One Year in Hobart

We've done it! We came up on our one year "Hobartversary" as Gavin put it. Here are some random notes on the last year:

1. We LOVED all the visitors - and welcome more of course
2. Still not loving the warm weather at Xmas idea - I need snowmen, mittens, and hot chocolate to feel festive; not BBQs, sunnies, and cold beers.
   
3. Coffee is good here, and not monopolized
   
4. Beer can be good - you just have to know where to look
5. Wine is great, particularly Pinot Noir and the whites in general
   
6. Tasmania has great fresh produce...I wish it was utilized more in restaurant meals - tired of seeing meat, mash, and breaded in the descriptions
7. Craft stores are few and far between...I long for a Michael's, JoAnne's, and Ben Franklin
8. There are many outdoor adventures to be had... although winter puts a damper on activities (even more than in Seattle)
9. Kayaking has become a new favorite that we will pursue more now that the weather is turning
10. Limitations because of the smallness of Hobart can be very frustrating
11. The job market sucks here - as it does everywhere (particularly hard because Hobart is small, and being new without connections)
    
12. We have met some amazing and wonderful people!
13. The cat's have adjusted well. Enjoying lizard hunting and sunbathing when possible
14. It rains more here than Seattle (although this winter has been over the top apparently)
15. The music scene is good - especially if you want bluegrass or folk
16. We miss Seattle and our family/friends terribly
    
17. We have alot of this island still to explore
    

Your Nan's Version of Baby Got Back

Gavin and I ventured to North Hobart this afternoon for the Hot Jazz Festival, put on for free by a few of the neighborhood's bars and cafes. Luckily the rain took a break today, and we were able to stroll to the venues without taking a second shower.

We started off at The Crescent - a cozy, aged pub. The first band was just finishing as we got there (Angela Bryan Quartet). The next band was why we stopped there- self described as New Orleans/Dixieland, I though they would be fun and get us energized for our next stops. The lead guy (trombone) sang a few of the songs.... I pictured him being a hit on karaoke night at the senior center. The musicians were really good though- clarinet and trumpet especially. He sang one song called Sweet Patootie (Not Fats Domino), he apologized for the rude lyrics (which made Gav and I both giggle). The song was basically, Baby Got Back but more to your grandma's taste :) It even references the woman's dimensions- big breasts, tiny in the hips, and then a big nice bum (I can't remember the exact lyrics). I couldn't keep the grin off my face as I looked around to all these ladies tapping their toes and sipping their wine spritzers.

Next we went to the Republic Bar (a place we have frequented). We ate a super tasty lunch consisting of a Lebanese platter (falafel, hummus, beetroot dip, tabouleh, etc) and a Sri Lanken beef curry pie. YUMMY!!! The band that was up was called Royal Jelly, and featured the clarinet player from the last band (remember that Hobart is small). They were really talented young guys, and we stuck around for a few songs after we finished our meal.

On to a cafe called Onba, a place I have passed a hundred times but have never ventured in. Now, I seriously regret that. The smell of fabulous coffee and delicious chocolate treats hits as soon as you open the door. We made our way upstairs to the cozy music lounge, complete with plush chairs and ottomans all around. It was of course standing room only- in fact we didn't make it to the top, we stood on the stairs. The band, Cardinal Swing (gypsy jazz), was sounding pretty awesome. I think we wished we would have made it there sooner because we only got to hear one song from them before they gave up the stage. Now we have someone to look out for in the gig guide.

We tried a couple other places on our way back to the car- places were definitely filling up for the evening, and neither one of us much in the mood for crowd wrestling. So, we headed home. Nice music, and tasty lunch...today has whet my appetite for spring an summer to come with all of its music fests and outdoor dining!!! Come on summer, weeeeee're waiting!

Coffee Culture vs. Cafe Culture

On Friday, I sat outside at a cafe and enjoyed a delicious turkey sandwich and a soy latte. As I sat by myself watching all the people hustle back to work, kids chase pigeons (no, I don't feel bad for the birds), and other cafe goers, I started comparing this experience to coffee drinking in Seattle.

I currently live in a city that *gasp* doesn't have a single Starbucks (the entire state actually)! Now, this isn't a bad thing at all, when living in Seattle I mostly avoided Starbucks and opted for the neighborhood cafe (Java Bean or Besalu).

Here in Hobart we have much more of the European style cafes with outdoor seating, small tucked away tables inside, and tasty treats to share with your coffee. This is not to say we don't have the chains - we have a few that are somewhat like Starbucks, but not quite. I really like going to get coffee here - at the cafe just down from our house, the guys remember me... and Gavin gets the same welcoming treatment at the cafe he frequents near work. This comfort and familiarity is amazing!

