Moya's Australian/Tazmanian Adventure

Hi Gang,

It seems hard to keep in touch due to the time change, my Friday has already ended and yours has just begun.

I think of you always, thinking of what you are up to when I am on my travels. Here's what I have been up to since my last update.....

Wednesday we went to the top Mt. Wellington, in Hobart. This mountain looks unattainable from the city...

In good weather Mt. Wellington is about a half-hour drive from Hobart city centre and when we went, it was 18degrees at the top of the mountain and 31.5 at the bottom, they said that it's only warm enough to wear a t-shirt a few days of the year, so I hit a good time to visit.
Its peak rises to 1270 metres (about 4000 feet), enough to give a vantage point for panoramic views of Hobart, the Derwent River and Storm Bay, and the southern section of the vast World Heritage Tasmanian Wilderness areas.

And if you could see that far, some 11,000 kilometres away west of Mt Wellington is the nearest permanent human settlement, which is in Chile in South America.

My sister has lived here for 23 years and has seen snow at the top of Mt. Wellington twice. The View from the peak is spectacular and actually seems unreal that you have made it to the top. When we left the peak, we went to one of the walking trails, one of many on the mountain. It was a temperate rain forest, very cool, no snakes thankfully. We are actually driving to a rainforest on Sunday where we'll hike for several hours, I've heard of rain forests but never really seen one.

I am so happy to discover that living in Tasmania is not that much different from living in Halifax. I thought it would be a real cultural shock but it hasn't been. Yes there are more bugs, and ones that are unusual. but none that are very scary. I have seen a baby Huntsman spider but that's it, they are not a usual summer spider, they don't really make themselves known until the fall, thank god!!!

Hey Peter, yesterday I was in wine country, it was simply gorgeous, overlooking the breathtaking seascape of Marion Bay and Maria Island in South Eastern Tasmania, Bream Creek is one of the first commercial vineyards planted in Tasmania. The original consortium in 1973 planted 5 hectare of vines consisting mainly of Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer. The white sand beach here is at least 10 km's long with amazing sea birds and sea shells, ones that we pay for in Halifax. Anyway, Tasmanian wine is now challenging Australian wine, it's very good.

The new animals I have seen are black swans!!! I can't believe these birds, they are stunning, Parrot's that you see at the pet store, you know the green ones, we see them all the time here, they are called Rosella Parrotts, Í've seen Honey Eaters (gorgeous), blue wren and Pied Oyster Catchers. So many spectacular birds!!!

Today was a shopping day in Tasmania, boy it's expensive here. Everything is so much more expensive than in Halifax, even with the exchange. I didn't buy much, just spoiled my niece, Isabella.

I hope all is well.

Love you guys,
Mo