Tasmania

We have had only 6 days in Tasmania and have found (as expected) it was far too short.  Couple that with the fact that we've only had a couple of decent/rain-free days...well, you get the picture.  However, here are a few of the highlights.

 This is our rental car.

 The coastline has proved to be very rugged...we haven't done any swimming since the north of Australia.  The water would be pretty cold here too.  We've found that the land temperature hasn't gone much beyond 22 C. here in Tassie, as they call it.

 This is wineglass bay.  Ralph went on an hour hike.  I didn't feel my ankle was up to it.

Here he is at the top of the look-out.

This is one of the first bridges built in Tasmania.  All work done by the convicts.

In Tasmania, we have found a lot of this vegetation.  After a bush fire, the eucalypt appear to survive but the new growth seems to come right out of the trunk.  I don't think we've seen any areas that haven't had a fire at one time or another.

 These are the tree ferns.  It is kind of Jurasic park-like, isn't it?

 Obviously hard up for indoor entertainment, we went to an old car museum.  We took this for our son, Jeff...a firefighter.  who knew you could have a VW firetruck?

This is one of the classic motorcycles, a Harley Davidson.

 Back in Hobart, we drove to the top of Mount Wellington.  It was only 5 C at the top, and 15 C at the bottom...it was even snowing a little!!  BRRRRR!!!

 Ralph went outside to take the photo above while I hunkered down inside the viewing area.  We had already frozen to death walking from the car!

I believe Mt. Wellington is an extinct volcano...obviously a 'rock spitting' volcano.  This would have been a very difficult mountain to climb or build the road.  It is some 4000' high and this view is over Hobart,

This is one of the typical trucks we see on the road in OZ.  They have snorkel intakes because often the roads are flooded.

 A downtown Hobart harbour shot of a fishing vessel.

On board many of the boats, in the harbour, were these wooden crab traps??...or at least that's what we think they are.

 We were too cold to walk around downtown for too long, so headed out to Franklin where they have a Wooden Boat workshop and school.  We did a very interesting tour there.

 The boats were beautiful and they make them, more or less, as they did years ago. They even build big sailboats, up to 40'.

Some of the boats that have been built or reconstructed in this facility.