Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Hello from Tasmania!

We've spent a lovely 6 days in Tasmania, the southernmost state of Australia that's also an island! It's about the size of W. Virginia, with about 500, 000 people. Tasmania was one of early British convict prison centers, and we've seen a few of those ruins and historical sites.

We've been based in the capital city of Hobart, on a lovely harbor on the southeast coast. We saw the Australian Wooden Boat Festival and went to the weekly market. We drove to the top of Mt. Wellington for the most amazing views!
We've enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Beecheys! And had fabulous food, including homemade Sticky Date Pudding that was the BEST!

We also went to the wilderness of northwest Tas. to see Cradle Mountain National Park. The countryside is truly amazing, changing from farms and fields, sheep and cows, to mountains and temperate rainforests. Huge trees, ferns, moss and beautiful rivers and waterfalls. We've seen lots of Aussie wildlife including wombats, echidnas, wallabies, pademelons, even a Tasmanian Devil. I did a Tasmanian wine and cheese tasting and went to the Tasman Wool Centre.

We have one more day here and plan to see some more wildlife at the Bonorong Wildlife Park and perhaps a winery. (of course we've been enjoying Tasmanian and Aussie wines!).

Have posted a few photos on my Flickr page, which you can click through to on this blog. Will try to post more photos in a day or so. There are a lot!
Enjoying all the comments and emails, even if it's a few days before I can respond!

2 comments:

M. J. said...

Where do you go next? Have you had to make any changes in plans due to the fires or the locusts? How are the prices of things there? Was it good that you got Australian dollars before flying over, or is it better to use ATMs once you're there?

Sanchez Travels said...

Try to bring home the recipe for the sticky date pudding as well; sounds yummy! Have you seen any Aboriginal folks?