05 Feb : Hobart --> SW Tasmania --> Hobart

Wow! Gorgeous! Unbelievable! Must see! +Jill and I got up early, grabbed breakie, and made our way to Par Avion - a small aviation company that flies people to SW Tasmania for [half] day trips or drops them off for their mult-day treks (bush walks).

We got one of the best weather days in recent memory - clear and calm - for our wonderful flight along the coastal area south over Bruny Island and the southern tip of Tassie on our way to landing at Melaleuca with a boat trip to/from Bathurst Harbour.

Words cannot describe this area fairly (perhaps only a poet could do it) and the few photos we've posted here do not suffice. Ask us for Flickr feed access if you want to see more of this region.

In the middle of our boat ride, we stopped and had coffee/tea and biscuits on an almost mirror like setting with natural beauty in 360 degrees. There was NO ONE else present whatsoever other than the 6 of us in a boat in a harbour bigger than Sydney Harbour. Wow!

After this amazement, we returned to Hobart by plane over some peaks that keep out a lot of the rain in the east. About 400 photos were taken but (just for you) we've narrowed it down to about the 150 best.

We had the afternoon to taste wine and this area is hit & miss even for "reputable" or recommended spots. We did find some good stuff - not all of which is available in the states due to our insane import laws. Oh well.

The evening was spent walking to Lark Distillery to taste the rum (the make other stuff) followed by a visit to a restaurant called Ethos. Ethos is a top 5 place for both of us in Australia so far. Simple, fresh, in-season, and just a nice meal, atmosphere, staff, etc, etc. This was a great way to end a spectacular day by walking to and from our studio apartment in North Hobart.