A) the views over the city, the harbour and beyond are terrific
B) everywhere you look to walk from here is on a steep hill
Further up the hill there are a lot of forest trails and we took one to go and see the octopus tree. It's not immediately obvious why it's so-called but when we walked round it we saw that the roots surround a rock and look very like tentacles.
This was just a 15 minute walk from the road along a well-marked trail and Chris suggested that he and Jon walk back to the car and drive on to Sphynx Rock while I walked on a little further to take a trail on the left which would lead me to the same place in about 15 minutes. He gave me a map which almost covered the point where the trails diverged and set me off.
Unfortunately the map wasn't very up to date and didn't include one of the newer trails at all so I went hopelessly off track. This was in tall forest with no clear vision of the surroundings and of course, this was the only occasion on this trip when I didn't have my phone with me.
To cut a long story short, I eventually decided it would be best to head back to the Octopus and out to the road we'd driven up. This meant that I came out onto the road about a mile and a half downhill from the Sphynx rock and about an hour late. So I flagged down the first car and hitched a lift with a young couple who had docked in Hobart in a cruise ship and were exploring for a few hours in a hire car. As we passed a picnic area I was lucky enough to spot the ute parked up. Chris was running the trails trying to find me and Jon was near the ute waiting for the two of us to sort ourselves out!
I thought this was quite an adventure but Chris was pretty cool about it. This was no outback, no bush-walk, No danger involved. He had to go to work from 3pm till 11and I was unimpressed to learn that he had decided if I didn't turn up before 3 he would have gone to work, and would ring Jon at 7 and if I still hadn't turned up would have got a party of his friends together to search. If not located by 10 they would have called out a formal search party. Can you imagine the state I would have been in by then?
Anyway, reunited we had a barbecue. Picnic sites here often are provided with electric or wood-fired BBQs. All really laid-on. While we were cooking, my rescuers came by again and they turned out to be a speech therapist and a young medic, at the same stage as Chris. They were very interested to hear about Chris's experience of working in Tasmania, compared with the UK.
Chris biked down to his shift
and Jon and I went to FlickrFest in the evening, the opening of a short-films festival at the arts cinema, which consisted of seven short films followed by pizza and wine.
COOL BIKE RACKS
We can see why Hobart appeals to Chris, with its alternative scene in the city but gorgeous countryside and coast on the doorstep, and the whole population crazy for outdoor pursuits. He's already involved in mountain biking, running, surfing, climbing and sea kayaking, and hopes to try skiing and snowboarding this winter. He'll dive too, when his gear arrives.
CLIFTON BEACH
Apart from the above, we've spent time in the museum, been to a BBQ at a colleague of Chris', been eating wonderful seafood at the harbour, had a tour of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling ship,
taken in the amazing view from the top of Mount Wellington at night, and been to the outrageous MONA, the museum of old and new art, which includes, among other things, a bizarre digestive system which is fed regularly with food at one end and results in poo at the other! But is this art, do I hear you ask?
THE CLOACA - see the poo?
Tomorrow we're off on a tour of the east coast, starting with Port Arthur so it will be a few days before I add to this blog. Plenty of time to get lost again!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Huon Rd,South Hobart,Australia
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