This is a shot – Tassie style –
It’s an oyster shot –
– sake with wasabi, pickled ginger and a plump, fresh Tasmanian oyster … delicious!
The seafood here is so good –
– I devoured these six scallops cooked with brioche crumbs and herbs in about three minutes, in a little restaurant on the quay in Hobart.
I rapidly came to the conclusion that I absolutely love Tasmania, and I wondered why I’d never been here before during my trips to Oz. The weather is perfect, the scenery is spectacular, the seafood is stupendous and the people are delightful – I’m just glad it’s so far from Europe, otherwise it would be as crowded as the Lake District, or probably even more so, as the weather is considerably better.
The beaches are wonderful – soft, fine sand and clear water – and totally empty –
We travelled up from Hobart to Wineglass Bay, on the East Coast –
– which is the most perfect crescent of white sand, filled with turquoise water.
The description in the guide book says that nobody is sure how it got the name Wineglass Bay. I found that rather puzzling, because if anyone has ever seen a wineglass, they would surely notice its resemblance to the shape of the bay?
This is a wine glass –
And this is an aerial shot of Wineglass Bay –
And it’s not as though the Tasmanians are unfamiliar with wine. They have some fantastic wineries, including my favourite Antipodean sparkling, Jansz –
– and hundreds of others in beautiful locations, where ladies who lunch can sit and enjoy a glass of wine in the sunshine –
and then nip into the appropriately signed ladies loo –
There’s a very down-to-earth quality about Australians, and it’s particularly noticeable at MONA, the Hobart art museum, described by its owner as ‘a subversive adult Disneyland.’ Where else but Australia, would the audio guide for the museum have a selection button thus labelled …?
It’s actually the selection that gives more information about the artist – but that doesn’t sound half so intriguing.
The museum encourages you to listen at doors –
watch goldfish swimming in a bowl with a knife –
and admire the tattooed back of a live exhibit –
This is Tim, and he sold his back to a German art collector in 2008 for $150,000. Presumably the collector has to wait until Tim dies to get his artwork, and in the meantime, Tim sits in the museum listening to his iPod day in and day out … I think death might be preferable.
Cradle Mountain is billed as one of the last wildernesses on Earth. It has ancient rainforests and alpine heathland, plus loads of wildlife and the iconic Cradle Mountain itself (I put my phone into the metal bracket next to the path, helpfully provided, to ensure that everyone can get the perfect shot!)
It was a beautiful day when we visited – like pretty much every other day when we were in Oz – and the views were spectacular …
We didn’t see any wombats, it was a bit hot for them that day, but a highlight of the trip was a night walk to see the wallabies at our Airbnb in the middle of nowhere next to Cradle Mountain. Our host took us out walking in his paddocks and we saw the wallabies just the other side of the fence, feeding. thumping their feet in warning and hopping around. Don had a bright torch and he balanced it on his head so that I could get my first shot of a wild wallaby –
It won’t win any photographic awards, but it’s a great reminder of a uniquely wonderful experience.