Cruising the Tasman Sea wasn't quite as bad as previous sea days, but it was a challenge walking, and cool weather. The highlight was a magician show by Leo Ward. He did the $20.00 bill in the orange trick. I've seen it before, but it is still amazing. I bought his magic kit. It says TOP SECRET on it. I have been giving the boys magic kits over the years for Xmas, but this one is for me, since I am really the one interested in magic. I tried the rope trick and did the set up and was amazed. I hadn'e even finished the trick, but how I got three totally different lengths of rope to look like 3 ropes of the same size in my hands, was magic.
sunrise over Hobart
The bridge expert now is Jerry Fleming. He was apparently a former head of ACBL. His lessons are at 9:30 and 10:30 instead of 9:00am, which conflicts with many other activities. But the bridge game at 1:30 attracts 8 tables now, and many experienced players.
Monday, May 18
We docked in Hobart at 8:00am and were off to our 8 hour excursion at 8:30. The sunrise as we entered the harbor was beautiful. It is crisp and cool, about 50 degrees, but sunny.
Hobart is at the Southern part of Tasmania, which is the coldest.
The terminal advertised "The gateway to Antarctica.
Our blue and pink haired guide introduced herself and then the driver introduced himself as our "steering wheel attendant". We drove past Mt. Wellington, through town, over the Tasman bridge, and then East for about an hour or so, passing lovely glimpses of a river on our way to Port Arthur. We were told that the mountain had snow on the top just three days ago. You can have 4 seasons in one day in Tasmania.
Our first stop was at the "Unzoo". They are attempting to create a zoo with no barriers. We had an introduction by the owner, and then were off to feed the kangaroos and pademelon wallabies. They are fed twice a day a pellet meal by the tourists. They were very friendly, and hungry. The wallabies are darker and smaller than kangaroos, and don't stand up as much. One of the kangaroos had a joey.
A 5 month old joey. She still won't leave the pouch for another month or two.
Wallabie
This is another marsupial. It looks like a spotted rat to me. Eastern Quoll is native to Tasmania
A fascinating bird called aptly a frogmouth.
Port Arthur penal colony. This pretty lane goes to the overseer's house and chapel
It seems that tourist guides in Tasmania have pink and purple hair. Our coach one has blue.
The supervisor's living room
The main prison
As seen from the other side of the bay
Everyone got a playing card that matched a prisoner. You could learn about him by following the clues. My Ace of clubs prisoner was one of the only ones who escaped. Then he came back to be an overseer himself.
Important information in the restroom
Suset on the drive back to Hobart port.
Our guide said that it takes about 3 weeks to really enjoy Tasmania. Our lunch at the Fox and Hound restaurant was actually a nice resort as well. I can see spending a few weeks here for sure, but maybe a little bit earlier in May or even April. The amazing desert we had was called sticky date pudding. I had to eat every bite. What a treat.
We returned to the ship just about 5:30 pm, the time we had to be all aboard.
Great entry. Thanks! The place seems a whole lot like Alaska, weather wise.
ReplyDeleteAsk the bridge teacher to change the time of his lessons. As a bridge teacher/director on a cruise ship, I know how flexible and customer friendly the teacher should be. There is probably no good reason to start at 9:30 instead of 9.