GOSPEL ON REPEAT

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).

Self portrait # 37. “Goodbye” to Cradle Mountain.

But had one more walk… before driving to Strahan.

Staying in a cottage in Strahan for 2 nights. Dinner in town. Good damper. Fantastic steak. Worst carpet in Tasmania.

For a long time I have made jokes about Tasmanians having 3 arms. Confirmation: it’s true. From the moment we woke up on The Spirit of Tasmania this morning – we saw nothing but weird people. Odd people. Nutty people. They must have been in hiding last night and only came into light when we pulled into the shores of Devonport. Mullets are indeed a fashionable item on women down here.

First stop. Penguin: A town that allegedly has a Penguin population of 3000. The penguins here look more like seagulls. The only normal looking penguins weren’t normal at all – they were made of plastic and one was twice the size of Row! The town of Penguin has a problem with scooters riding skateboards.

Sign 1: Wrong. The best water in Australia comes straight out of the taps here in Tasmania!
Sign 2: Wrong. It’s a trick
Sign 3: Wrong. Beware of Tasmanian Devils – yes. Beware of Tasmanian Tigers – maybe. Beware of Traffic – definitely not! There is no traffic… maybe that’s why there is a need to beware – there isn’t much – so beware it might come out of nowhere?
Sign 4: Wrong. No ice today (wait a month of two…)

We went for a great walk around Dove Lake below Cradle Mountain. Magnificent! Best. Bushwalk. Ever. It’s difficult to look at such a marvellous creation without seeing the handiwork of a Creator. The Chateau that we stayed at was very nice – good Devonshire Tea (coffee) and a great Art Exhibition. Most of the exhibits were photos from Tasmania. Favourite photo: a bear too smart for a salmon.