HOBART, TASMANIA
On arriving this afternoon in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania to you), we stepped off the plane to be met by my old high school buddy Eric Iversen. Eric actually lives in Oslo, Norway, but is in Hobart for a few weeks working on his PhD. We haven't seen each other in over ten years, so it's wonderfully strange to be hanging out again in a foreign city on the far side of the world.
Eric thoughtfully rented a sporty little silver Hyundai Getz for the week, so it looks like we have wheels here. Which is great, because Tasmania is a pretty big place. (I have to admit, I didn't really know anything about the island before coming here. But for the record, it's not anything like the short-lived Warner Bros. cartoon series.)
Actually, Hobart is a nice big modern city, and one of Australia's oldest settlements. Turns out there are a lot of other properly civilized towns here with a good deal of history, and a boatload of national parks, with some really rugged, remote areas as well. A little like New Zealand, come to think of it.
Our original plan to stay with Eric didn't pan out, since he's renting a room at a Bed and Breakfast rather than a regular apartment. So Chris and I found lodging at a hostel downtown, then we ended the day by driving to the top of nearby Mt. Wellington (1280 meters), which gave some great views of the city and the surrounding area.
On arriving this afternoon in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania to you), we stepped off the plane to be met by my old high school buddy Eric Iversen. Eric actually lives in Oslo, Norway, but is in Hobart for a few weeks working on his PhD. We haven't seen each other in over ten years, so it's wonderfully strange to be hanging out again in a foreign city on the far side of the world.
Eric thoughtfully rented a sporty little silver Hyundai Getz for the week, so it looks like we have wheels here. Which is great, because Tasmania is a pretty big place. (I have to admit, I didn't really know anything about the island before coming here. But for the record, it's not anything like the short-lived Warner Bros. cartoon series.)
Actually, Hobart is a nice big modern city, and one of Australia's oldest settlements. Turns out there are a lot of other properly civilized towns here with a good deal of history, and a boatload of national parks, with some really rugged, remote areas as well. A little like New Zealand, come to think of it.
Our original plan to stay with Eric didn't pan out, since he's renting a room at a Bed and Breakfast rather than a regular apartment. So Chris and I found lodging at a hostel downtown, then we ended the day by driving to the top of nearby Mt. Wellington (1280 meters), which gave some great views of the city and the surrounding area.
posted by John Kuge at 9:09 PM
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