Tasmania trip report
Well, I knew I wasn't in Kansas (or any other US state) anymore when I went through the Australian version of airport security. I didn't have to take off my shoes. I didn't have to take my laptop out of its bag. I didn't have to show a boarding pass or any form of ID at all in order to get to my gate! My boarding pass was a text message on my phone, which I showed to the nice people at the JetStar counter when boarding began, at which point they printed a paper pass for me and let me on the plane -- still without ever checking my ID. For someone accustomed to US security theatre, this was so weird.
I arrived at the hotel a little before 11:00AM, and check-in wasn't until 2:00, so I stowed my bag and went to check out the Salamanca market, which is apparently the big tourist attraction in Hobart on Saturdays. It is indeed an excellent market, kind of a cross between a farmer's market and a crafts fair, with many, many stalls selling pretty, pretty things. It was kind of ridiculously crowded, but since I had all day to hang around there, I just took my time and shuffled along from stall to stall until I got to see everything.
The fact that I couldn't buy anything I couldn't take back to Sydney in a carry-on bag mostly saved me from temptation, but I did buy a small rug -- the rustic-looking kind that's woven from strips of different-colored fabric. It's in my living room now, making the place look very cheery. I bravely resisted all the gorgeous woodwork and pottery and glasswork; shipping it would be a hassle, and my place is too small anyway. It'll look cluttered enough once my stuff from San Diego arrives. (Speaking of which, the stuff from San Diego has actually made it to Australia now. It just needs to clear customs and inspection before it can be delivered to my apartment. Then I'll have books and DVDs and knick-knacks and pictures for my walls, yay!)
Anyway, eventually the hotel called to say my room was ready, so I went and checked in, then vegged out in my room for a bit, then went to explore a bit more.
Hobart is really nice. There's a postcard-pretty waterfront, and lots of attractive Georgian architecture, and mountains in the distance, and really amazing seafood. That first night, I ate at a place called Drunken Admiral, which was very yummy but also kind of expensive. After that, I just kept going to all the little shack places with names like Flippers and Fishy Business that float right on the water and sell the day's catch, usually fried and with chips. Probably not the best thing for my arteries but cheap and OMG so good. Seriously, I could eat battered scallops forever. Just keep handing them over, and I'll eat.
The next day was my big sightseeing day, as I'd booked a trip to Bruny Island. This was a full-day thing -- the tour bus left Hobart at 8:00 AM and came back at 5. It was also AWESOME, and I totally recommend it to anyone who ever finds themselves in Tasmania for a few days. (Assuming you can cope with bouncy boat rides, which I know is a dealbreaker for some people.) Bruny sits off the south-east coast of Tasmania, right about where the Tasman Sea meets the Southern Ocean, and it's amazingly scenic. There are great big jagged cliffs, and sea caves, and dramatic rock formations, and an area where Australian fur seals like to hang out, and more sea birds than you can shake a dead fish at. The bus took us to the ferry, and then to Adventure Bay, from where we got on a speedboat for a cruise around the southern part of the island. It was, as I said, very bouncy and also freakin' cold. I had three layers on, plus the waterproof jackets they give you when you get on the boat, and I was still half-frozen by the time the cruise was done. It was totally worth it, though.
So that was my weekend, and after that I spent three days sitting at a computer at CSIRO trying to invert a giant sparse matrix in Matlab, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds. Ah, the glamorous intellectual life of a scientist! But I did get one last bit of sightseeing in on Thursday, when I had the morning free before having to catch my plane back to Sydney. As it turned out, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens were only about a 20-minute walk from my hotel, so I got to spend a couple of very pleasant hours there. I wish I'd had more time, but I did get to see the lily pond, and the Japanese Garden, and the really spectacular herbacious border, and the conservatory, and the subantarctic plant house.
If you want to die of cuteness, by the way, just spend a few minutes watching baby ducks navigating around a lily pond. They'll swim around, and when they get to a lily pad, they'll jump and waddle across it before plonking back into the water. And then they swim to the next lily pad and do it all over again. Seriously, death by cuteness.
