I woke at about 7:45am after almost 12 hours sleep. Bag and
washing sorting and a cuppa before Gail and Ian emerged and we went down to
Salamanca Markets for egg and bacon rolls and coffee for breakfast. We did a
bit of browsing and shopping but had to be home in time for Ian's regular radio
interview.
Back home and I had a nap for about an hour although Gail
and Ian kept sorting things then doing a first sort of photos. I spent a few
hours downloading and sorting photos and culling emails then getting ready to
go to dinner across the road at Carol and Joan's.
Another early night.
Sunday 9 March
This morning Ian slept in after coping with a migraine all
night so Gail and I decided not to drag him sightseeing and I started my data
entry job. By 11am I was finished so after emailing the file through to Lily I
rang Julie to touch base with her.
Julie was about to leave to go to the Taste of Huon so
invited me to join her. We had a quick drive down into the Huon Valley and
joined the crowd. Unfortunately it was 29C so not condusive to a slow wander in
the sun to view all the stalls. It was a bit of a disappointment really because
each stall was serving a full meal or the queues were so long that you could
not actually taste a variety although you could see what was available locally.
We left after we'd walked around the circuit and Julie drove
me to Cygnet then around via the waters edge looking across towards Bruny
Island. We had a short stop at Paradise Bay then a stop at Snug to visit
Julie's friend Carol. We had a wine and nibbles in the shade which cooled us
down a little.
Back in the car and into Hobart. We wandered around
Salamanca Place and the Spiegeltent to see what was on. We decided to head to
North Hobart for dinner at an Indonesian-Thai restaurant. I had a lovely duck
wrap on roti bread and a mango lassi.
It had been great to catch up with Julie and chat about how
we each fill our active retirement.
Home to watch a little TV with Gail and Ian who had
recovered from his migraine. Then off to bed for a disturbed night as it was
still very hot.
Monday 10 March
This morning we were all up and out for our Mt Field
excursion quite early. The road up to Lake Dobson is amazing. Once in the
National Park it just climbs. It doesn't go in and out of valleys but just goes
up and up at an almost constant incline to nearly 1000m higher elevation.
On our walk around Lake Dobson
we spent a lot of time trying to ID the plants. Some of them were quite
amazing. There were four different Riccia spp and some fascinating Pandani that
formed a forest. We also saw a Bassian Thrush who calmly fed along the track in
front of us. There was a stunted pine that we later discovered was Huon Pine.
After our walk we headed on back down to the Tall Trees
Walk. This was through a forest
of Eucalyptus regnans
(the world’s tallest flowering plant). Some of them were certainly huge! There
were also Sassafras, Blackwood, Black Wattle, Nothofagus and more.
Down even further we stopped for a late lunch at the
Visitor’s Centre before heading back into Hobart
by late afternoon.
There was then a bit more botanising to do and I was able to
catch up on a little more blogging. Then there was the labelling of Gail’s
drawers that she bought when I was in Tasmania
last November.
We shared a lovely meal together before bed at last. The weather
today has been bearable with even a few spots of rain when we were at Mt Field.
Perhaps tonight’s sleep might be better than last night.
Tuesday 11 March
After breakfast and seeing Amelia off to school and a bit of
internet and diary work, Gail and I headed for Mt Wellington at about noon.
This was another steep climb road directly up!
We got out of the car at the top and were nearly blown off
our feet but at least it was cooler than down in the town. We had a few drops
of rain that felt quite solid and actually stung our cheeks. It was difficult
to take photos because the wind was blowing me around so much.
We enjoyed a bit of botany again and even got to see a
Crescent Honeyeater about a metre away – quite clearly. We’ve no idea how it
survives in the wind up there.
Down the mountain again to the heat for a quick lunch and a
bit more sorting before Lily arrived at about 3pm. Of course she was
immediately plied with a myriad botanical questions but I was able to return
the data sheets from my completed data entry task.
While Gail returned books to the library, Ian, Lily and I
went to an outdoor gear shop to replace Lily’s lost torch. It was a fast shop
but i had time to browse. Ian then drove Lily back to her car while Gail and I
looked at shoes. Then we did a bit more shopping before returning home.
Dinner tonight was at Fish Frenzy down at the docks where we
enjoyed a wonderful seafood platter for 2 between all of us. There was plenty
of food to share. A short wander by the water then back home for wine and
chocolate on the upstairs balcony to enjoy the fresh cool breeze that was
coming in.
Wednesday 12 March
Gail took me for a walk to Knocklofty after breakfast. It is
all so dry down here, not even any frog sounds in the frog ponds.
When we arrived home Gail had to rush to an appointment. Ian
drove me to the airport and we said our goodbyes. After all the booking through
of bag and security and time for coffee break the plane was about to board when
an announcement came over that there would be a 3 hour delay while engineers
were flown in from Melbourne to fix a problem.
What a wonderful two weeks I’ve had both in Hobart
with Gail, Ian, Amelia and Julie but especially the week on the Curious
Traveller science research field trip to the Arthur River.
Thank you all for my Curious Traveller experience.
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