Tasmania Part I

January 22, 2016

We made a last minute trip to Tasmania, Australia.  Got a free day off because Tuesday was Australia Day, the equivalent of our July 4th.  Nancy and Don joined us.  They are American expats and Nancy works with Torsten. 

 

 

Until I moved here, I never knew that Tasmania was part of Australia.  We didn't get to see any Tasmanian Devils.  Since the late 1990s, Devil Facial Tumor Disease has drastically reduced the devil population and now threatens the survival of the species, which in 2008 was declared to be endangered.  Programs are currently being undertaken by the Tasmanian Government to reduce the impact of the disease.

 

 

 

 

After checking into our hotel, we drove to the top of Mt. Wellington.  It was a spectacular view which would have been even more so had there not been over 100 bush fires burning in Tasmania.

 

 

 

 
 
Later that day we came across a really cool bar around the corner from our hotel.  It was a gearhead's dream called Joe's Garage.

Our day was completed at a wonderful Italian restaurant we found while wandering downtown Hobart.  It was called Amici and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals.

 

January 23, 2016

 

This morning we went to the weekly Saturday Salamanca Market.  Of course the day started out with a stop at a bakery on the way that we found to be #3 on Trip Advisor.  The others indulged in savory breakfast items.  I went for the gusto.  Belgian Chocolate Hazelnut Torte.

Oh this was a great market.  I could have spent all day there, but we only had till 11:30 cause we had a half day wine tour booked.

 

I got a beautiful merino wool jacket with inlaid silk design.  As you can see, Torsten finally bought his Aussie hat.

 

And off for our winery tour.  We went to 3 winery's and a cheese shop.  Purchased a case of wine and mucho cheese!

 

Crashed a wedding on the way.

 

Enjoyed the presence of an official Wine Dog from the book #4 cover.

And loved this cup!

 

We learned that you need reservations to get into a restaurant in Hobart, so we settled for a very substandard Asian meal, but the view was really nice at the harbor watching the moon rise.

 

On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at the oldest bar in Hobart, est. 1807.

And here I am modeling Torsten's Aussie hat.  G'nite!

 

To be continued.....



 

 

Picking up where we left off...

I am trying something new to keep you non-Facebookers in the loop.  I'm new at this blogging stuff so it won't be anything fancy.  But let me know if you can view it ok either by making a comment or sending me an e-mail.  If you want to view the pictures larger, you should be able to just click on them.  Thanks!  Laura

January 4, 2016
Torsten had quite a bit of time off of work during the holidays so we did some local sightseeing.

 One of the places rated highly on Trip Advisor is the 1000 Steps at Mt. Dandenong.  It's about a 45 minute drive from home.

Let me tell you, this was a painful climb for my ol' bones!

 



 

 

Then we stopped at an overlook.  Weather was not so good.  But if you squint real hard you can see the city of Melbourne in the distance. 

 





 

 

 

 

 

On the way home from the 1000 Steps, we drove through a cute little town called Sassafras.  We stopped at a tea shop that had every kind of tea pot, tea cup and tea imaginable.

 



January 5, 2016

Watching the sunset down at the beach

 

January 6, 2016

Another local scenic spot about an hour away.  Hanging Rock. 

 

 

 

January 9, 2016

A Walk in the park with Sampson.

January 12, 2016
I went with a group of about 12 women from our expat group to a farm for retired racehorses called Living Legends. 

These are some beautiful horses who had big racing careers earning millions of dollars during their careers.

 

 

Apache Cat

And some kangaroos

January 13, 2016
It was a hot one.  So glad we were not at the horse farm on this day.

January 16, 2016

 

 

 

January 17, 2016

We went to an outdoor Moonlight Cinema at the Royal Botanical Gardens.  It was a really beautiful venue and you can take your own picnic basket and drinks. 

We saw The Intern and we enjoyed it.

 

 

That's it for now.  Again, let me know what you think about a blog instead of e-mail.

G'Day!