Hello to all, I hope this post finds you all well. I thought it was time to update you all on my goings on in Oz. So without further ado, here we go...

On the 2nd Feburary Pat and I flew from Melbourne to Tasmania in the evening and we arrived in Hobart just after midnight! We had already booked our hostel though so it wasn't a problem. Not suprisingly we went straight to bed!

On the 3rd we went and experienced the Hobart Saturday market. There was a large selection of wares, foodstuffs and many other odds and sods to be paroused at, and I bought myself a wonderful hand crafted leather bound book, in which I hope to write some form of novel or something! After that we chilled out in a bookshop cafe and then purchased some 'Goon' to drink in the eve. For those who don't know, Goon is cheap wine, in fact it is a 4ltr sack of red wine that costs a mere $10!!! Great success!

On the 4th Pat and I decided to follow a 'Lonely Planet' walking tour and proceeded to walk around the best and most historical parts of Hobart. IT was a good walk and there were some interesting things to see. After that we went to the Hobart Heritage Museum, and then the Hobart Maritime Museum, where I took some cool pics. After that we spent the rest of the afternoon in an internet cafe, where I discovered 'Counter Strike Source'... oh dear!!!

On the 5th we went on the Cadbury's Chocolate factory tour. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take our cameras inside the factory so I couldn't get many pics! The tour itself though was very good fun, and we got to see all the stages of the process of making chocolate... hmmm!!! I was a bit dissapointed that there were no little people singing songs and dancing as they made the chocolate, and upon asking our guide where they were, I was met by an icy stare hehe! Anyway much fun was had by all and Pat and I got a rather healthy supply of chocolate to keep us going for the next year!!!

On the 6th we went on the Port Arhtur history tour. We left Hobart and were taken on a trip to the coast near Port Arthur where we saw Eagleneck Point, the Tasman Arch, and the Devils Kitchen! After that we arrived at Port Arthur and I was amazed at the size of the site! The buildings are still in a reasonable state, beside the hosptial and penitentiary and we went on a guided tour of the place, where we were told much of the buildings history. I was inthralled by things I saw and learnt and I would suggest a visit to Port Arthur to anyone coming to Tasmania! We got back to Hobart around 6pm and to celebrate Pat's 3rd month from home we went out for dinner, which was a very nice steak in chilli mexican sauce! After that we chilled at the hostel and drank a lot of Goon!!!

Today, the 7th, we got up after midday! We went for luch and then just chilled out in the bookshop cafe again, before I spent $100 on a new camera battery! I do hope my camera problems are due to the battery and nowt else!! Tonight we will probably end up chilling again because we head for Launceston tomorrow.

Anyway that is about it for now, we are up to date. So I am now going to play a bit of CS Source and then back to the hostel!

Bye for now,

John aka Jersey aka Baity aka Cabin Boy.