A week in Tassie

Our week in Tasmania was a bit of an unusual trip for us. Firstly we didn't take the car because getting to Hobart warrants a plane journey (otherwise you have to drive to Sydney or Melbourne to get a ferry). Secondly we spent far more time in town than we would normally ... mainly because the 'holiday' was a bit of a reconnaissance exercise as we're thinking about moving there. Consequently we spent a fair amount of time looking around at places we'd like to live and I met with some potential employers.

In case you don't know, Tasmania is one of the Australian States, and it's the only island State. It is situated to the southeast of the mainland. Tassie is recognised as a bit of a backward brother, particularly compared to Victoria and New South Wales ... sounds a little like Lincolnshire if you ask me. The key 'backward' characteristic relates to the fact that the population is small - 480,000 or so on the island, and the capital, Hobart, has only around 50,000. Speak to anyone from Queensland about Tassie and the first thing they'll say is - "It's cold" ... by this they mean that it gets down to 10 degrees in the day time in the winter - hardly Antarctic (although it does host the Australian Antarctic Research Station). Actually, Hobart benefits from a Gulf Stream effect which makes the climate quite reasonable. It was also one of the first parts of Australia to be 'settled' by Europeans, where convicts were sent. For a while the stupid English didn't even realise that it was an island and not attached to the mainland.

However, if it's this 'backwardness' that means there is no high-rise city centre, a laid-back and friendly attitude from the locals, and something like 20% of the island protected as a World Heritage area, then that's fine with me.

The pubs were great (there's quite an English feel due to the old architecture in Hobart), and Tasmanian beer is some of the best in Australia. We spent some time in a pub in Hobart and saw some good humour (it makes sense if you followed Australia's progress in the World Cup):

This photo shows Hobart and the Derwent River as seen from the top of Mount Wellington (1,300m), which looms over the City and can be seen (apart from when it's obscured by cloud) from everywhere:

We managed a couple of days outside Hobart. Here we were climbing up to the top of Hartz Peak. Ella hasn't seen all that much snow in her time, so this was a real treat!

Conclusive evidence that bouncy things do live in the snow - we saw loads and loads of footprints on our way up the mountain ... but no human ones:

Typical of Australian footpaths, the signage was good ... even if we did have to remove the ice from some of the signs!

Being "in a country area in the cold" I had an excuse to wear a silly hat:

The higher you go, the snowier it gets!

We stayed for a night at this great lodge in a fairly remote part of Tasmania's southwest. Unfortunately, they're not that well kitted out for winter visitors and it was rather chilly:

Our other couple of days out of the big smoke was spent on the Tasman Peninsula. Truly brilliant coastal scenery greeted us on a decent walk on Cape Raoul.

Here's a photo taken from the centre of Hobart looking out from the harbour. The seals aren't real ... but the birds and the ship are!

So the conclusion was that we liked what we saw, and had some ideas about where we might like to live. It seems that some of the employers I met thought I was ok, too, so things might just work out nicely ... more as and when I have more detail.