Hobart and farewell to Tasmania

Hobart has a saying that there can be four seasons of weather in one day, and it’s not a myth!

The winds are from the polar Antarctic this morning, its only about 17 and feels distinctly icy....but this afternoon is 23 plus again, as the wind swung round to blow from the desert in the west.

But it was weirdly fun to feel cold rather than warm for a change, and the autumn colours are fantastic-literally, in two weeks, the season switched here, so bizarre.

It's also much easier to see the spectacular bird life and wildlife without bright sunlight.

There are so many art galleries here, and I now understand why so much is wood based-. The trees here are so different to Europe, I'm continually amazed by the blue leaves of the gum trees, and diverse bark, plus so much is so old-I've seen what claims to be the oldest wisteria in the world-in bloom, and it’s massive, twisted, gnarled and snarled for miles.

The aboriginal art is in stark contrast, most of it telling intricate stories, and combined with the complex history of the country at every turn, I don't feel I've done more than scratch the surface of Tasmania.

One last walk along ‘urban bush’ up the mountainside, and back through the grand colonial homes and gardens of Sandy Bay, through Salamanca Arts district and beside the harbour, watching the hills turn purple in the setting sun.

I shall miss Tasmania, the lovely people, the bizarre contrasts in everything, scenery/weather/history, the polar links to the desert sands, hopefully I’ll return one day.

Here ends the first chapter of ‘Edwina’s Travel’s. The next section of the blog is under the subheading

‘Edwina and Paul’s Aussie Adventure’.

Tomorrow I return to Sydney and rendezvous with Paul for a three week road trip, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Canberra, etc.

I’ll continue to scribble the diary as we go; it’ll be a different kind of travel from now on, and I’m looking forward to it, the holiday part of this trip for me.

There will be more solo travels to come in the future though, of that I’m sure-not sure where or when, but there’s a whole wide world out there I can’t wait to explore!

For now, though, let the road trip commence………………………