What a day! Let me first start by saying that things are much cheaper and nicer in that regard. Our combined breakfast was less than the cost of breakfast in Sydney, and the one here included a variety of hot foods, not just a Continental breakfast. I of course, had my vegemite and toast. I have learned to appreciate the subtlety of the taste. It is pretty good if you slather the toast in butter first and then scrape a very thin layer on the toast.

We got up fairly early and got on the road. It appears that the majority of the Tasmania vacation will be about driving somewhere else. :-) Hobart to Port Arthur is about 90 minutes total drive. However, driving in Tasmania is significantly easier than it was in New South Wales. I am sure it is because of the size of the states in terms of population. Also, Tasmania only has a few main roads we have seen to this point.

Three natural wonders along the way demanded we stop. The first was the Tasman arch. Basically, a rock formation caused by erosion of limestone by the wind and ocean. Still very cool. Not unlike some of what we saw in Victoria on the Great Ocean Road. But, we dug it. The second stop was the Devil's Kitchen. This was another formation that had eroded significantly more than the arch. The resultant hole in the rock allowed waves to churn in multiple directions, making it look like a boiling pot. Also very cool, but harder to shoot pictures. We did our best. Our last stop was the first stage in this erosion. A blow hole. The blow hole is basically the first push of the ocean through the rock. It results in a small (relatively) hole that allows the ocean to push in, and when the waves crest on the ocean side of the hole, the water pushes through and spews spray out the earth side. Also very cool. Colleen managed to collect some good shots of water spray.

From there, our next stop was the Tasmanian Devil Park. It actually had a ton of native Tasmanian animals, but the highlight is the devils. There are two pens. One has immature devils, the other more mature examples. They did not disappoint. We were able to capture several pictures, and stuck around to watch them fed. That was impressive, as they hung the wallaby carcass onto an elastic cord and tied it to a tree. The devils jumped at it, and fought with one another. It turns out the devil will gorge itself on as much as it can eat, so they prefer to provide them the competition and allow some of the devils to miss the meal. They are fed regularly, since the devils actually were out and looking at those of us along the wall as we approached the feeding time, but when Colleen and I first got there, they seemed to not care.

The last stop for the day was Historic Port Arthur. It did not disappoint. The weather did not quite cooperate, as we had intermittent rain showers, and a ton of wind, but it didn't really matter. The sites were impressive. At one point, we took a ferry tour to the Isle of the Dead. This was the burial grounds for the prisoners and free men of Port Arthur. That tour was interesting, though we had a drunk couple that continued to talk loud enough to make it tough to hear the guide over the wind. After boarding the ferry to head back to the main part of the tour, we were informed that we were less than 2000 nautical miles from Antarctica. Very interesting stuff. The tour of the prison was short, but allowed us to explore the grounds fairly freely. Except that a few of the buildings shut down at 5 PM and our tour started at 4:30. Oh well, we still got lots of pictures, and lots of interesting information about the prison. We also found our new piece of art at the souvenir store. It is an abstract representation of the ocean and the coast represented in a bowl. Very cool stuff.

On the drive back, we stopped at the Dunalley Hotel and Restaurant. Some good prawns, some good chicken strips, and some awesome chocolate. Dinner was tasty. By the time we arrived back at the hotel, we hit rain. There was actually discussion on the radio that we'd see snow in some parts of the state. WOW! Summer time snow. I had wanted to go down to the Hogs Breath Cafe and Saloon and see if there were any highlights or delayed tape of the Super Bowl, but open late is apparently subjective, and the restaurant was closed. That means we went back to the liquor store (bottle shop, whatever) and scored a couple of six packs of beer. Drinking in the hotel room and Clerks on the TV. I suppose it is cheaper this way.

Well, it turns out that SBS did actually have the Super Bowl on TV. Serious tape delay, and outstanding editing means that we were spared all the time outs and other play stoppage. The only thing they didn't really edit was the halftime show. We were forced to watch Jurassic Rock in the form of the Rolling Stones. I didn't worship them 20 years ago, and they have had three farewell tours I know of since then. Still, it was pretty sweet to be able to watch some Super Bowl XL, though it is now Tuesday morning just after midnight here in Tasmania. I suppose that really means that the Super Bowl should have appeared in my Day 28 posting, but since I don't have Internet access, I get the luxury of editing after the fact.

Cheers!