Well, so much for the beach. We awoke to Australian rain. That meant it was misty and annoying, but rainy enough that beach would not be a good thing.

However, we didn't let that get us down. It meant we had the chance to do the Cadbury Chocolate Tour. Oh yeah! Cadbury makes a ton of chocolate here in Australia. And, mighty tasty stuff. Of course, like any good tour, we got some free samples, and the chance to buy discounted chocolate at the store. Well worth it. They were very nice, and we learned a lot about the chocolate making process. I was disappointed that the tour guide couldn't tell us anything about Cadbury in the U.S. She suspected that Hershey's makes the chocolate under license from Cadbury, or it is imported from Canada, but the number of items is significantly lower. We got to try our first Turkish Delight. Not really sure what the big deal is. Colleen and I both left with an "ehh" feeling and definitely wouldn't go out of our way to get more of it.

The Cadbury plant was far enough out of town that Colleen and I decided we'd take a shot at visiting Richmond. It is one of the last small towns on the Convict Trail, the designation to the series of towns, prisons, factories, and gaols all over the Southern tip of the state. We started out with a visit to the Richmond Maze. A couple of labyrinths built expressly to allow tourists to waste some time and money, and we did both. I thought it was very cool. Colleen and I both got a bit worried about the second maze, as it didn't dead end but did spend a lot of time making circles. We both thought it had been only 20 or so minutes we had been in the maze, but it turned out we were in there for a bit more than an hour. We scored a couple of pictures and moved on.

The next stop was the miniature Hobart Historic Village. The second such model from our Australia trips (the first was in the pictures from Melbourne last year, thought not nearly as detailed) this represented the way Hobart looked in the middle 1800's. It offered some pictures for perspective, and since we had been in town for a week, we actually recognized a few of the current pictures. It was interesting to see that parts of town we had walked through were actually part of the original wharf, and had only been filled in by convicts in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Lunch was at Ma Foosie's. A quaint little eatery. We ate light again for lunch (we were pretty hopped up on chocolate anyway) and then it was off to our next stop.

The Richmond Gaol Historic Site. The Goal in Richmond is the oldest Gaol in Australia, built in 1825. Most of the original structure is actually intact, which is amazing. I guess the bush fires that ravaged this state several different times didn't make it into Richmond. Colleen and I really enjoy historical sites, and this one was full of some interesting stories. Of course, I found it comical that most of the stories chronicled escape attempts. Colleen bought a book that tells an amalgam of stories that detail the convict experience in the state.

Rain had started falling actively (as opposed to the misty rain we've seen so much of) and so we had to call it a day. I did convince Colleen to go to the Richmond Bridge. It is the oldest bridge in Australia, constructed in 1823, and except for some surface work is still the original structure. That was fascinating to me, and I scored another picture.

Back to the room and time to consider packing and other responsible duties. Or, maybe just vegetation in front of the TV and catch up on the blogging. I know that we have taken a ton of photos this trip, and just going through them is proof this trip was worth it all. :-)

We decided to drive into North Hobart for dinner. I saw a Mexican restaurant, and thought we could give it a try. It ended up like every other Mexican restaurant in a foreign country. The food channels Mexican, but is not in any way shape or form Mexican. Plum sauce on a Chimichanga should be an initial indicator. Another was celery and broccoli in a tostada. Of course, the other important piece is that once again, blender technology seems to escape this country. We had margaritas. They at least resembled margaritas, but I couldn't even tell if there was any tequila in them. They also came frozen. There was no option for on the rocks. I saw that they had effectively slurpee machines spinning some form of frozen concoction, and they added whatever flavor or alcohol you asked for. Very interesting. Lastly, ground beef escapes this country as well. Getting something with beef tips when you aren't expecting so can create a negative dining experience. Now, readers realize that I'd normally include a link here, but this food was so bad, I wasn't about to link to their site and pretend I liked it. ;-)

So, I was doing some looking around and I found out something interesting. It is a good perspective the Tasmanians have about their relationship to Australia. Tasmania has two islands; King Island and Flinders Island. Some of the locals also consider the main island a part of Tasmania. They call it the "North Island." :-) I just had to share that.

Checkout time is 10AM. I don't know why. That means we'll have from 10-ish until 5PM when our flight leaves. I asked about a late checkout, but that is another concept that escapes the Australians in general. I don't know what we're going to do with that time, but I can assure you it is going to be touch and go. Hopefully, we won't end up spending all 7 hours in the airport. The Hobart airport seems significantly smaller than being entertained there allows.

Derek's being nice when he says it was a "negative dining experience!" I ordered the tostadas hoping for something different than chicken. Not very receptive when I bit into a bite of beef fat!!! Oh well, live and learn! I'll stick with chicken!!!lol I'm really sad our vacation is ending! Hopefully we'll bring home the souvenir that my mom asked for!!!(if you've been reading this blog early on you'll know what that is ;) I can't remember that I actually worked before this vacation!!! G'Day!!!

Cheers!