I recently heard that Starbucks has started to open up Starbucks shops in disguise as "neighborhood cafes". This did not sit with me well. The whole reason why neighborhood cafes are good is that you know the person serving you is probably the owner or at least has more invested in the job than the resulting paycheck- they work hard and actually care that they serve a quality product. This is absolutely not to say that everyone working at Starbucks are uncaring robots- hey I worked at a Barnes and Noble Starbucks while in high school and I loved it. My manager was passionate about her job (almost to a fault), and she taught me how to make an excellent latte if I do say so myself. And almost every year I buy my mom the Christmas blend because its her favorite (and the rest of the year she is happy with her folgers) :) .

Ok, enough of that. Tomorrow, lunch and coffee at Magnolia Cafe - Smoked salmon , capers, and cream cheese bagel and a soy latte.

Winter and Other Things

OK, well it's August and it is cold... I am still trying to wrap my head around this temperature/month switcheroo!
Some random things:

1. I am actually excited about seeing baseball and football highlights on the sports news - weird yes, but rugby and cricket can only take you so far
2. I love how cold and windy it has been lately
3. I am reading Alice and Wonderland, and it is really good
4. Saw Coraline the other day, I think the book was better but I am not sure, hmmmm
5. Gingerbread men and elephants in July = happy tummy
6. Crocheting is a great habit/hobby that I have rediscovered... now to just complete projects instead of just starting them
7. We go to Malaysia on holiday soon!!! I need to start planning because I have no clue where I want to go/ what I want to do.
8. I do know that I want to snorkel, see monkeys and orangutans, lurk in the jungle, and shop at markets
9. Why is David Letterman the US night show chosen by Australian TV??? Stupid stupid stupid (I love that Gavin hates him too)
10. I had to call and ask permission from our rental agency to put picture hook sin the wall - waste of time
11. Gavin does NOT like the change in Cadbury chocolate, but still eats it like a hungry monkey :)
12. We (Gavin) made a snowwman on Mt Wellington
13. I miss watching Anthony Bourdain on TV

OK, lets leave it at a nice round 13 hehehe :)

Moving

Alright, so we have moved. Not far, just down the road, but man is it still a pain in the tush! We have swapped one Northwest sounding address (Cascade RD) for another (Washington ST). We are still in South Hobart, which means spitting distance to the Cascade Brewery - woohoo!

I have taken pics of the house (empty of course), but have misplaced the camera. Gavin and I are rockin it on camp chairs at the old house, since there is no power at the new place. We have a fun night of beer, pizza on paper plates, and boggle/tv ahead of us. I am not looking forward to the cleaning that awaits us tomorrow.
Now for the pictures (granted the house is not completely set up, but hey):



The view from our living room!




The Living Room



Kitchen



Bathroom




Master Bedroom (Purple wall, brown bedding = Chocolate Box)

Crafty

I have been really productive lately when it comes to scrapbooking (not much else though). I took a class at my local scrap shop, we did 12 layouts in 5 hours...well almost. I had to finish 3 of them at home, but I have to say that quantity is still pretty impressive. Here are a few of the pages (sorry for the awkward shots, I don't have a scanner):

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I have also started to scrap my 2004 France/England trip- FINALLY. I guess late is better than never. I am really happy with these Paris pages, the style is fitting the scene well.

Brother

I have been a little behind on the updates, so here are a couple! First, my brother came to Australia to travel around and of course visit us. Billy spent a month in Oz, touring Sydney, Byron Bay, and Tasmania. From what I could tell he absolutely loved it. Granted, when he got to Tassie the pace was a bit (ALOT) slower than he was used to in Sydney. Here are a few highlights from Billy's visit with us:
Billy and Michelle on top of Mt. Wellington - luckily it was a clear day, and we could see the view!


A super cute pademelon at Mt. Field



Billy in leg irons at Port Arthur.


Billy and Michelle at Wineglass Bay- a very nice, but hot day.

Billy's visit was tons of fun! I know that he is looking forward to coming back. Hope these pictures entice the rest of you to visit.

I Spy...

