From: dave@eram.esi.COM.AU (Dave Horsfall)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.australian
Subject: Re: Things to do in Hobart???
Date: 20 Nov 92 03:15:44 GMT
Organization: Pacific ESI, Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Actually, despite my previous (tongue-in-cheek) post, there are some
interesting sights around Tassie.  I did a fly-drive holiday twice,
and loved every minute of it.

In article <ggm.722219818@brolga>,
    ggm@brolga.cc.uq.oz.au (George Michaelson) writes:

| (1)	Hire car. things to do within a mornings drive of Hobart are many
| 	and varied. Pt Arthur Penal Colony, parks, Poetina power station.

Take the boat trip to the "Isle of the Dead," if you can stand the presence.
Spooky place - everywhere you walk, you are treading on the bones of the
convicts (the officers had marked graves).

| (8)	Day trip to Richmond.

And while you're at it, look at the Ross Bridge - oldest stone bridge
in the country (inc. mainland).

| (9)	Day trip to Queenstown.

Strathgordon is also quite a sight, if you appreciate surreal landscapes.
The hillsides are totally denuded, and the "soil" is a funny colour.

Strahan and Zeehan are pleasant little places, if you have the time.

| I just imagined I was in a Scots/Cornish fishing village collided with
| a provincial town like Halifax or Kirkauldy and it all gelled. You scale
| back your expectations and just mellow back into the Athmosphere. Huge
| homesickness cure for expats missing the fug of blighty...

<SIGH> - you said it...

Other random sights: The Shot Tower in Hobart, where they used to drop
molten lead into a bucket of water to make lead shot.  Wrest Point Casino,
so you can say "been there, done that."  You'll need a collar & tie for
this one.  Southport, the southernmost point of Tassie.  Nothing stops
those winds from blowing up from Antarctica.  Did I mention that a cutesy
name for Tasmania is "Northern Antarctica?"  Go there and find out why!
Pleasant sea-side towns up the East coast.  Watch out for the timber
lorries, but - they stop for nothing.  Best to drive in daytime; there's
nothing to see at night anyway, and you'll only wipe out the fauna.
Look at the cute little Tasmanian Devils, but be sure to count your fingers
afterwards :-)  The Gorge thing near Launceston, containing the longest
single-span chairlift in the world (?), and the Mill.  Some scenic spots
around the top right corner - I forget precise details.  And a "must-see"
is Burnie - ecological disaster.  Don't stop - roll your windows up and
keep driving.  Look where Lake Pedder used to be, and shed a tear.  Be
thankful that the Franklin and Lower Gordon were saved.  Marvel at all
the hydro schemes, very few being used at full capacity.  The Salmon Ponds,
a good place to avoid if you've just had a skinful of cider (my god, that
stuff is potent!).  Check out the "he-men" tossing back thimbles of beer,
but keep your thoughts to yourself, as you knock back a pot (?).  Marvel
over the local beers, and observe the stuff brewed in the north is drunk
in the south, and vice-versa.  Bring your trog-suit, and descend the
deepest caves around.  And of course the mountain areas, where you get to
stay in cabins, with tame possums clustering around, demanding to be fed.
When you see a pair of possums fighting, you'll know why they are related
to cats.

Sigh - I can see it's time I went back for another wonderful two weeks...
George is right - Poms will love the place.

NB - all reminisences are modulo a failing memory.

-- 
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU)         VK2KFU @ VK2RWI.NSW.AUS.OC
dave@esi.COM.AU                ...munnari!esi.COM.AU!dave
           Disclaimer: "Me, speak for us?"
Newsgroups: soc.culture.australian