Getting to know Hobart

     I suppose I should do my best to keep up with current happenings too, otherwise I'll become even more hopelessly behind. Last Friday was bright and clear, and with classes and other administrative issues pretty much squared away, it was time to explore! First of all, here is a picture of my house. My room is on the far right. We have to get it cleaned up for inspection next week, so I will grab some interior shots for you all then. 

     We had been into Hobart City to the north, so we decided to make our way down the Derwent River to the South. Here is Rebecca and George (two people I met in Cairns) standing on the Casino Dock with Mount Wellington as the backdrop.

     This place is so gorgeous it really is hard to believe sometimes. Here is another good photo from the walk:

    That is an old fortification, a relic of the cold war. For some reason they thought the Russians might want to invade Tassie. Not sure why.

     Saturday we rose (semi) early to go to the Salamanca Market. It was completely incredible. It would not be a stretch to say there were several hundred vendors, selling all sorts of food and crafts and almost anything else you can imagine. And a lot of street performers. If you are familiar with the Charleston Farmer's Market, take that and multiply it by about 10 and you have Salamanca. And they do it every week, incredible. I will be sure to bring my camera to snap some photos for you all next time.

     After returning home for dinner (potato stew-great for staying warm) we went back to Salamanca for the Big Sing, a huge bonfire/vocal concert/community sing that was attended by several thousand people. At the end of the night, they taught the crowd the different harmony parts to a song and we all sang. Being part of that large a group singing together was really an amazing experience. The photos didn't come out all that well in the dark, but here is one of the best: 

     And here is a link to a news article about the event. http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2009/07/11/2623269.htm?site=hobart

And another one to a video of the final song:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2010/07/10/2950252.htm?site=hobart

The audio isn't the best, but hopefully you can use your imagination a little bit.

        Sunday I hiked up Mount Nelson with Logan and Becca, as well as their housemate, Andrew. I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Looking North to the Hobart CBD.

Looking South to the Tasman Peninsula and the Southern Ocean.

 One of the many beautiful views on the way up. And looking East across the Derwent to Bellerive and beyond.

There was a nice little cafe at the top where we enjoyed an afternoon snack before heading down. I definitely plan to hike up for sunrise one day and eat breakfast at the cafe. 

Monday saw the beginning of classes, which seem interesting. The final roster is Understanding Climate Change, Intro to Oceanography, Global Political Ecology, and Antarctic Ecology. More on those later.

In other news, I am going to try to get a photobucket or similar site up in the near future so all of you non-facebook people can see my pics.

Hope all is well wherever you happen to be!

Ian