Ok, here is a deviation from a blog focused on Gavin and me and our Australia adventures. I am spying a few cute things on the crafty sites that I frequent. I am also noticing that many crafters are having alot of success lately- I hope it's because people feel the need to buy local, reuse/recycle/upcycle, support independents, etc. Whatever the reason, I love it. I find myself falling asleep into dreams about new ideas and crafts that I want to try. I can't stop thinking about sewing at the moment, and I really wish I didn't leave my vintage Singer sewing machine back in the states...but I also think it may have blown up with its dodgy plug if I tried to adapt it to Oz. Anyway, I am scouting out a new machine. Well, new to me - I would like ot buy a preloved machine, as I am no expert and I just don't need the fancy shmancy buttons and doodads on the new machines. Ok, so back to my point for this post. I just felt like making a random list of neat things that have caught my eye on some craft sites and blogs.

• Her Library Adventures creates these very cute vintagy paper crafts and brooches. I love this style for cards. It inspires me to use up all that lace and garb that my grandma gave me last time I visited.
  

• I really like this awesome idea from Bitter Betty Blogs. So cool! I am already sketching out what little pockets and straps I need in my craft suitcase. Time to hit the op shops to hunt out a suitable suitcase.
  

• I like this idea. Lolly Chops has taken something that almost everyone has around...punches and heaps of magazines. I think I will adapt it to some shadowbox type cards - I have all these punches of different shapes for my scrapbooking, but I don't really use them. I will have to experiment a bit.

OK, that is it for now. I think.... Thank you, wonderful crafty ladies that have inspired and intrigued me!
I just unpacked all of my craft stuff, and I can't wait to start and/or finish some projects. Goodnight. :)

Kayaking at Coles Bay

Gavin and I went kayaking on Sunday. We drove up the coast, stopping for lunch at The Ugly Duck Out cafe (http://www.theuglyduckout.com.au/) .....so yummy! I ate the BEST grilled mushroom and tabbouleh sandwich, and Gavin had an equally tasty lamb burger. Very friendly service, and the cafe makes every attempt to be organic and "green", and is recognized by Green Table Australia. We will definitely be back and bring guests :)

On our way to Coles Bay the rain and lightening followed us from Swansea all the way to Coles Bay where we were staying. This was worrying, but we were hopeful that the morning would be clear enough to paddle. The hostel we stayed at was fine, as we had our own room. Clean and quiet, nothing to shout about though. The rain continued all night, making it a bit hard to sleep.

We woke up to blue skies and sunshine! Yay! We stopped at the bakery for croissants and then walked across the road to the boat launch. We met two very nice guides and had only one other couple in the kayaking group. The morning was beautiful and the water was glassy calm. The paddle trip was so nice, and we saw lots of birds - even a sea eagle.

We stopped for morning tea - coffee and cookies. We saw the pink granite quarry and learned a little bit about the Freycinet Lodge. The entire time on the bay, not a single boat came through until the end of our trip.

After the kayak trip, we had lunch at The Oyster Catcher. Very tasy fish and chips for Gavin and calamari and salad for me. A great view of the Hazards and a hot cuppa coffee. After lunch we stopped at the Freycinet National Park visitor center, bought a two year parks pass, and headed to the light house for the view.

What a fantastic weekend trip! Gavin and I are so lucky to have so many beautiful places to experience around us.

Birthday Boy

Gavin's birthday was Wednesday, and we had tons of fun! At lunch time, we went and test drove the Nissan Pulsar again. Gavin decided to buy it...funny because this was the first car we drove a few weeks ago, but didn't want to make a decision so quickly. So, Gavin got a car for his birthday, it's kind of like all of those ridiculously unrealistic car commercials at Christmas with the giant red bows on top of the $60,000 car - but not, since our is slightly used, far under $60,000, and sans giant red bow!

As per our usual, we went to the pub quiz at the Duke for dinner, drinks, and a good butt kicking. We didn't come in last, but second to last. After all that fun, we headed home for cake and pressies! Gavin liked all of his gifts and the cats liked the paper and ribbons. Chocolate cake was tasty, and a good way to end the day. The big birthday fun happens this weekend. We are going to Freycinet to go kayaking!!!

You Want Me to Drink THAT?

Ok, so at 9:30 this morning our water went off. No reason, no crazy weather, no unpaid bills (no one pays a water bill here in Hobart), just empty hissing pipes. I found the city council phone number for the water department and got through to a wonderfully nice woman. The city had to do unplanned water mane work. Ok good, we didn't miss an obvious note on the door or letter in the mail warning us. The woman said the water would return at 10:45, so at 11am I check and yep it was on alright.

BUT, it looked like this:

Holy crap, that's nasty! Luckily it did not smell or anything, just really mucky and silty filled water. I was so pleased when we moved to Hobart to find the tap water completely drinkable, clear and clean. I want my nice water back now please!

