hobart v1.2

on the weekend nikki took us to salamanca market to take in the sunday market. it was all artisans and crafts. we walked around the harbour and saw more penguins. at night nikki took us to the casino and treated us to dinner in the revolving restaurant. we arrived just in time to catch the sunset view from the top of the casino tower, and as we ate the darkness came out and the lights of hobart came on. after dinner we played the pokies for almost 3.5 hrs. we all had a great time and lost a combined $13 dollars.

in the morning we travelled to richmond, a sleepy 1870's b&b and antique town 30 minutes ne of hobart. they have kept an old time feel to the streets and structures. we walked the streets and had i had a lime milkshake (no worries dad) before seeing the oldest bridge still in use in australia. the bridge, very different from the one spanning the river kwai, was created from sandstone by convict labour in 1823. after the bridge we toured the richmond gaol built in 1825 which housed a generation of convicts, aboriginals and bushrangers. one of the inmates, ikey solomons, was the inspiration for dicken's fagan character in oliver twist. to end our richmond experience, lydia, nikki and i raced through 2 life sized mazes made of wood. the goal was to reach the centre of the first maze, and then to find the entrance to the second maze. once in the second maze again you had to find the centre, and then find your way out again from both mazes. in the centre of each maze was a code word you had to memorize. i came first as i was the only contestant to run the whole time. it took 20 minutes to reach the second centre, however, it was 20 minutes of dead ends, fun, and dizzyness.

after richmond nikki took us to meet up with her parents at their cottage on oppossum bay for an aussie bbq lunch. we spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun drinking beer, eating bbq, and looking out for parrots in the trees and metallic blue ants on the ground. back at dusk following a walk on the beach to catch the hawthorne vs. calton afl match.

yesterday nikki, her mother, lydia and i visited the cadbury chocolate factory - one of hobart's most popular attractions. no sign of wonka (wilder not depp), charlie, grampa joe, or a glass elevator but i did have the songs from the movie in my head the whole time. plus, it was my first experience wearing a hair net. picked up a bunch of cheap chocolate too.

the chocolate tour was for the ladies. the cascade brewery tour that followed it was for one male - me! note: the brewery was built in 1832 by one mr. degraves who drew up the plans while in prison for debt default. it is the oldest brewey in australia and produces 800-1000 bottles a minute. the adjacent garden is a famous wedding photo site. but enough of the history. the end of the tour had the most important attraction: a beer tasting and bottle shop. i took most of the girls samples and walked off with a case for a souvenier.

in other news our aussie lingo continues to grow and infiltrate our normal conversations. we now use words like grotty, loo, choc-a-boc, drongo, and brogan. lydia and i have also taken to singing the proclaimers when we are walking about.

"when the going gets weird the weird turn pro." - hunter s. thompson