I had a beautiful holiday in Tasmania and it was sad to come home last Friday evening to stinky, hot Queensland. We had one hot day in Tassie where the forecast was 33 degrees. The locals were talking of nothing else but the weather. We Queenslanders felt a little like Mick Dundee, “Call that hot, THIS (humid and 35 degrees) is HOT”. Not to say it wasn’t warm, but it was dry and there was a breeze blowing all day. We ate dinner next to the beach at Randalls Bay near Cygnet. Some brave souls swam. I contented myself with paddling in the icy water which was plenty cool enough for me. By bedtime it was storming and colder. So you know, swings and roundabouts type weather. That’s the boring weather talk over. My Mum and I left Bundaberg on the baby Qantas plane and changed in Brisbane for a direct flight to Hobart. We had to get up Very Early which meant by the time we arrived and added daylight saving it seemed like we had been up since 4:30am. This didn’t stop us having a lovely lunch at the IXL building on the waterfront in Hobart. Then we went to the movies and saw the Women on the 6th Floor. This was a very nice film. What was even better were the leather lounges in the small downstairs cinema at the State Theatre. I may have dozed off at a couple of points. They were so comfy. Then it was “home” to Cygnet where we spent the next day planning our Thelma, Louise and friend road trip to the north. Unlike Thelma and Louise we did not commit any crimes or drive off a cliff to freedom from patriarchy. Instead, we stayed at a world heritage convict settlement farm stay at Brickenden outside Longford. Then we went to the Sunday morning markets at Evandale which are Excellent! I found some very cheap Carltonware to add to my little collection. There were also homemade scones and jam. Then it was off to Latrobe via Westbury and Deloraine. We visited Reliquaire..an astonishing shop which, if you have a phobia of dolls coming to life, should perhaps be avoided. They are everywhere. Dinner in Deloraine was a beautiful vegetarian pizza made from flour from the mill at Oatlands which we had toured on the way up the Midlands highway. The next day we drove down the Great Lake Road (I don’t think that’s its official name but it follows the Great Lake) and enjoyed the alpinesque scenery and brisk air before descending once more to Hobart and then home. Wednesday saw a visit to MONA which was both excellent and fascinating (and deserving of its own blog post elsewhere), a little bit of shopping and then back to the State Theatre for Hugo in 3D. What a stunningly beautiful film about film history. I lurved it and definitely agree with Margaret and David. Five stars all round. By then it was Thursday. We went for a little drive over to Franklin, at lunch in Huonville, bought some Valhalla caramel fudge ice-cream for our dessert and went home for final dinner. The next morning we trekked to Hobart with much heavier bags than when we arrived, had brunch at Jackman and McRoss, bought some home made chocolates, made sure the kilo of fresh blueberries were safely packed in my carry on luggage and hopped on the plane. We were sad to leave our wonderful friends. Here are some random photos.

(excuse my hair and weird expression…)