After running the bath for about an hour, as suggested by the nice water lady, the color did not change (for better or worse).
One more call, the same instructions and no new information about when the mane will be flushed. I tried again, and the water was still going through a range of browns - the bath tub brown to apple cider.


At first, when the water comes out of the tap, it doesn't look so bad. But, when I fill a glass, it has a not so great hue to it that I wouldn't consider drinkable in the least:


On the right, spring water from a bladder that we originally bought for camping. On the left, the lightest, clearest tap water that I have seen today.


I called again. This time, I got a guy, not as equally nice, but he was decent. He put a report in to the work crew to get someone to flush the system closer to our house, and said he would call when that happened or when he got confirmation that it was going to happen. He didn't call back. Two hours after talking to him, I called again. Another nice woman, and more instructions to flush the pipes by running the bath. I have to figure it out by 4:00 she said, the work crew ends for the day at that point, we are out of luck.

Nature is Cool

So, I was very excited last night when I saw these pics of an absolutely GIGANTIC sting ray. I just thought it was very cool, and reminded me of the huge spotted eagle ray that we saw in Mexico. While that one was not nearly this big, at the time it was the largest creature I ever snorkeled with. By the way, don't worry, she was released back into the water.

Today, as I watched the cheesy morning show that pretends to be part news, I saw these images! The huge migration of the golden ray, off the coast of Mexico.

Bluegrass and Tropfest

This was a pretty fun weekend. On Friday I convinced Gavin to go see some Bluegrass at the Lark Distillery (it wasn't too difficult to persuade). We saw the Back Porch Boys, and they were great. They played a mix of original songs and covers. I have to say, the whole evening made me miss Ballard even more- I really wanted to be at Conor Byrne on a Monday night for the bluegrass jam. We drank Moo Brew (a local microbrew), sat in comfy leather club chairs, and tapped our feet to some music. On a side note, beer is not as scary here as I thought it might be. It is NOT as diverse as Seattle, but I have found a few palatable brews. All in all, Friday evening was very satisfying. The rain gods even played to our Seattle style, and dumped a few buckets towards the end of the night. We ended the night with some yummy pizza from our South Hobart Pizzeria, Mondos.

Saturday was not as entertaining, filled with more practical errands and low key activities. We had breakfast at one of my favorite cafes - Zest, the library cafe. After scanning the classifieds, we walked to a few car dealerships in order to test drive a few possibilities. I don't really want to go into the car thing, as we did not settle on one yet. After the car stuff, we stopped off for a smoothie before heading to the market to get picnic fare to take to the botanical gardens for the outdoor showing of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Unfortunately the rain gods turned up again, and squashed the plans of sitting out in the grass for lovely theatre entertainment. So...we opted for some indoor movie joys, and watched Burn After Reading.



Sunday started as a housecleaning, laundry doing sort of morning. We decided to use our picnic goodies and head off to Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world. Gavin and I snagged a spot on the grass at Salamanca and cozied up for a night of movie fun. Unfortunatley, no Tasmanian films made it to the short-list of finalists for Tropfest, but they did show us two at intermission that were very good. As for the finalist of Tropfest, my favorites of the night were: The News, Be My Brother, and One in a Million. Gavin liked: One in a Million, The News, and Furry Cheque Book. The winner of the night was Be My Brother.

Ok, now it's Monday and I am back to rescuing lizards from the cats, applying for jobs, being crafty, and reading. And Gavin is back to work.

Running...no reallly

Gavin and I started a running routine last week. Well, I started it a couple weeks ago but I quickly learned that I needed some external motivation. I took the advice of a friend and checked out the book Running Made Easy from my library (random side note, but I looooove the library). The plan seems easy enough so far. I had a pretty crappy day yesterday, so I had a hard time completing the run - that, and I did not stretch properly so my calves burned (and not in the good way). I think Gavin will keep me on the program! Updates on the progress to come.

Cooking Adventures

I decided that I love love love Jamie Oliver's At Home cook book. I usually have trouble following recipes exactly, maybe my dislike for being told what to do, but I found these recipes awesome and super tasty! I tried two recipes, and one of them has definitely made its way to our permanent dinner list.

Crispy and Sticky Chicken Thighs with Squashed New Potatoes and Tomatoes. This truly was a two pot dish, one to brown the chicken, and the other to throw everything else in, mix it up, and stick in the oven.


The other dish I made was a Cheese and Onion Salad with Creamy Herb Dressing. This was a rich, and probably not-so-healthy salad, given all the cheese. But mmmmmmmm, this was so good.

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