Saturday night hockey

Saturday night hockey
Saturday night hockey

Monday, March 17, 2014

Tasmania

We are back from our week in Tasmania.  It has been like going from a strange land to another strange land!  Charles Darwin opined about Australia that “Surely two distinct Creators must have been at work.”  Our trip started in Hobart, relatively tame but insightful for me as my triple great grandfather was a lieutenant governor there.  We had a private tour of the governor’s mansions public rooms; although my relative didn’t live in this house, he was in the former mansion which no longer exists.

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We stayed in the Old Wool Store apartment hotel, quite interesting

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and walked through the botanical gardens where my ancestor had a wall built by convicts. 

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The next day we went to the MONA, Museum of Old and New Art.  What an eclectic mix!!  Some fantastic modern art…

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And equally fascinating old…

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Then we were off to Cradle Mountain Natural Park, a whole new world where we saw more interesting animals and astounding vegetation…

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An echidna

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A pademelon

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A poteroo

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And a wombat ( he was huge, bigger than I expected anyway.  The size of a small pig)

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A skink (about 6 inches long)

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A black currawong

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Kookaburras

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And a Huntsman spider (non-venomous – about two inches across when folded up like this)

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Sometimes it felt like we were on a different planet…

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Now we are back in the relatively tame environs of Armidale.  The moon is full and we are relaxing for a couple of days.

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Janet

9 comments:

  1. Days jam packed with adventures, it all looks great to me, apart from that spider. Hope the warm weather continues for all your stay. Cheers, Jean.

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  2. you are certainly seeing lots of wonderful things. We take them for granted but they are such amazing animals and sights. Tasmania is a wonderland

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  3. What a beautiful state of Australia.
    We are planning a trip there next month

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  4. You sound to be having a lovely time, pleased you're enjoying your holiday.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure. I love the pictures!

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  6. you are certainly getting around xx keep having fun x

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  7. Such a wonderful trip, thanks for sharing it. Have a great time, and enjoy the warmth.

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  8. so glad you are having such a wonderful time... the pictures are awesome... definitely interesting to see all the different animals that we dont have here in the US and to us, such weird names although I am sure they make perfect sense to the people who live with them..

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  9. My 3-g-grandmother was a convict in Hobart from 1840 at the "Cascades Female Factory"! Small world!

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