July 21-23
Off to Tasmania early this morning. The flight was fine; got cloudy the closer to Hobart we got. Landed in a small squall of rain/sleet. Good thing we were met by my fiber artist friend, Di, with extra jackets and coats!
Lunch was at the local oyster farm’s restaurant – and we introduced Miri to oysters! Chris and Di then drove us around Hobart a bit, ending up at the top of Mt. Nelson for the view and a cup of hot chocolate/tea/coffee.
Mt. Wellington was completely socked in – the weather which had been a typical winter so far (mid40s-upper 60s) had turned nasty with rain, hail, sleet and snow taking turns every couple of minutes and depending on what altitude we were. This was the coldest it had been in four years – lucky us!
Tuesday we trooped out into the weather with a picnic lunch to visit Port Arthur (known for its convict history), the blowhole and arch, the Devil Park (really cute little Tasmanian Devils and lots of kangaroos to feed/pet) and the highlight: the Tesselated Pavement. I had seen it on an earlier trip and really wanted Miri to see it. The natural rock phenomenon was still enchanting, even in the winter. And there were crazy surfers in the water, too.
We ended the day sharing photos of artwork back at the house after a lovely meal in a local hotel restaurant. We had the restaurant to ourselves due to the off-season – the kitchen staff made it clear they were not too keen on our relaxing there after the meal, though.
Wednesday noon we headed back to Brisbane for an overnight at Janet’s. A decent pizza and a serious repack to be ready for our early departure in the morning.