Month: April 2007

Back to Australia. This is what greeted us as when we emerged from the big boat. Melbourne. Good trip home.

Reflections on Tasmania:

• In the words of Juan Antonio Samaranch: Best. Holiday. Ever.
• The people aren’t that weird
• Not all the women have mullets
• Everyone waits for the little green man to appear before crossing the street. Row thinks that it’s because people aren’t in a hurry.
• It may be because of their isolation from the rest of humanity, but Tasmanians are very proud. They think that they’ve got something pretty good that the rest of Australia are missing out on. They may not be too far from the truth!
• More people follow the Aussie Rules football than follow Jesus
• Pray for more churches and ministries that will proclaim Jesus: who died for our sins, was buried, was raised from the dead and then appeared. (1 Cor 15:3-6)

Have you missed our Tassie Tour Journal? Check it out here:

• Tassie Tour Journal Day 1
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 2
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 3
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 4
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 5
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 6
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 7
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 8
• Tassie Tour Journal Day 9

Dave + Row. April 07.

ps – we didn’t really sleep in the lifeboat – but the seas were pretty rough…
pps – thanks for joining us on our adventure (what was your favourite day of our holiday???)

Last day in Tasmania. Spent the day in the car. Buying some birthday presents. Eating. This lunch was fantastic. French stick. Cheese. Cascade Ginger Beer and Apple stuff. Killing time in Devonport waiting for the boat. (Coffee freaks – no Starbucks… so we had a coffee that you guys may have approved of!)

We noticed this sign that said there was only one lifeboat. So when we heard the Captain say that the seas had officially got rough and crazy, and having seen the movie about the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic, we decided to sleep IN the lifeboat. Not comfortable. But reassuring.

We left Hobart with some lovely coffee. Shout out to all my coffee snob friends and family (esp Andy M and Guthers… EDIT: + Michelle)

Ross is this little town about 76kms out of Launceston. Quaint. Used to have a women’s prison during the convict days. PS. I heart Row.

Launceston. We’re pretty much over the tourist thing. Went for a walk down some gorge. Water was ugly. Air was nice.

Worst meal of Tassie? Chinese from the food hall in Launceston. Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever buy Chinese from food court… it’s been sitting there all day… what were you thinking David!! Dessert was good. Pancakes. Yum. Here’s a free add for some businesses on Charles Street.

“We preach Christ crucified.” Saw this on a church over the road from the food hall. It made up for the bad meal. Do you know Jesus? Read more here

Today is ANZAC day. Watched the 11am march through the main drag of Hobart. Thankful for sacrifice of Australians. Thankful most of all for Jesus’ sacrifice (1 John 4:10).

Port Arthur. Expensive. Worth it. Tour was great. We’ve enjoyed checking out Heritage buildings, learning about Convicts and becoming better acquainted with 19th Century ‘Justice’. Moved by reflecting on the events of 28th April 1996.

I heart Hobart. Launceston was next on the itinerary. But… we are staying in Hobart one more night. Yes. We’ve taken a stack of Hobart building pics. Here’s a few. 300 was the movie of choice for Wednesday night. Dave: I liked that movie. Row: Why? Dave: The violence. Did you like the movie? Row: Yes. Dave: Why? Row: The violence.

Fantastic sleep-in this morning. (Mental note: don’t get used to them!) Mt Wellington is tall. Mt Wellington is colder the higher you get. Mt Wellington is great. (That was a Haiku if you stretch the rules to 6 syllables/ 12 syllables/ 6 syllables.)

Last Friday I said that there’s no traffic in Tasmania. Now that we’re staying in Hobart – there is some traffic – but not much. It only takes 10 minutes to get right out of the city into Sticksville. That’s pretty cool. Lunch was yum at Home House Winery.

Dinner was yum back in Hobart.

TV sucks. It’s been fun watching a bit each night, but we’re glad we don’t own a TV. A Current Affairs and Today Tonight are funny. I’m not sure they are supposed to be comedic. Laugh. ABC is by far the best channel on Australian TV. We’ve seen some interesting docos and stuff. Hobart is brilliant by night. Don’t get stuck in front of TV. Enjoyed coffee and dessert at Maldini’s at Salamanca. We were the only 20 somethings without trendy mullets.

We had a delicious breakfast before leaving on our road trip from Strahan to Hobart. Row was disappointed that she had to see her breakfast for a second time. The road was crazy crazy zigzaggy for about 100kms of the 260km journey. Good fun!

Shout out to THE GIDEONS! Everywhere we go they have placed Bibles. Thank God for THE GIDEONS – and pray that God would be pleased to bring people from death to life as they read these Bibles.

Salamanca is Hobart’s version of The Rocks – Trendy Heritage Zone.

Took some sweet snaps in Hobart tonight. GUESSING COMPETITION: What is the name of the above church?

Day 4 = Boat day. Cruising in the World Heritage Area on Gordon River.

‘Hell’s Gates’ (top right) is where Macquarie Harbour meets the Ocean. The worst convicts were sent to Sarah Island (inside Macquarie Harbour) between 1822 and 1833. The conditions were harsh and many convicts considered it worse than a death sentence. I do think that these ‘Hell’s Gates’ aren’t in line with what Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14.

The tour on Sarah Island was very good. The Salmon for lunch was even better.

There was an audience of 50+ oldies on hand in the arvo for a pantomime, ‘The Ship that never was’. As two of the youngest members of the audience (and therefore at a lower risk of heart attack) Row and I were both involved in the drama. Good times. The 1 hour show told the story of the last ship (Frederick) built on Sarah Island. The 10 convicts who built the boat stole it and fled to Chile. Fascinating story. You’ll have to go to find out how the story ends (or look it up on Wikipedia).