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Blogs from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 5
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April 15th 2012
Today I joined Ancestry.it in an effort to begin the search of my Italian heritage. My mother's father was Rodolfo Sanna, born in Milan Italy. I'm very pleased with the progress I've made so far. I've been able to trace back as far as my great great grandparents finding births, deaths, baptisims and marriages. My aim is to find living relatives in Italy. I would dearly love to meet them when I'm in Italy next month... if they want to be found that is! From this point though, it gets harder; unless I can find a sibling of my great grandfather, it will be difficult to go any further. So I'll keep at it. Still knocked around by this flu thing that I have, but that doesn't stop me counting down to my trip... just 5 ... read more
Italy 2012 - Counting down... just 7 weeks to go!
Published: April 8th 2012Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Hobart
April 8th 2012
It's Easter Sunday and here I sit all rugged up with a rotten cold or something. So much to do to prepare and I can't bring myself to even get out of this chair. But on the bright side, I'd rather be sick now and get it over with hah! Counting down now, it's coming faster every day... just forty something days to go!... read more
ITINERARY: Italy & Greek Isles 2012
Published: April 8th 2012Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Hobart » Blackmans BayApril 8th 2012
Itinerary ******Thursday 24 May****** Abu Dhabi - Milan Flight from Australia arrives Malpensa airport Terminal 1 Malpensa Express to Milano Cadorna 2 nights Milan (Porta Venesia area) Guided tour Duomo and 'Last Supper' ******Saturday 26 May****** Milan - Montepulciano Il Sasso Language School for 2 wks Train Milan – Chiusi. Bus Chiusi – Montepulciano 4 nights Montepulciano (Apartment near Il Sasso) ******Possible side trips while in Montepulciano****** 1. Bus Montepulciano – Chiusi. Train Chiusi – Orvieto rtn 2. Bus Montepulciano - Siena. Bus Siena – San Gimignano, rtn 3. Tour Cortona + Lakes areas & small villages 4. Tour Chianti Wineries 5. Montalcino 6. Civita de Bagnoregio 7. Assisi ******Saturday 9 June****** Montepulciano – Orvieto Bus: Mon... read more
April 7th 2012
Bonjour! Remember me? I haven’t done a blog entry in 8 or 9 months. I know, I’d make a terrible freelance journalist. Last you heard I was celebrating Christmas in July, and the snow was deep on the top of Mt. Wellington. Since then, life has been a bit of a blur - lots of work and a couple of trips, but some pretty good times too! I'd best share some with you. I hit the road with a few friends to return to our sapphire panning spot in the spring (September?). The river was high, and subsequently there was a lot more bounty to pan for. I scored a hefty haul of fair sized sapphires, but none of which I can turn into anything worthwhile. That was a great trip though, despite some torrential rain. ... read more
Hobart, Derwent River, Botanical Gardens
Published: March 15th 2012Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Hobart
March 12th 2012
Instead of returning north to Launceston we decided a day around Hobart would be good instead of driving all day. We agreed that a bike ride and a visit to the Botanical Gardens would be the program for today. The first problem arose as we couldn’t contact anyone to see if they had bikes for hire since we would require 4 bikes. A&M loaded their bikes onto their car and followed us into the Domain where there are usually bikes for hire. However it wasn’t open. We knew there had been some downtown on the wharves so we went there and sure enough there were 4 bikes left for hire. What luck. They were all blue, had only 3 gears and brakes on the pedals but they were adequate for our purposes which was a flatish ... read more
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Hobart, Salamanca Market and Mt Wellington
Published: March 15th 2012Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Hobart
March 10th 2012
Today was to be a Hobart day before leaving and heading north. We spent the morning at the Salamanca Market which is a very well known tourist activity. By Nelson standards, it is very big indeed but in general terms it has similar types of products for sale. There are a lot of quality goods but also rubbishy stuff. There is entertainment too which makes it a bit more vibrant. It is not a famer’s market so does not sell a lot of food products. Fish and chips by the wharf seemed a good idea for lunch but the fish wasn’t as good as expected. We thought we could choose some fresh fish and get it done before us, but it was ordered much as we do at home. However, it was lovely to sit by ... read more
March 4th 2012
It is a rainy day. We took the car into Hobart intending to have a look around the city but the rain put us off that idea. We thought taking the ferry up the river to the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) art museum would be a good idea but it was booked out. Instead, we drove to the museum which had had a lot of publicity regarding the art and the architecture. We soon understood why it is popular and a huge attraction. It opened last year and is owned by a man called David Walsh who owned the land, the vineyard, some art and the $40M art gallery. By all accounts he had made his money from gambling. It is certainly different. It goes down 3 levels underground and is hewn out ... read more
March 3rd 2012
After staying at Neal's father's house in Seatoun Heights overnight, we were up at 4am for a taxi to the airport and an early morning flight out of Wellington. Unfortunately, overnight a huge storm (weather bomb) had brewed up over the middle of the country bringing heavy rain and high gale force winds. We boarded the plane on time but sat on the tarmac bouncing about for about an hour waiting to leave. Eventually, they towed the plane to a more sheltered location so that the bags could be loaded. Surprisingly enough once the bags were loaded we were able to leave despite the high winds. We flew out directly into the wind and with a bit of turbulence eventually cleared the clouds into calmer weather. Air New Zealand endeavours to make sure you have the ... read more
March 2nd 2012
After Penguin we travelled to Deloraine, a lovely little town on the Meander River with the caravan park just beside the river so we had a great spot for the week we were there. We met up with the couple who bought our first caravan as they are travelling around Tasmania also. We went out to a 60’s diner with them one evening and had hamburgers with fries of course, a great night out with juke box music and all. We visited a honey farm at Chudleigh just outside Deloraine and they had so many varieties with tastings as well it was hard to choose. From Deloraine we drove onto Longford and stayed at which we say is the best caravan park in Tasmania right beside the Macquarie River, a wonderful spot. A great bakery also ... read more
February 17th 2012
It's been a few days since I last published an update, mostly because we've been traveling around quite a bit and it's been difficult to find time to concentrate on writing. It's good timing that I'm able to post an update tonight...I'll be able to capture the entire Tasmania leg in one big post! Last time I posted we were getting ready to fly over to Tassie. We braved the Melbourne public transit system with flying colors on Wednesday morning and made it to the airport with time to spare. Our flight was super early -- we had to be at the airport by 7am. Needless to say both Ali and I were mightly tuckered out and it was quite a chore dragging our collective asses through the public trans. I give us both "Two Fosters ... read more
