23 in Tassie!

"Turnin' 23 in Tassie!"

We made it to Tasmania! We spent the weekend walking around Hobart and touring breweries, pubs, the waterfront, a Zoo, and of course Australia's first ever Casino (Wrest Point) and "No, I didn't win anything! We stayed in a hostel, in which you had to enter down this dark alley way (pretty scary, arriving there late at night) and not to mention the man that was being escorted out of the door by police as we were walking in! However, it worked out because we spent most of the day/night out and about in Hobart! We learned a lot about Hobart on all of our bus rides, the bus drivers were nice enough to throw in some Hobart history while taking us places. We learned about Mt Wellington(which is the tallest mountain in Hobart) and that Hobart is the second oldest city! Hobart reminded me of a mixture between NYC and Chicago- It was too small to be NYC but too big to be Chicago. However, Hobart is a waterfront city and was mainly operating by the port and bay's that surrounded it. Andrea pointed out that it looked European'ish too! Which we saw a lot of European buildings and the green scenery, that I can recall from pictures I have seen from Europe. Next on my list, a trip to EUROPE!?! Any takers??

Our first experience was touring the Cascade Brewery. We walked for about thirty to forty minutes to get to this brewery, but it was well worth the exercise. Free beer and a gorgeous scenery! We were walking around the brewery and got to see where the beer was brewed, packaged, shipped, and much more! My favorite part of the tour was watching all of the bottles go through the assembly line. Getting filled, labeled, cased and separated into 6 packs/cases, and boxed up! It also gave me a new insight on beer, I think I tried about eight different kinds of beer while I was in Tassie! I have a few new favorite ones that I'm hoping I can find back home, if not I may need to start shipping some now!

After the brewery, we walked back into the city and stopped for a small appetizer! Of course, we filled up on those so we didn't do dinner that night! We checked out some of the pubs around Salamanca and enjoyed people watching for a while! Our first stop was at a place called Grape Bar Bottleshop, it was a great place (if you are over 40) and dance old school! We were drawn in because it was a piano bar and we were in the mood to listen to music. After some of the old school dance moves were pulled out by some of the little ole' ladies, we bolted! Headed down to Sam Boag's (a younger joint). This pub was cool, it had a lot of neat artifacts, stained glass hanging all over, and it was even cooler because it was almost MY 23rd BIRTHDAY! It didn't really hit me that it was my birthday until, our new friends (the army and navy dudes) brought in a birthday cake with candles! Needless to say, I was surprised and wasn't expecting it! It was nice though, because it didn't really feel like my birthday because it was hot, 26 degrees (Celsius) which is hotter than my birthday is ever at home and I was in Tasmania! So, that made it feel a little more like my birthday, which was nice!

On my actual birthday, we spent most of the day walking around the Zoo in Richmond, Tasmania. We started the day off at the Salamanca Market (which was down the street from our hostel) and just walked around looking at all of the great things that there were to buy! (We both pointed out that this market reminded us of a high class garage sale) so sorry everyone, you didn't get anything from Tasmania! The Zoo was amazing though, unfortunately our bus driver's hours meant that we had to stay 3 hours at the zoo. I thought this wouldn't be a problem (thinking of spending 3 hours at Cincy Zoo, I would be fine... I could finally see the whole entire zoo and not worry about rushing through it!) However, this zoo was a tad bit smaller than Cincy Zoo... ha a LOT smaller.

It was an open range zoo which was amazing because that meant we could walk around in the areas where the animals were. We both pet a koala, an Albino Wallabee, and aggravated a Tassie Devil! We also got to feed emu's, camels, a ostrich, little horses, goats, ducks, and llamas! Because we were there for so looong... We did everything twice!! This made my birthday pretty exciting because it was my first time seeing a koala and kangaroo/wallabee & a tassie devil in person! After the zoo, we came back and got ready for the night (my birthday night!) Our first stop was a pub crawl.... which was hilarious! Our tour guide was about 60yrs. of age and the whole group of people were married couples! We couldn't stop laughing at the fact that we were the youngest in the group and the only singles! The tour was interesting though and we got to learn more about Hobart, other than the pubs as well! We stopped off for our first drink at Victorian Tavern (which was originally an Irish Pub) and this was where I tried "Cascade First Harvest" (the beer made from Hops)... It was ok, but I wasn't a huge huge fan! So, I won't be looking for that one when I go home!

After the pub crawl (which consisted of two drinks), we decided to head out for a nice Italian dinner. We ate bruschetta and a calzone and downed a bottle of my new favorite wine (Frogmore Creek).... It was delicious! After dinner, we headed back out to the pubs on Salamanca and then the casino, where I didn't win anything! I also didn't bet much either, so that was ok! Salamanca Place, was the place to be this weekend! It had the best pubs, cafes', restaurants, and of course our "favorite 24 hour bakery" that we went to every single night in Hobart! We made it around the the Tasmania Museum & Art Gallery, which was very interesting. This building was built in 1863 and holds all kinds of Tasmania artifacts, pieces of art (of course) and Aboriginal artifacts. My favorite area of the museum was the animals and botanical areas and the Antarctica display they had going on! Before we went out on the town one night, we sat in the Parliament House park and "people watched" and rested from our long walk to Cascade. The Parliament House was beautiful, it was originally a hotel but is now one of the oldest civic buildings in Hobart. In my book, I read that it was designed by John Lee Archer and built by convicts (who were mainly in Hobart back in that day, because Tasmania- or Van Diemen's Land as they used to call it was the spot to send all of the convicts.. even from Ireland, Europe, etc...) But anyways, John Lee Archer- related some how?? *Lou, you are a computer man- you can take that on as a project!*

When I arrived back in Geelong, it was 36 degrees (Celsius).... which is 95 degrees for my USA friends! I went with Carol, Shane, and Charli to the local pool and layed out in the sun for a bit... Well, I was actually in the pool most of the time because it was so hot! We left the pool and headed to the market to pick up tea. (Which is "dinner") We were having a barbecue! Everyone got to eat hamburgers, but Carol, Jaimee, and I all got to eat CHOPS! (No, not pork chops)..... "Baa Baa".... All I could think of was Mary's poor little lamb! So, yes.... I'm a changed girl- I'm trying all different kinds of foods- meats, veges, and drinks! In Hobart, I tried avocado, cucumber, goat cheese, and eight different beers! :)

Today, back at school we celebrated my birthday! The kids enjoyed it because I brought in cookies (or biscuits) as they would call them! I got to wear the birthday hat and even got a birthday sticker! They sang "Happy Birthday" to me in the morning and even added a little twist onto the song... It was so cute! We had a fun day celebrating my birthday and tomorrow we get to celebrate again because it is Mr. Holloway's birthday! (The other teacher that I am following at Bellaire, since I am blessed with a team teaching classroom that has 38 students in it!) I love that style actually, it seems to work very well here at Bellaire!

Hope everyone enjoyed my birthday! I miss ya'll and can't wait to see everyone here soon... I'm down to my final month, already! Can you believe it!? I will be back before you know it and it will be like I was never gone! CONGRATS TO SOPHIE FOR USING HER BIG GIRL POTTY! I'M SO SAD I MISSED THAT BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT.... She better be a pro at it by the time I get home so I can SCREAM "YAH SOPHIE!!!!!!!!!!" Miss & Love you all!