Tasmania - Day 4

After our final cooked breakfast @ Rydges it was off to the Salamanca markets bright & early.

The market lived up to the hype - some interesting new crafts interspersed with some 'Rocks market' style crafts and a few tacky stalls thrown in for good measure.

After a lightening of the wallet - it was off along the Heritage Hwy to Launceston.

First stop was intended to be Kempton - a heritage listed town where we'd planned to have a Devonshire tea. However everything was closed (on a saturday morning) not even any cafes open.

Next stop was supposd to be Jericho (mud brick prison wall). We took the turn off for Jericho but somehow ended up in Little Marshes! (Jericho it seems is only metres off the hwy but not signposted)

Next up was Oatlands - finally a heritage town with the requisite heritage buildings and eateries. We decided to devonshire tea at 'The Stables' only they'd run out of scones! so, fading from hunger, we had an earlyish lunch before heading for Ross.

LIke Oatlands Rosswas very much what we expected - the Ross Bridge, a sandstone bridge built in 1836 by convict labour, is well known for the intricate carvings on both sides.

The river here was quite high lending credence to the wettest tasmanian winter on record claim. The main street is almost all old & (original) buildings and as the rain had let up it was a pleasant stroll before heading back to the car to continue our journey to Launceston.

The closer we got to Launceston the heavier the rain - on the outskirts of Cleveland we came across the St. Andrews Inn - we nearly didn't stop (cos it was raining quite heavily by now) but we did and scored the Devonshire tea we'd been craving and possibly the best scones anywhere.

Unfortunately the inn is up for sale so who knows if supreme scone maker will still be there on our next devonshire tea visit.

By the time we arrived in Launceston the rain was well and truly here to stay so we settled into our motel and watched the lights of Launceston through a curtain of mist.

Tasmania - Day 3 (Cadbury)

We woke to the sound and sight of steady rain so decided that indoor pursuits would be high on today's agenda.

First off we headed to Claremont and the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. They no longer do tours of the factory, instead you watch a dvd on the history of Cadbury before being turned loose in the shop.

There are actually 2 shops - one is Cadbury branded merchandise - (t shirts, caps, mugs etc.); the other is the seconds chocolate shop.

There was a school group (primary age) ahead of us in the shop - pretty much every kid was buying a 5kg box of assorted factory seconds chocolate ($40).

The seconds shop was great value and you could get your purchases posted back ( so I'm told :>))

Morning tea at the Cadbury cafe (white flake hot chocolate - yum)

After Cadbury (and with the rain still bucketing down) we headed for Cascade Brewery. After sampling the brew we decided, despite the rain, to drive up Mt Wellington to see what we could see. The rain had cleared slightly (sometimes) but even so the cloud was sitting quite low so there was little or no visibility beyond 'The Springs'.

The Cascade Female Factory was rained out so it was back into the city to check out the Cat & Fiddle Arcade.

In a bookshop I found that Marcus Clarke's 'For the term of his natural life' is one of the $9.95 popular penguins so I bought it - I'd almost bought a copy at Port Arthur (not the Penguin ed.) but hadn't cos I thought I might have a copy at the Mont Albert branch. But for $9.95 It didn't matter if I already had a copy as I really wanted to read it again after the visit to Port Arthur.

Tasmania - Day 2 continued

After Port Arthur we headed touristically back towards Hobart - stopping quickly at pretty much every scenic lookout we could find:

Palmers Lookout
Remarkable caves
Devils kitchen
Tasman Arch
Blowhole
Tesselated pavements
Federation Chocolate Factory (not so much a scenic lookout but a must-see certainly)

It was a couple of tired little teddy bears who grabbed takeaway on New Town and headed back to the hotel to put our feet up.

Tasmania - Day 2 (Port Arthur)

An earlyish start today as we wanted to take advantage of the good weather and visit Port Arthur.

First though we headed for the (included) buffet breakfast and fuelled up for the strenuous days sightseeing ahead - toast, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and fruit salad (yes really - I had fruit salad for breakfast) before hitting the tourist trail to Port Arthur.

Brief stops at Richmond (historic bridge)& the Abel Tasman monument arriving at Port Arthur in time for morning tea.

Having been to Port Arthur some 30 years I'd forgotten how powerfully atmospheric it is - it has changed quite a bit - after the 1996 massacre parts of the visitors centre & cafe complex were pulled down and/or rebuilt.

The entry fee includes a 20 minute harbour cruise - it's interesting to see the site from the water - and unlimited wandering arond the site (some 40 hectares iirc) .

It's difficult to explain how cold and eerie the (former) penitentiary can feel on a bright, sunny winters day - sketches and photos explain what & how the various rooms rooms were used.

There is such a lot to take in.

The memorial for the victims of the 1996 massacre is a simple, but extremely moving, garden (with reflecting pool) on the former site of the Broken Arrow cafe (where many of the victims were murdered).

It is a lovely tribute and quite overwhelming in its simplicity.

I think Port Arthur is one of those places that you need to visit more than once.

There is just so much to take in...

Tasmania

After spending most of July and a fair bit of August being sick - think bad head cold that never left- I finally recovered enough to have a holiday.

Sometime ago Jetstar had $30 each way fares Melbourne/Hobart (including luggage) and I persuaded TappingBetty to accompany me.

She had never been to Tassie.

I had been to Tassie once; ** years ago on a school trip.

