Wednesday 10th November

After saying our goodbyes to Sarah, we travelled with Gary on the train to Melbourne Southern Cross station. They have both shown us such kindness, making a great effort to show us their part of Victoria. It's a part we wouldn't have seen without them as it's a long way from Melbourne and it is quite unlike any other part of Australia we visited.It played an important part in the development of the country. Sarah was not in the full peak of health and Gary took some of his annual leave to keep us entertained. We can't Thank them enough.

After leaving our main rucksacks at Nomads All Nations, we left Gary and caught the bus to the airport for the flight to Tasmania. The plane was on time for Hobart and Amie's Aunt Alison was there to greet us and drive us back to the house. A gathering Amie's cousins and their offspring ensued but to be honest, the children (all called Bruce and Sheila, if my memory serves me well) were far more interested in playing the Wii than meeting travel weary relatives.

Boisterous and Rick (Alison's partner) do not mix and he kept out of the way. After they left we ate Chicken Kiev before Rick's return and the first of his many forays into his wonderful wine cellar. It contained over a 700 bottles of wine and fortified wines, the like of which many English restaurants would be proud to boast. He also blends his own port in a 47ltr barrel, so one things we weren't going dry in Hobart.

Thursday 11th November

We went into Hobart to the Museum and Art gallery. There was an exhibition of contemporary Australian art and other rooms of influential Australian artists from the mid 1800s. It was interesting to compare the slant that the Australian impressionists put on the style compared with the European movement.

There was an exhibition of Australian natural history including an Aboriginal history within Tasmania, a film of the last Tasmanian tiger in captivity, more stuffed wildlife and a superb Antarctic exhibition.

We had lunch at the museum before returning to transfer photos and check email. Yummy Duck for dinner, cooked by Alison.

Friday 12th November

Alison took us on a long drive south to Port Arthur via 1/ Tessellated pavement, which was an erosion of the ancient cracks in the coastal path giving the appearance of a patio that needed repointing, 2/ Tasman arch, which was a collapsed cave leaving an arch over the cave entrance, 3/ Blow hole, where the swell from the sea rushes through a tunnel causing a spray of water as the waves hits the strata joints at the back of the old collapsed cave and 4/ Eagle Hawk neck, the bay with fishing boats.

We had lunch at the Port Arthur penal colony before a 1 hour tour. The convicts here (from 1830) had it a lot harder than those in Sydney some 30 years earlier and the introduction 20 years later of the 'modern prison' made it even harder. The convicts were allowed only 1 hour exercise and were denied any contact with the other prisoners and not permitted to talk to the warders.

After our departure, we finally found the remarkable cave - another natural coastal phenomena with plenty of steps down to a viewing gallery and I think even more steps back up.

We passed through 'Doo' town, every house name has the word 'Doo' in it i.e. 'Love Me Doo', 'Yabba Dabba Doo', 'Make Doo', 'Will Doo', 'That'll Doo', 'Thistle Doo' and 'Doo f*!? All' to name a few.

Saw an Echidna running across the road on our return journey, our first wild one. The scenery in this part of Australia is a bit like the Scottish coast or the fjords in Norway and was cut by the receding ice flow after the last Ice Age. It was quite stunning, very few people and beautiful isolated houses on the water front, most with their own jettys and small fishing boats. I could live there for a while and then feel sorry to leave.

Back for a Barbie and meet the family again.

Saturday 13th November

Caught the bus into Hobart to visit the Salamanca market. Saw a good street performer who did sword swallowing, a trick which really seemed to churn the stomachs of some of the audience including Alison. He was quite young but worked the crowd well and was handsomely rewarded.

Alison became our first convert to 'Pedestrian Olympics', despite calling us silly sods when we first demonstrated the art, she was quick to join in and although a novice won on several occasions. After lunch we went to Richmond and saw 'the oldest bridge in Australia' (even older than me).

We then visited the historic gaol, I can honestly say I've done enough penal colonys now and I know that Sydney was a much softer option for the convicts than Van Diemen's Land. Spent some dollars in the sweet shop.

Went for an Indian meal with Alison and Rick on the Quay side. Amie drove Rick's car home so that we could all have a drink.

Sunday 14th November

Raining and low cloud today so catching up on card writing etc. Went shopping and posted the cards. Had scallops wrapped in bacon for a late lunch and Roast Lamb for dinner. The day was mainly spent relaxing and checking emails, uploading photos to the computer etc. It was good just to be doing nothing for a day.

Monday 15th November

Packed and family arrived to say goodbyes though the the children would've been happier if they could have just got on and played the Wii. We did manage to distract one of the Bruces (Hayden) by teaching him how to play snap, unfortunately the residents of Tasmania aren't able to say the word snap - it comes out as snip! So much to his annoyance he lost every time. Steve is still able to wind children up, even on the other side of the world. We also showed him how to play pairs and he much preferred this!

Amie taught Hayden how to do his shoe laces up when everyone was getting ready to see us off. We drove in convoy to the airport, where the Tiger Airways flight was again delayed. Steve did get an explosives test at the airport, which like the 11+ he failed but with less disgrace to the family.

Our time in Tasmania was fun, different to the other parts of Australia we have visited. Alison played the perfect tour guide and chef and Rick was overly generous with his wine so you can imagine Steve was in 7th heaven! We're very grateful to them both for showing us their part of Oz.

We arrived in Melbourne an hour late and checked in to the Nomads All Nations hostel. We walked to a local Italian restaurant for a tasty meal and had an early night in a noisy hostel in an uncomfortable bed.