Monday 27 December 2010

Day Seven - Exploring Hobart (2)

I'm sure you will all be happy to know that my nose is now peeling a
fair bit. This saddens me so, as firstly, it was pretty damn tanned,
and secondly, I look like an idiot (well even more of one!). Let's
hope that it stops soon eh.

One week on after arriving in Tasmania, I had my first, and well
deserved, lie in. With no alarm set, I woke up at a still very
respectable 9 oclock and I was once again cold. I'm not sure if it's
just Tasmania that makes me cold, or maybe I have just become a right
wimp.

I started my day by exploring the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens,
located within the Queens Domain which I visited yesterday. It seems
that in every place I go to, a trip to a botanical garden of some sort
HAS to be on the table; Oslo, Bergen, Brisbane...and I'm sure that
there are many more. Of all those that I have visited, I think Hobart
has to be one of the best. The grounds were simply delightful, with an
abudance of botany (unsurprisingly) and many insects too! I had a very
pleasant walk around the grounds, absorbing all the botanical
delights, and my trip culimanted in a trip to the restaurant. Being
English and all, I thought I would live up to the stereotype and have
a cream tea; I was actually a little dissapointed with the scones -
apparently that is one thing we English didn't pass on during colonial
times!

Refuelling over, I continued through Queens Domain, and headed back to
the city, taking in a sneak peak of Government House, an old zoo, and
a war memorial or two on the way (which I had to shelter behind during
a brief shower). After a quick visit to Tourist Information to
organise a thing or two (I won't spoil the surpise and tell you what
I'm doing), I spent an hour or two relaxing on the waterfront whilst
the sun shone beautifully down upon me.

Now my original plan for today was to head up to Mount Wellington, the
Mountain that looms over Hobart, explaining why Hobart is one of the
driest Australian cities (rain shadow). However, being summer and all,
it decided to snow atop the mountain today. This even made the news as
tempertuates plummitted to a nippy -3C, giving tourists a quick
glimpse into northern winter. I now regret not heading up today;
despite my recent intolerance to the cold, I would have enjoyed
throwing a snowball at someone!

Tomorrow I change hotels, which can only mean one thing....INTERNET
ACCESS! perhaps I will upload a few pictures for you all so prepare to
be blown away; I am kidding, of course.

Side note: I recieved an email saying the ship should be leaving at
5pm on the 4th January. The 2 days preceeding this will be spent
preparing all the equipment and having briefings etc.

Side note 2: I found out that my paper I submitted absolutely ages
ago, has been accepted following minor revision. This just means the
reviewers suggest I make a few small adjustments before it will be
published. This was a nice surpise as I was expecting major revisions.
Top job!

The end

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