Sunday, October 3, 2010

Exploring Hobart!

Today daylight savings time started in Australia, so I had to remember to add an hour this morning, and this will be thoroughly confusing when trying to figure out what time it is at home, especially once America "falls back." Despite losing the hour, I slept in, because I was still so tired from the trip over and was up later than expected because I started a Saturday morning g-chat with my parents. I had decided the plan today was to explore Hobart. Since I had froze last night, and was still a little chilly in my room, I almost wore really heavy clothing out. I'm glad I opted for the lighter clothes with a jacket because it was a warm and lovely day! I walked in the general direction of the waterfront and was struck by the fact that no matter what direction you turn, you seem mountains off in the distance. It creates a glorious backdrop to just about any part of the city. I walked down to the Salamanca Market area on the waterfront and realized it was around lunch time and I hadn't even eaten breakfast. I decided to splurge on a nice meal at one of the nicer restaurants on the waterfront area. I went to a restaurant and ordered the lunch special- an appetizer of artisan bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction, a main of Tasmanian smoked salmon caesar salad, and a sauvignon blanc. It was soooooo good. I then walked the waterfront area. I saw starfish in the bay! I was shocked to see them there, and really wanted to jump in and get one as a souvinier. I spent some time lounging in the Parliament Park area, just basically a small grass park with some benches and trees. I decided I needed to seek out this place mentioned in Fodor's called Arthur Circus. It was houses being best preserved in Hobart, most dating back to the 1840s and 1850s. I walked back up the streets I had come down originally; this town has some hills that rival San Fransisco. I finally reached the Battery Point area and walked up to see Arthur Circus. There was a round-about of really cute and small cottages. There was a small park in the middle of the round-about, so I sat under a tree to take some pictures. It was around 4 pm, so I decided to head back toward town, maybe pick up dinner for later. I was really craving ice cream or a milkshake, but I couldn't find a single shop that would sell something like that. I walked past David Park, it kind of just appeared, so I snapped some shots of the park and stopped to use the restrooms. I was struck by the number of mobile phone numbers were on the back of the door, so I took a picture, and was also careful not to touch anything in that bathroom, haha. Once I reached the main strip of Liverpool Street (which is where my hostel is), I walked bak toward the mall area because there are tons of shops and resturants that way. But nothing was open! It was around 4:30pm on Sunday, but almost every store was closed. I saw a KFC and a crappy pizza place that was open. I stopped in the pizza place and used change to pay for dinner (figuring I needed to eat a cheap dinner to make up for lunch). My feet were killing me (I'm seriously going to scope out some Dr. Scholls or something- do you think they have that in Australia? It's like my boots are trying to reform my foot), so I decide to head back. I lay down to read a while, with the intention of going downstairs for dinner to at least be semi-social. I end up falling asleep on and off for a couple of hours. I don't feel so hot when I wake up, so I eat my cardboard pizza upstairs and go into the antisocial world of the internet. It's not my fault I'm not feeling good and in a room by myself made for six people. It's a recipe for being antisocial. So I decided to turn in early tonight anyway, I have to get up tomorrow around six to catch my 7:30 tour to Huon Valley.

On a different note, I just discovered, since I have officially had to charge everything I have brought with me, that I did not need the voltage adaptor I purchased. Everything I own was made in China or somewhere else, so it can take currents ranging from 100-250, which is what Australia has. It was only about 7 bucks, but weighs like 5 pounds, so I am thinking about ditching it here.

Also, for those of you following the near constant state of sickness I am always in (or if it was given a soap opera name As the Lung Turns), I took my last antibiotic today and have been feeling pretty good for about 3 days, so hopefully I am done with that stuff.

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