Matt, Mick, Bec and I headed down to Tasmania for the we
ekend and I am so happy we did. Tasmania is incredibly beautiful and the weather, which we feared would be very cold, was perfect. We went to capital city of Hobart where Matt lived when he was a teenager. One of the big draws of Hobart is the Salamanca market which is held every Saturday. Everything is sold there like vegetables, paintings, chocolate, candles, wine and of course your various cheesy souvenirs which I must admit I am a
huge sucker for. Pretty much everything is made or grown in Tasmania and you get to meet and talk to the people who made what ever it is you want to buy. I love the look of fresh fruit and vegetable stands which were plentiful at Salamanca. There were also buskers (aka street performers) from all over the world. There was a group of dancers from Africa and a fantastic band from Chile. Two animals domin
ated the face of Tasmanian souvenirs, the Tasmanian Devil and the believed extinct Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine. You could buy anything under the sun with a picture of one of these animals. There was a lovely little park called Saint David's at the end of the market which at first glance just seemed like any other city park. After a look at the walls we realized this us
ed to be a cemetery that held many of the first settlers of Van Diemens' Land (original name of Tasmania) including the founder of Hobart, David Collins. A few of the larger burial monuments are still scattered throughout the park but all of the headstones were removed and placed into a memorial wall. The view of the sea in Hobart is fantastic. I had walked over to take a few pictures of the scenery when I looked down into the shallow edge of the water and saw more starfish than I had ever seen in my life, well, starfish that were alive and not dried up in a Florida gift shop.
W
e headed up near Mount Wellington to the Cascade brewing company which is not only the oldest brewery in Australia but the oldest company still in operation. Originally a sawmill the Cascade company changed paths after the founder, Peter Degraves, spent a bit of time in jail. He noticed that the rotgut people were drinking was so poor some even died from drinking it so he decided to make some quality brew. The tour starts and ends in the beer garden. Most beer gardens I have been in consist of a couple of decks, some chairs and maybe a few ferns scattered here and there. This place was wonderful. The garden path sloped up the side of the mountain and was obviously landscaped but had a wild feel too it. Winter is just ending so some of the flowers weren't in bloom yet but t
he area was still gorgeous. The tour itself was ok, a little long. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and later told us that four generations of his family had worked in the brewery. The beer itself was very tasty especially while sitting in the garden, basking in the sun and looking up at Mt. Wellington. Cascade not only makes beer but juices and soft drinks like ginger beer. Just like ginger
ale, ginger
beer is not alcoholic but has a more much intense ginger flavor than the ale version. It's soooo good!
In my quest to
see every animal in Australia the main one I felt like I had missed was the Tasmanian Devil. I saw one in Sydney but he was curled up in a ball sleeping. There is a devil conservation park about an hour outside of Hobart so we headed there. On the way we stopped along the shoreline to see the tessellated pavement. This is a natural phenomenon I had never heard of before and was a little woozy from all the curvy roads so wasn't up for reading the information sign. Here is the definition off of wikipedia. "Tessellated pavement is a rare sedimentary rock formation that occurs on some ocean shores, so named because it fractures into square blocks that appear like tiles, or tessellations. It is for
med when rock that has cracked through plate tectonic movement of the Earth's crust is modified by sand and wave action." The cracks and crevices formed by tessellation made for great tide pools full of blue starfish, crabs, molluscs, and all kinds of other little sea creatures. There was an animal that looked and felt like a blob of jell-o. I could have stayed here for hours but we didn't want to miss feeding time with the devils.
The
Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park has become a very important place for the survival of the Tasmanian Devil. A mysterious cancer has wiped out almost half of the population in the wild. This park has been instrumental in working to breed cancer-resistant devils. These animals are so unbelievably cute I just wanted to grab one to give it cuddles and hugs. I really wanted to atleast pet one until I saw them eat. All hands were happily kept by my side after that. I have never he
ard such a horrible noise as the screeching of the devils in between the sound of crunching bone. These little guys are scavengers so they have an important job as far as the ecosystem goes. Their meals at the park are provided by the community who collect roadkill and drop it off for the devils. This way not only do the devils get to eat but they help with the local clean up. The devil got its name from early European settlers who heard it in the woods and really thought there was some sort of evil spirit out in the b
ush. You can hear an example of the devils' scream on this site.
