Australia Day 1: Hobart

​After a long a grueling journey, we arrived in  Hobart, Tasmania, late last night.  Today we had a lovely day exploring Hobart.

We met most of our tour group at breakfast in the hotel - which was exceptionally delicious.  Then we set out on a walk with the aim of finding a duck-billed platypus in the Hobart Rivulet Linear Park.  While we didn’t see the sought marsupial, we did see some lovely birds.  The morning walk through the trees, along the creek, with the mountains in the distance was just what we needed to shake off the long trip.

The rivulet, with Mt Wellington in the background

A pair of  Green Rosellas, and one of many Tasmanian Nativehens

After our walk, we stopped by the hotel and the headed to the waterfront docks.  

We admired the views, and noted the many buildings built on convict labor. (The sand stone blocks had many different chisel marks because each man had a daily quota and the blocks were counted based on the the number of completed blocks with his unique pattern.) 

We spent several hours exploring the Salamanca  Art and Handicrafts Market. Many of the shops were artist cooperatives, so we enjoyed several conversations with the artists who took turns working in the shop. We, of course, did our part to support the local economy. 

Cheryl on the painted staircase in Salamanca.

Ruth in front of the shop where she bought a lovely doll!

We had a yummy lunch of toasties, meat and cheese, tomatoes and greens on a hoagie bun, toasted panini style.

We headed back to the hotel via Franklin Park, past the Parliament building, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  

At 5, we had our orientation session and then headed to our welcome dinner at a workers club nearby (like the VFW or American Legion facilities in the US, complete a full complement of tvs and pool tables. Rod, our group leader,  said these places were very common all over Australia.)

It was a wonderful first day.  We walked over 15,000 steps, saw 8 new birds, found out that Australia has pretty plastic money.  Wandering and wondering and learning every day.