Great things about Tasmania

Like da lady sez - for photos you have to bide your time. So here's a little descriptive prose (sorry about that, will try and use only mechanical means of communication in future) to keep you going. Great things about our week in Tassie:

• Being so warmly welcomed into the household of Teresa (my aunt), Keith (him indoors), Hannah (cousin) and Sarah (other cousin) - there was an original plan involving housesitting which didn't come off, so we crowded them out I'm sure, but it was great for us.
• Hilly Hobart - two-thirds of Coventry's population in twice the space (by the look of things) with great big refreshing views of mountains and an estuary all around, warm friendly people, loads and loads of coffee shops, and a fine Sally Army shop (we needed warm things)
• A fine three day trip out to Koonya on the Tasman peninsula: walking in the cool air; toasting marshmallows on a campfire; cooking (for the first time in a while); and being surrounded by crystal clear air and temperate beauty
• Marvelling at the same/different-ness: recognisably temperate landscapes with all the wrong trees, bushes, birds and beasties; and a very recognisably 'British' culture, but not quite (lighter, Teresa says; less stiff, for sure; much more outdoorsy; visibly whiter, too)
• Feeding Kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons at a wildlife centre (and seeing a couple in the wild, too) - they're very soft-furred, and the little tame ones at the centre gently hold your fingers with their claws to stop you taking your profered handful of food away while they snaffle it.
• The Hinton-Jacobs' local amenities: fabulous grocers shop over the road, with everything from asparagus to green and blacks chocolate via cheesecake, about fifteen kinds of olives and ready-to-cook yummy chicken kebabs; a long cool green back garden with a trampoline to lie on (others might bounce ...) at the end; beautiful mountain walks a stone's throw away, and friends to walk them with; great pizza at the end of the road; and a top-loading washing machine
• Being there for the start of a ten day arts festival, and meeting David Johnstone, a man I practically worked with - my kind-of-opposite number at Tamworth college when I worked in MIS at it's partner Henley College Coventry - who had moved from Cov to 'Slowbart' three years ago (with wife Carolan, daughter Elizabeth, and a glint in the eye which is now little Katy), and seems very happy there, if pleased to be able to swop dodgy Coventry-style jokes for a change...
• Acclimatising - to the climate, which was less hard than we'd feared, and back to first world prices, lifestyles, priorities, amenities, etc; it's even begun to be possible to properly imagine coming home, and begin to consider afresh how we want our lives to be. If anyone wants to pay me at least 25,000 quid a year for 20 hours a week, please get in touch.
• Catching up with family. It was really interesting to hear from Teresa about meeting Clarks (her mum's family) in the antipodes, and to chat about her dad (mi abuelo Howard) and his family (who I'm still hoping to meet in Mexico, if we can just get hold of them); great to here about Keith's Mendoza family connections in Oz, and to watch Barmitzvah Boy and get a little more of a picture of East End Jewish life as it was at some point; and all of us loved getting to know Sarah and Hannah better too!
• General Aussie friendliness - from T&K's friends Jeanine, Rod and Pam; from people sitting next to us in planes and cafes; and from people serving us food, working on the checkout in shops, driving buses, whatever
• And lots more besides ...

Sorry to all the folk I should have rung by now - can't get my head round the time zones for some reason - I'll ring you when I can!

- Mark