So that was my trip to Tasmania. I definitely wish I could've stayed longer, but with a little luck I'll get to go again. In the meantime, have some pics at my tumblr:
Bruny Island
Hobart waterfront and the botanical garden
This entry was originally posted at http://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/565883.html. You may comment there using OpenID.
I arrived at the hotel a little before 11:00AM, and check-in wasn't until 2:00, so I stowed my bag and went to check out the Salamanca market, which is apparently the big tourist attraction in Hobart on Saturdays. It is indeed an excellent market, kind of a cross between a farmer's market and a crafts fair, with many, many stalls selling pretty, pretty things. It was kind of ridiculously crowded, but since I had all day to hang around there, I just took my time and shuffled along from stall to stall until I got to see everything.
The fact that I couldn't buy anything I couldn't take back to Sydney in a carry-on bag mostly saved me from temptation, but I did buy a small rug -- the rustic-looking kind that's woven from strips of different-colored fabric. It's in my living room now, making the place look very cheery. I bravely resisted all the gorgeous woodwork and pottery and glasswork; shipping it would be a hassle, and my place is too small anyway. It'll look cluttered enough once my stuff from San Diego arrives. (Speaking of which, the stuff from San Diego has actually made it to Australia now. It just needs to clear customs and inspection before it can be delivered to my apartment. Then I'll have books and DVDs and knick-knacks and pictures for my walls, yay!)
Anyway, eventually the hotel called to say my room was ready, so I went and checked in, then vegged out in my room for a bit, then went to explore a bit more.
Hobart is really nice. There's a postcard-pretty waterfront, and lots of attractive Georgian architecture, and mountains in the distance, and really amazing seafood. That first night, I ate at a place called Drunken Admiral, which was very yummy but also kind of expensive. After that, I just kept going to all the little shack places with names like Flippers and Fishy Business that float right on the water and sell the day's catch, usually fried and with chips. Probably not the best thing for my arteries but cheap and OMG so good. Seriously, I could eat battered scallops forever. Just keep handing them over, and I'll eat.
The next day was my big sightseeing day, as I'd booked a trip to Bruny Island. This was a full-day thing -- the tour bus left Hobart at 8:00 AM and came back at 5. It was also AWESOME, and I totally recommend it to anyone who ever finds themselves in Tasmania for a few days. (Assuming you can cope with bouncy boat rides, which I know is a dealbreaker for some people.) Bruny sits off the south-east coast of Tasmania, right about where the Tasman Sea meets the Southern Ocean, and it's amazingly scenic. There are great big jagged cliffs, and sea caves, and dramatic rock formations, and an area where Australian fur seals like to hang out, and more sea birds than you can shake a dead fish at. The bus took us to the ferry, and then to Adventure Bay, from where we got on a speedboat for a cruise around the southern part of the island. It was, as I said, very bouncy and also freakin' cold. I had three layers on, plus the waterproof jackets they give you when you get on the boat, and I was still half-frozen by the time the cruise was done. It was totally worth it, though.
So that was my weekend, and after that I spent three days sitting at a computer at CSIRO trying to invert a giant sparse matrix in Matlab, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds. Ah, the glamorous intellectual life of a scientist! But I did get one last bit of sightseeing in on Thursday, when I had the morning free before having to catch my plane back to Sydney. As it turned out, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens were only about a 20-minute walk from my hotel, so I got to spend a couple of very pleasant hours there. I wish I'd had more time, but I did get to see the lily pond, and the Japanese Garden, and the really spectacular herbacious border, and the conservatory, and the subantarctic plant house.
If you want to die of cuteness, by the way, just spend a few minutes watching baby ducks navigating around a lily pond. They'll swim around, and when they get to a lily pad, they'll jump and waddle across it before plonking back into the water. And then they swim to the next lily pad and do it all over again. Seriously, death by cuteness.
So that was my trip to Tasmania. I definitely wish I could've stayed longer, but with a little luck I'll get to go again. In the meantime, have some pics at my tumblr:
Bruny Island
Hobart waterfront and the botanical garden
This entry was originally posted at http://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/565883.html. You may comment there using OpenID.