Amanda drove today. She has driven a few times during the trip. I really appreciate it and often sleep but today I sat with Claudie in the back and worked on her diary.

The drive from Launceston to Hobart isn't too long at all by Australian standards - only about 2 ½ hours. We stopped at Ross for a pie from the historic bakery. The wool museum was interesting. The female factory was scary. It's the site of an old female convict prison. They took their babies off them and kept them in a nursery for 3 years and then sent them to an orphanage until 14 when they were apprenticed out. The women prisoners were often hired out to settlers. If they did anything wrong or got pregnant again (morally corrupt obviously) then they went right back again. There's an old bridge built in the early 1800's. Very pretty river with weeping willows and ducks.

Hobart is very pretty. The Derwent river is huge, it's like looking out over Sydney Harbour. Sandy Bar where we are staying is obviously an old part of town and a bit trendy. There are small old townhouses in good repair, coffee shops, restaurants and a bike shop. Amanda and I walked down to the tiny little beach. Boats floated on the water. Mount Wellington looms up in the background. The B&B is old and cosy but a little daggy. The kids love it.