TASMANIA!!!

We flew out of Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania today. . .early this morning. My first impression of Tasmania lived up to John's colleagues assessment that Tasmania is the "Jewel of Australia". It is verdant. . . with both natural forests and a ton of agriculture. These first few shots were taken from the airplane as we were approaching the Hobart airport.







 We also felt a sort of cultural shift as we got off the airplane into the airport. Mind you, the Hobart airport is tiny relative to the Melbourne International airport.

One thing that the Tasmanian's take VERY SERIOUSLY is the importation of any agricultural product. They have a fruit/veggie smelling BEAGLE. You can't make this stuff up! It was so cute it almost killed me.








First impressions, of course, can always be misleading. But as we walked out to our rental car (there's a whole 'nother blog post that needs to written on driving-on-the-left), I told John "This feels so different. So calm and laid back". What a lovely start to this vacation. My only concern as I look forward to another 6 days in Tasmania is that there is just too much to
see. . .too many hikes that will be left unwalked. . .too many former prison colonies unexplored. But that just means that we can come back again. . .right?