In Tasmania

Maria Island

It occurred to me today that I've truly been island hopping... From the North Island of New Zealand, we flew last week to Melbourne on the island continent of Australia, then on to island state of Tasmania, where we then ventured on a day trip to the natural preserve of Maria Island just off the eastern coast. Kind of like the Russian nesting dolls of travel.

Jeannette was invited back to teach a 3 day class in Hobart, Tasmania so I decided to tag along. When we were here a year ago, we couldn't visit the west coast due to vast wildfires and dense smoke, so we thought another visit was in order to allow us to explore the west coast.

Tasmania is an island off the southeast coast of mainland Australia, the smallest of Australia's six states. 45% of the state is in reserves or parks, and contains an amazing array of climate zones in a relatively small land mass. It is the southernmost part of Australia: if we were to head westward from Strahan, the first landmass we would hit would be Argentina, making this the longest uninterrupted expanse of ocean on the globe. If we were to head eastward and manage to skip over the south island of New Zealand, the next land we would reach would be Chile. When the weather hits here, it is coming from a long way off.

When they arrived 200 years ago, early settlers to Tasmania noted : “The swans were black, not white. The trees shed their bark but kept their leaves. The seasons were reversed. They called it ‘The Antipodes’ – the name means ‘direct opposite.”  As we have visited different landscapes here, Jeannette and I will take turns commenting to each other "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".

Cradle Mountain boardwalk trail

Cradle Mountain

Rainforest

Painted Cliffs

In my favorite book about Australia (In a Sunburned Country), Bill Bryson writes:

“It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures - the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish - are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. ... If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It's a tough place.”

I think he may have been an optimist... I think some of the minerals are probably out to get us as well.   Sadly, we failed to photograph the 6" Huntsman spider that Jeannette found crawling up my arm as I was packing the car to leave... somehow ripping my shirt off as quickly as possible seemed more important than the photographic record of the event at that time.

Maria Island Wombat

But then there is the Wombat. It is not trying to kill anything. It is built like a squat, furry tank. How could you not love a wombat? Jeannette has been wanting to see one in the wild for many years, but we'd only encountered them in the zoo. This time we succeeded in tracking them down during a hike in Cradle Mountain National Park. Well worth the wait. A few days later, after dinner at a friend's house just outside Hobart, we were visited by a group of wallabys (technically they were pademelons), and two different kind of bandicoots. I think I've decided that my future rock star moniker will be 'Billy and the Bandicoots'.

Suburban Pademelons

Settling In

Our New Year's Eve flight out of SFO had us arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on January 2^nd, having missed the 1^st thanks to the International Date Line. Since we have a deep sense of foreboding about 2017, missing the first day of it seemed somehow fitting.

Why are we here? See previous post.... because we can. We first came to New Zealand about 25 years ago to visit a family who had lived near us during their sabbatical in the US. We had a great visit there, so when they proposed a house swap 20 years ago, we packed up our two boys and headed off, exchanging houses, cars, and pets (a keeshond, cat, and iguana). One car and the iguana didn't fare so well, everything else survived. Jeannette has been back to visit and teach art there almost every year for the past 15 years, and I've joined her every few years. When they proposed another house swap, we jumped at the chance. While Bill and Sue are very intelligent individuals, the fact that they have twice now agreed to doing this so that we get 3 consecutive summers while they face 3 consecutive winters makes me wonder a bit. But I feel little guilt in taking full advantage of it.

We're living in the village of Mt Eden, a residential area on the outskirts of Auckland. This is a very different trip than 20 years ago. We aren't trying to get the boys enrolled in school and figuring out where to buy school uniforms. We know the house and neighborhood well, and Jeannette has a multitude of friends here.

volcano map of Auckland

Mt Eden (Maungawhau in Maori) is a dormant volcanic cone... one of 53 in the Auckland area.  It is a great spot to get one's bearings on arrival, so we usually schedule a hike to the top soon after arrival. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city (population 1.5M), and is located on a narrow isthmus. With all the hills and water around, it reminds me of San Francisco (also at about the same latitude, but S instead of N). It also means traffic is a bear at rush hour since the public transportation isn't developed enough to keep up with the population growth, and there isn't room for more roads. All this has little impact on me (and after all, that is what matters), since Novation Inc Australasian headquarters is at the top of the stairs, and the village of Mt. Eden is just a short stroll up the street.  Nearby is another volcano, One Tree Hill (as in the U2 song).  Most of these volcanic cones are surrounded by parks, many with grazing sheep or cattle.

Mt Eden from the village

downtown Auckland from Mt Eden

Mt Eden from One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill

Why Travel?

Some time ago, a friend asked me “why do you like to travel so much?”. Snarky Bill almost responded with a “that's a stupid question”. But the Slightly More Evolved Bill thought for a moment, and realized it is actually an interesting question, one that I hadn't given proper consideration. Why do I like to travel? There are a multitude of reasons, and I often don't think of the why of travel, just the how.

Why do I like to travel?

1)  Because I Can. At least for now. I can still get out of bed in the morning under my own power, and that may not be true next year/month/week. I know that this life is a limited engagement, and want to squeeze as much out of it as I possibly can. I remember growing up, hearing my grandfather's stories of the places he wanted to travel, but he waited too long, got sick, and never went. I don't want to be that guy. When visiting my Mom in her final years, I noticed that the people around here that seemed to be the happiest were the ones that had interesting stories of adventures they had been on. I want to continue to build those memories while I still have any memory left.

I have generous flight benefits thanks to my son's airline employment, and that may not be true next year/month/week. I want to use the benefit while I can. I feel a moral obligation to fill at empty business class seating heading to Amsterdam from PDX when I see it calling me from the web site.

2)  Differences are Fascinating. Different people, customs, food, plants, animals. I enjoy observing the differences in how people live and what they think about this world we all share. Those differences usually make me look at things a bit differently once I return home. Ours is not the only way to do things, and often not the best.

Sometimes the more minor the difference, the more interesting I find it. On a trip to the UK in the 70s, I noticed that at all the B&Bs, they always unplugged the TV at night, out of a fear that a late night power surge would blow up the TV and burn the house down. In New Zealand, all outlets have on/off switches next to them, and everyone is careful to turn them off when not in use. Not a bad idea, but why don't we seem to worry about such risks in the US? Someone in Tasmania just commented yesterday that they were nervous on a trip to the US when they found that the outlets all around them were unswitched, as if the electrons were going to sneak out and get up to some mischief.

Grocery stores are a favorite observation platform when in foreign lands. In Colombia, all produce is priced and measured in kilos, but potatoes are priced by the pound. Why? Never got a good answer on that one. In Sicily, the 4 aisles of the super-grocery store dedicated to pasta in every shape and size was no real surprise, but it was a sight to behold!

I enjoy meeting people from other places, to learn how they view the world. We have very seldom found anyone in our travels boring. The people who would interact with us always seem to possess a curiosity that I sometimes find lacking in the US. I would much rather hear about your father arriving in Capetown after a long sea voyage from Wales, alone, at the age of 12 and making a go of it than I would to hear about how much your neighbor is paying for their 4 year old's birthday party. Just saying....

3) The Obvious: Many trips are driven by a desire to sit on a warm tropical beach, to see friends and relatives, to visit world class museums, or view natural wonders. These are often why we plan a trip, but not always the most memorable part of the adventure.