Mini break in Tasmania

Hubby and I recently went to Tasmania for a mini break.  We stayed in Hobart as there were several things we wanted to do in the area so it seemed a good place to base ourselves.  We had a wonderful time, the weather was very kind to us and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery and views Tasmania has to offer.  

We hired a car so we could travel around and our first stop after getting off the plane was Richmond.   I visited Richmond in 1984, the bridge built by convicts is still beautiful, the gardens have improved and we took the opportunity to visit Richmond gaol, the oldest gaol in Australia that has been left in it's original state. Before that we had a yummy brunch at this lovely cafe.

Richmond gaol

This is a man trap and were set to capture escaped convicts.  It looks horrible.

 

The irons prisoners were often held in.

 Although this was quite a gruesome place to visit, I was interested in learning the history of how some early our Australians were treated.  Not very pleasantly it would seem.

Opposite our hotel in Hobart was this lovely display of Violas and

there was a fountain in the middle of these trees that was lit up at night.

The view from our hotel window.  I love the yellow green colour of the leaves on the trees.

On one of our days we visited Port Arthur, stopping for coffee on the way at a lovely cafe in Dunalley which overlooked the water.

 
We also wanted to stop at Dunalley to inject a little money into their local economy after the devastating bush fires in January this year.  We saw mile after mile of burnt bushland and many houses being rebuilt as we drove along the road.

I visited Port Arthur in 1984 and am very impressed at the amount of work that has been undertaken to improve this wonderful historic site including some beautiful gardens.  There is much information available, guided tours if you like, or as we did, wander around at our leisure immersing ourselves in the history of the buildings, enjoying a ferry ride which was included in our entry fee.  Here are a few photos from our visit.

A view from our ferry ride.

Beautiful old church ruins.

As you can see our weather was lovely.  After our visit to Port Arthur, we stopped to look at the Blowhole, Tessellated Pavement, Tasman's Arch and the Devil's Kitchen, which I'll share in another post.

Anne  xx

Canberra

This weekend hubby and I flew up to Canberra to celebrate his Aunty's 90th birthday.  We met up with hubby's two sisters and their husbands who had also traveled to Canberra and were able to enjoy some time together.   Yesterday morning we went to Canberra's Floriade Spring festival.

Floriade started in 1988 as a wonderful commemoration of Australia's Bicentenary and Canberra's 75th birthday.  Beautiful floral displays of exotic bulbs and annuals are grown and they certainly thrive in Canberra's climate.  As the first Floriade festival was such a huge success, the community decided to make it and annual event and is held in Commonweath Park.  Here are some photos from our meanderings.

Commonweath Park is gorgeous with lakes, streams,  beautiful trees and shrubs.

 These bird sculptures are beautiful.

We saw these gorgeous black swans, one being happy to commune with me and the other was nesting.

We enjoyed walking around some of Lake Burley Griffin's shores and took a cruise around the lake.

The National Library of Australia

Australian Houses of Parliament, the old building in the foreground and the new building in the background.

The Australian War Memorial with Mt. Ainslie in the background.

The National Carillon

'The National Carillon is a striking 50 metre tall architectural landmark. It is also an impressive musical instrument with 55 bronze bells, each weighing between seven kilograms and six tonnes. The Carillon was a gift of the British Government to the people of Australia in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the national capital. 
Aspen Island is the perfect place to enjoy one of the regular carillon recitals and have a picnic.' 
Information found here.

After our cruise we headed into the city for some lunch and came across some  interesting sculptures.

This ram doesn't look too happy or comfortable.

Detail about the above sculpture.

 While on the subject of sculptures, this one is at the Canberra Airport.  I loved it so much and couldn't resist taking photos from a number of different angles.

 After our lovely morning and lunch, we spent some time with hubby's Aunty's extended family before celebrating with the birthday girl at a restaurant in the evening.  We had a wonderful time together with many laughs, enjoying stories of Aunty's childhood.

My next post will be about our visit to the Australian War Memorial which was a very moving experience it deserves a post all of it's own.

Anne  xx

Photo Scavenger Hunt - January

Here are my photos for the January photo scavenger hunt. 

1.  An abandoned building

 This is the house my Dad grew up in and is quite close to the house I grew up in. 

2.  Stained glass

One of a series of stained glass windows in my local library.  Sorry about the light in the photo, this was the best shot I could get.

3.  Goldfish

Oh dear, I'm afraid I've taken a few liberties here.  I knew there was no way I would find a goldfish to photograph so I drew one and took a photo of my illustration.  I hope it's acceptable.

4.  Yarn

5.  Playground

This playground is at the end of my street and Miss C. and Miss. G. use to play here when they were little.

6.  Library

My local library where I took the photo of the stained glass window.

7.  A tombstone over 100 years old.

I took this photo this afternoon in 40 degree heat.  :)

8.  My front door

9.  A reflective surface (not a mirror)

Coffee percolator reflected in granite on the kitchen bench.

10.  Something out of place

A shopping trolley at the end of my street.  The camera strap is also out of place, in front of the lens.  Ooops.

11.  Nature

A lone salmon gum in Western Australia on my parents farm.

12.  Bubbles

Bubbles in a perfect beverage for a hot day, beer.

I've had so much fun putting these together.

Anne  xx