Tasmania Voyage

Tasmania Voyage!

Well, for a long time, we've discussed where to go on each voyage to Oz. We agreed to travel to Tasmania this time. I arranged the vehicle rental, while Lesly arranged the air travel as well as the lodging. We traveled from Melbourne (MEL) to Hobart (ITA) Tasmania on Tiger Air. Our Flight Attendants were quite amusing on the ride there, VERY entertaining. They're similar to Southwest, basically everything is charged for on the aircraft except the air you breath. That's OK, as it's a short flight.

For those of you, like us, who were not aware, Tasmania is not a sovereign nation, but is the southernmost of the states of Australia. It is an Island, with several small island groupings attached to it. If you're hoping to see a facsimile of the cartoon character named the Tasmanian Devil, don't be too disappointed that they don't act or look at all alike... Russ was quite disappointed...

Our Airbus A320 A Boeing 747-400 A Boeing 767-300

Bye to Oz... Cindy chats with Paul Seasoned traveler Paul...

First spotting of Hobart! A mini-van and Russ??? Wrong side of the road,
ya pelican!

Th'ar be starfish! Basic map of Southern Tassie...

Cute tour boat. The Steve Irwin! Paul loved the Skull-n-Crossbones...

Photos of the Bernacchi Tribute... He was a late 1800s Australian explorer of Antarctica.

Mure's restaurant. Good food, and a LOVELY server named? Drat, I forgot...

We walked by this fountain, so another photo for Cindy...

The next morning:

We stopped on the way at Mount Nelson at this highpoint to see the view...

Originally a Signal Corps outpost, now it's a part of the National Park system...

The woods and paths here are quite nice and the boys loved the mini-excursion...

Vinyard...

We stopped for a taste, and stayed for coffee as well. When we left, the 'blue bloods'
were arriving for a very upscale ladies luncheon.

A couple good shots of the Windles... Patrick hits the deck and is NOT happy!

3 photos of me and the lovely bride...

The mini-van... tweetie! I just like this shot...

Lesly sneaks some berries... The boys eating some chips and being nutty...

Three pretty shots of the surf and terrain...

Gotcha!

A bizarre natural wonder, called Tessellated Pavement.

It is actually a naturally occurring structure, very organized and looks too linear to conform to nature...

Lots of aquatic life here, from jelly type lichen, to starfish, to cuttlefish...

I like this shot! Too organized for nature!

Lesly always love water! My shoe and the pavement. Makes for good seating!

After the tessellated pavement...

Back at the 'ranch' for the evening meal and relaxation...

Even with the wires, it's a beautiful sky that evening!

The next morning, we decided to take a bit of a stroll, David found this trail through the hills the day before, named Knocklofty Reserve.

Romance blooms! Grabbing more berries... Patrick waits...

Nice view! The boys... Patrick needs help!

Lizard... I liked the view.. Odd tree bark...

Hobart. The boys... Patrick is nutty! Lesly and Paul...

Russ & David wander Richmond...
(while the ladies and kids go to the zoo...)

We stopped in for a taste of wine, and bought 4 bottles... Nice Porsche!

The Richmond Bridge! Set in a lovely spot, too!

Hard to see, but the line with text shows this to be one of the
original ale houses from the late 1800s!

Richmond Arms, the spot to meet, and have a pint in town. Good way to use an old tub, eh?

I liked these signs.... Very helpful people and selection here..

St. Luke the Physician Anglican Church

Awesome craftsmanship inside and out!

The old cemetery.

The Richmond Gaol. too late to go in, but interesting nonetheless...

Lesly & Cindy with the kids and the Richmond Zoo Doo Park...

There it is!!! The actual Tasmanian Devil.
They let me in to see this without paying, as there were 4 people entering...
They actually are having quite a problem with an illness that is killing the Devil population.

Some birds...

Bunnies...

The Tammar Wallaby, quite rare..

Big cats in this here Zoo!

they rode a little train through much of the areas to see the rest of the animals!

Time to feed some of the animals...

Time to say goodbye to the animals...

Patrick and Paul clown around on the 'Big Cat'!

I saw this evening sky and we had to stop, turn around, and take some photos. It was breathtaking!
Well worth the delay getting back to Hobart.

Great lighting! Here's Hobart Bridge!

Hey, where'd the wheel go?

Back in Hobart, it's time to find something for dinner.

Closed...

We settled in for a nice meal. My lamb was awesome. Risotto was excellent

Mussels, yum! Filet, wow! Dessert, too!

Paul, the food snob...

This was a bit of a shock, I walked into the men's room at the restaurant, and there was what appeared to be a clear glass wall for the urinal facing into the bar.
They used a sheet of one way mirror as the urinal. Me, with my shy bladder, couldn't use it at the time, there were people on the other side and even though they couldn't actually see... I waited until no one was in the room to take the photos...
Notice the drain on the left photo, and the bar chairs and table in front of the mirror on the right photo...
Lesly said, 'Gee, great place to sit someone you don't like and then go to the men's room and ...'
Twisted... But humorous...