men and women who have fought for our freedoms.  (I realize I'm in another country, but even though Tasmanians fought in some of the same wars.)

Clark and the Tasman Bridge.  

We weren't aware that cat walking was so popular in Tasmania.  So popular that the city had to institute signs  to prevent people from bringing their cats on walking/bike paths. 

The Tasman Bridge.

The Government House that is actually really well hidden.  You can't get near it.  We had our mega zoom working for us in this one.  We were told by an agent at the tourist information center that we wouldn't be able to get in.  We thought he meant we wouldn't be able to go inside the mansion.  We didn't realize he meant that we wouldn't be able to walk on the grounds.

On a trail around the Government House private compound

Clark pointing out a bogus sign that says the Government House is private.  All we wanted to do was get a good look!

Though passersby are obviously not encouraged to gawk and snap pictures of the House, security isn't too tight...makes me wonder what would have happened to us if we had strolled through the unlocked gate?

On our walk about we came across the old gates of the Beaumaris Zoo. The Beaumaris Zoo has been out of commission since the 1930's.  It's an incredibly small area and made us wonder how it housed all the animals it claimed to have housed.

The University of Tasmania has a planted rose garden in the city.  So Clark stopped to smell a nearly wilting rose.  It is technically fall in Australia so I guess it's time for roses to die.

Just being a smart ass.

We saw Budgie Smugglers painted on the side of a building.  We have no idea what it means but it seemed picture worthy.  Maybe someone can enlighten us?

Here is a floating restuarant on the Harbor where Clark and I shared (and demolished, as per usual) a very large seafood platter.  Have I mentioned that we love fried food?  Fried chicken? Yes.  Fried prawns, shrimp and fish? Hell yes.

And after our gut busting dinner we still had room for desert.  I guess we always have room for desert.  Who doesn't, right?  So, we splurged and both got our own double scoop waffle cones.  No, Clark did not get two.  One of those is mine.

The following day we woke up (I fit in a run while Clark snoozed) ready for the exciting day ahead of us.  We had reservations to rent a car (or as Australian's say 'Hire a Car')!! Gasp!  Driving on the left side of the road would soon prove to be an exhilarating and nerve-racking venture.  

On our way to pick up our rental, we stopped to see Hobart's Anglican Church.  Very pretty, indeed.

And here's Clark, ready to get his drive on!  Kudos to Clark for expertly navigating our little Kia rental.  I don't think I could have driven confidently and cautiously on the left hand side of the road.  We would have definitely needed the extra insurance had I been driving.  Thanks, Clark, for getting us to points A, B, C, D, and E and back, and for not getting in any sort of wreck. You rock.

Not even twenty miles outside of Hobart is Richmond, a quaint little country town home to Australia's OLDEST church and bridge.  Keep in mind that Australia really isn't that old.  The oldest church was established in 1836 and the oldest bridge was erected in 1823. Yes, even America has older points of interest on the East coast.   

I love that Clark was able to capture the flying seagulls near the water.  

Heading down to the other side of the bridge.

Here is the oldest church in Australia: St. John's Catholic Church.

On the side of St. John's Catholic Church is a child's gave site.  This is the gave site of Thomas Francis Meagher's son.  Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish political enemy of the English government and was exiled to the island of Tasmania.  Meagher escaped from Tasmania to the United States leaving behind his young pregnant wife.  In the USA Meagher became a lawyer, a civil war general, and eventually second governor of the Montana territory.  Small small world!

Some Tasmanian countryside for ya.  

Though we didn't see Tasmanian Devils in the wild, caution signs for the little devils were everywhere.  So, obviously we had to stop and get a picture with a sign.

And Clark had to point out the "bush."  What we Americans call "forest" Australians call "bush." The "bush" is kind of dense at this particular stop.  

The pretty coastline of Southern Tasmania.

The Tasman Arch.  The water is much, MUCH farther down than it appears in this photo.

Gosh dang sea cliffs.  They get me every time.

The Tasman Blowhole, where little action occurred.  Hence, the disappointed face.

We drove on about twenty minutes to arrive at our final destination--Port Arthur!  Only we arrived and hour before dusk and had little time to explore the area.  We had no idea how large Port Arthur would be.  Had we known it was a sprawling area with more than just a couple of old stone structures still standing, we would have made it our number one priority had headed there first.

Here's a little history: Tasmania and Australia were established as penal colonies for British and Irish convicts.  The large convict settlement in Tasmania was called Port Arthur.  So what Britain would do is it would take some of it's worst convicts (many time they were young boys ages 10-17 who had committed petty theft) and ship them down to Tasmania and Australia.  Once at a penal colony the convicts worked or learned a trade, and if they tried to escape or committed a second offense, they would have to work on a chain gang carrying timber or plowing fields or something along those lines.  One of the common practices at Port Aurthur was placing convicts in solitary confinement with bags over their heads for extended periods of time.  This was to give convicts opportunities to reflect on their 'immoral behavior'.  In related stories, many of Port Aurthur convicts became mentally disturbed (I wonder why??), so the Port Aurthur compound also had a large asylum for the 'insane' convicts.  The penal colony was abandoned in the 1870's.  Supposedly the penal ruins are haunted these days.

When we entered Port Arthur we were amazed at the beauty of the grounds.

This church was actually built by convicts at Port Arthur.  However, a denomination could never be decided upon and the church was never dedicated or used.  But it is a beautiful structure!

A view from inside the church.

Clark getting a good look inside the major penitentiary.  Most of the windows still have bars on them.

The Port Aurthur Penitentiary, Guard Tower and grounds.

We were so disappointed when it grew dark; we had so much left to see!  We're just grateful we had the opportunity to see and learn to much about this area, though.

Our final day in Hobart we drove up to Mount Wellingtion.  Hobart is basically at the base of this 1271 meter mountain.  We found some gorgeous views on the way up, but unfortuntately, cloud cover would soon prevent us from snapping any good photos of the Hobart waterfront from above.

This area is to the West of Hobart.

It was pretty chilly up on Mt. Wellington.  Try as we might, we followed paths to get the best views of the city, and lost.

The below area is the Northern part of Hobart.  Cloud cover was literally right in our way to view the downtown area!

If you did not already guess, it was fairly cold on top of the mountain. 

So on the way back down the mountain I hopped out of the car and kind of hung my arms and the camera inside of some strange family's fence, and took a few photos of downtown Hobart from above.   

We returned the car without a scratch to the rental company and whilst doing so we got a good laugh at a foreign tourist trying to figure out how to unlock the doors to his rental and use/turn off the car alarm.  Wow.  We sure hope he got the extra insurance.  

On our trek back down to the harbor we walked through St. David's park and spied stone walls that are comprised of old headstones of the first Tasmanian residents.

Down at the harbor Clark said his final good-byes.

And we took one last self timed photo at dusk.  You can kind of make out Mt. Wellington in the background.  

We loved our four day exploration of Tasmania!  We would love to go back again, but alas, we have so many other places we hope to visit.  August will be here in no time!