We arrived in Hobart shortly after 8am, picked up our rental car - a (Hyundai Getz)

and headed for North Hobart and our Hobart base - Rydges North Hobart.

On the subject of rental cars - most (if not all) guidebooks recommend that you don't make it obvious to to would be thieves that you're driving a rental car. Kind of difficult with a large Hertz sticker on the back window, Hertz label on the number plate casing, smallish hertz sticker on windscreen, hertz sticker on dashboard.

Anyway back to Hobart - Day 1.

After checking in (and discovering that TappingBetty's camera had failed somewhere between dinner last night and Hobart this morning) we left the car to coffeehouse with another Hertz rental at Rydges and, for some crazy reason, walked into Hobart City Centre.

Our first stop, armed with tourist brochures, was a coffee shop for breakfast and a brochure perusal.

The weather was sunny (and windy) so we opted to start the day by exploring Hobart. Our first stop was a camera shop where the demise of TB's camera was confirmed and she replaced it with a bright pink 10 mp model.

Next up we meandered in the general direction of the Visitor Information Centre and after a stop there for more brochure perusal & maps we headed, mini cupcakes in hand, for the waterfront and a gentle stroll (more an amble really) in the direction of Salamanca Square and Battery Point.

After wandering around Battery Point we descended to sea level and bought fish n chips which we ate watching the docks.

Off to check out Parliament House then a lazy amble back to the hotel to check in. Our room was excellent - a twin suite overlooking North Hobart football ground which meant some good scenery watching the teams train.

We decided we'd done enought walking for the day so we picked up the car & drove to Rosny point lookout, then down to Sandy Bay to see the casino. Afternoon tea was at Smith Street cafe and then, eventually, dinner at a local restaurant.

And the cure is...Sydney

I was a bit under the weather last week.

In a world in which swine flu was slowly encroaching I was stricken suddenly with a head cold.

Saturday - mild throat tickle (and matinee performance of Sydney Dance Co's 360 degrees.
Sunday - full on head cold
Monday - full on head cold

Also Monday went to doctor - she prescribed 48 hours of bed rest followed by 4 days in Sydney.

Well who am I to argue!

Tuesday - cold receding - not quite as rapidly as it had arrived but at least voice back, ears almost better etc.

Wednesday (Cold a bit better still worried about ears) - fly to Sydney to recuperate. (Suffer the dreaded 'ear squeeze for the first time in a long time - not even earplugs help). Visit Lindt chocolate shop (Cockle Bay Wharf) to buy cookies n cream lindt balls for hannah (only reason of course). Forced down a Lindt chocolate milkshake for health reasons. Went to casino to win money to pay for hot chocolates etc. (won $150), went to theatre - Chicago - Millerchip & O'Connor = awesome. Rohan - what a 6 pack.

Thursday - (Cold still on the improve - ears a bit better) Rain most of day. Sydney Writers Festival at various times throughout the day. Hot chocolate at Lindt Cafe (Martin Place) -medicinal purposes only of course!, State Library of NSW for World Press Photos exhibition and Darwin exhibition, and also because I'm a library nerd. Visit cupcake shop and buy cupcakes - use them to drown my sorrows after receiving disappointing email. Find Jeff de Bruges chocolate shop - lovely, but expensive belgian chocolates made to a french recipe. Delish.

Friday - (Cold getting better - ears good). Persistent rain seemed to make a Chocolate & banana milkshake at Guylian shop a good idea. Ferry to Homebush, tour Olympic Stadium (the faux engineer in me fascinated by how they change the stadium from oval - for cricket & AFL, to rectangular for rugby & soccer). Dinner @ City Extra, Circular Quay (Very good hot chocolate for a non hot chocolate specialist shop - very chocolatty & creamy)

Saturday. (Ears seem ok, still sniffling a bit) Rocks market - didn't buy anything, not even any fudge. Hot chocolate at Guylian Cafe underneath the 'toast rack'. Opera House for a wander, Sydney Museum for tramways exhibition, out to the airport to hang out in the business class lounge before flying back to Melb (business class).

Sunday. Cold practically gone. Headed out to the wilds of Clayton for Cloc's production of Miss Saigon - absolutely brilliant, superbly done, even the helicopter, just superb - giggled when realise BL borrower playing little boy and I'm sitting next to his mum, dad & big brother (big brother is 10 and one of our 'after school play games on the internet until mum comes & gets me' gang). freaked him out a little when I called him by name I think.

Monday - back to work. Cold is mysteriously worse again...

What does the 'out of order' sign mean?

This morning the public internet server decided to cark it (technical term that) meaning that for the first three opening hours there was no public internet.

I put bright yellow 'out of order' signs on all the computers while we waited for Adam to resuscitate the server.

NB: The bright yellow 'out of order' signs are clearly not that useful.

Questions/Statements from public:

1. What does the out of order sign mean?
2. The internets won't login
3. Hotmail isn't working
4. Are the internets out of order?
5. Why won't the internets log in?
6. Hawthorn's internets are working
7. How do I log on to the internet
8. Someone's turned the computer off
9. I found this sign on internet #3 (hands me out of order sign) is this why it isn't working?
10. The sign says the internet is out of order but can I use the pc to check my email instead?

This doesn't take into account the number of 'when will the internets be working again' questions and variations thereof.

If it had been my last day I'd have been tempted to be creative with my answers to the above questions...

How would you like to have answered these questions?