Living the life, loving the life

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It's been a while - a very long while! - since I posted any photographs of our "new" home. I say "new", in quotation marks, because in a few short weeks we'll be celebrating the second anniversary of our arrival here, a day we've officially baptised "Tasmania Day". Boy, has time flown.



The speed with which we've settled down here has, I think, taken both of us by surprise. We both found work in our chosen fields within weeks, and permanent full-time jobs within months. Somewhat more challenging was finding a roof to put over our heads. Or at least, the right roof. For two rather fussy people like ourselves, I suppose this shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. And then in September last year, the stars and planets aligned for us and we became the owners of a gorgeous new house, complete with sweeping views, four pet goats and a huge range of native wildlife from wallabies to possums to cockatoos to kookaburras. Five months on from the day we moved in and it still doesn't seem completely real at times.



We've been taking full advantage of the extraordinary opportunities for outdoor adventures Tasmania offers - and first among these must be bushwalking. You could do a different bushwalk every weekend of life in Tasmania and not do the same one twice, it seems. Shortly after landing in Hobart we joined a low-key but exceedingly friendly social bushwalking club, something which has undoubtedly made the transition to a new hemisphere, a new country, a new life...much, much easier.



Sadly, the 2014-2015 Tasmanian summer hasn't been much to write home about (yet) but last week's Royal Hobart Regatta long weekend happened to be quite wonderful (fancy that!), so we hopped in the car on Saturday morning for the long drive north back to Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Following the Arm River Track we took the "back route" to the Overland Track, surely Tasmania's most famous track and possibly one of the most beautiful walks in the world. To those unwilling (or, thanks to that thing called 'a job', unable...) to walk the entire Overland Track, the Arm River route provides a convenient way to see some of Tasmania's most impressive scenery, including the highest peak on the island - Mount Ossa.



Sun, warmth, blue skies, camping, wild swimming, boulder-hopping, camp cooking. What a way to recharge our batteries!

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Photos

Well-earned lunch break atop Mount Ossa
Barn Bluff and Cradle Mountain far in the distance

Climbing up Mount Ossa
Barn Bluff and Cradle Mountain in the distance

Comments

[taracloud]

Congrats!
Wow--a new house with goats and wildlife and a bushwalking club. Sounds pretty sweet! Congrats also on climbing Mount Ossa--what great views! I was wondering what you two were up to, and then I returned from a wifi-less visa run to Bolivia to find you've been doing the usual outdoor adventures. So glad you love your new home. Best wishes for lots of hiking!