Even though they may make a lot of crazy noises when they eat they were still good little devils and went to clean themselves up right after their meal. The water bucket probably wasn't
meant to be a bath...oh, well. We learned one other thing at the park that excited me to no end. There was a zoologist who claimed to have sighted a thylacine(tasmanian tiger) as recently as the 1980's. This guy wasn't one of those crazy "I have a Bigfoot in my back yard" people. He was a legitimate animal guy. Much of Tasmania is still wild and untouched by humans so in many ares it really is possible they still exist.
We contiue
d on to see Port Arthur, historically the harshest of Australias penal colonies. This gaol (aka jail) was known for it's penal reform. A step was taken to change prisoners through psychological punishment instead of corporal. Which of these punishments proves to be more cruel is debatable. Much like Alcatraz in the US, Port Arthur was surrounded by shark infested waters and billed as inescapable. One man did try to escape disguised as a kangaroo but when the hungry guards tried to shoot him with plans of making roo stew he surrendered. Port Arthur is said to be one of the most haunted places in Australia especially the Island of the Dead where over 1600 prisoners are buried mostly in unmarked graves.
We stopped off at quite
a few more beaches and sites of some fantastic rock formations including the Devil's Kitchen, Tasman's Arch and the Remarkable Cave. We couldn't stop making fun of the name remarkable cave since the name itself was so unremarkable. There was a reason for the name after all. The way the cave had eroded away the hole left looked like the "mark" of Tasmania, hence the name re"mark"able. It's amazing how this happens. I saw a cave i
n Morocco that was the shape of Africa. I learned one other thing I didn't know. Matt had told me there were penguins in Melbourne and I just assumed he meant in the zoo. When Bec pointed out a penguin on the beach that had gone onto penguin heaven I was really surprised to find out they were not only native in Tasmania but the ones in Melbourne are wild as well. Tassie is the last stop before Antarctica so penguins make sense I had just never associated them with Australia.
The sun was setting when we left to head back to Melbourne. Tasmania would be a wonderful place to have a serene, quiet life surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.
k and Bec have been wanting to have a Tapas night since they got back from their grand tour of Europe. We decided it would be fun to do as sort of a send off night since I am leaving. Bec and I went down to the Victoria Market which is the most fabulous place for fresh fish, veggies, meats and cheeses to collect all of our ingredients. She had picked up a recipe book in Spain and we went through it picking out the dishes that sounded delicious and relatively low maintenance....or so we thought.
around 2pm. As soon as Mick and Matt arrived in the kitchen we put them to work as well. Every dish minus one had clove upon clove of garlic in it so you can imagine the wonderful aroma permeating throughout the house. We made meatballs with raisins, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, shrimp in a chili sauce, brie and ham sandwiched in between two pieces of eggplant then battered and deep fried, potatoes with a garlic sauce and mushrooms stuffed with chorizo. 
around 2pm. As soon as Mick and Matt arrived in the kitchen we put them to work as well. Every dish minus one had clove upon clove of garlic in it so you can imagine the wonderful aroma permeating throughout the house. We made meatballs with raisins, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, shrimp in a chili sauce, brie and ham sandwiched in between two pieces of eggplant then battered and deep fried, potatoes with a garlic sauce and mushrooms stuffed with chorizo. 
n charge of the fryer. Bec was madly stirring and chopping. Matt had a kind of assembly line going and figured out how to use the swift chopper.
n charge of the fryer. Bec was madly stirring and chopping. Matt had a kind of assembly line going and figured out how to use the swift chopper.
the biggest eggplant I have ever seen.
the biggest eggplant I have ever seen.
boastful I will say we created a tapas masterpiece. Everything was SOOOO GOOOD!!! There were lots of happy eating noises coming from the table. It was great fun too! It's always fun cooking with friends. I read once on a Norwegian sausage making website that the real fun happened in the kitchen while food was cooking, the wine was flowing and lies and stories were being told. 
boastful I will say we created a tapas masterpiece. Everything was SOOOO GOOOD!!! There were lots of happy eating noises coming from the table. It was great fun too! It's always fun cooking with friends. I read once on a Norwegian sausage making website that the real fun happened in the kitchen while food was cooking, the wine was flowing and lies and stories were being told. 
