Saturday in Hobart and Richmond

Early Saturday morning I went birding at the Hobart Water Reserve and saw a few Tasmanian endemics (birds only found in Tasmania). After that we had a very hearty "English" breakfast in the hotel. Then Nan went shopping at the very vibrant Saturday outdoor market in Hobart and snagged a beautiful hand knit sweater for Ivy and several other brilliant purchases. (The beast is getting very full...I doubt that it will make the 25 kilo limit for the trip home.) While Nan shopped, I went to the Royal Botanic Garden in search of more birds.

My earlier description of Tasmania as similar to New England is completely wrong. While Hobart is 42 degrees south, the climate is nothing like Boston. The average summer high is in the 70s and winter low in the high 30s, so there is an abundance of palms and other tropical plants, and parrots and lorikeets abound. The trees in the Botanic included both massive oaks and massive palms 3' in diameter.

In the afternoon we drove about 15 miles out of town to Richmond, which was the adminstrative center of Tasmanian in the 1820s when it ws a penal colony. Many of the orginal stone buildings remain and today Richmond is a very beautiful village with stone houses and beautiful gardens. The surrounding countryside is beautiful rolling hills, pastures, and vineyards.

The bridge was built by prisoners in 1823.

We spotted our first echinda as it was crossing the street, and it then posed for us in a nearby garden. It and the platypus are the only two egg-laying mammals (monotremes). Also spotted brilliant green red-faced parrot and another type of lorikeet.

Just one example of beautiful trees now in bloom in Tasmania. Nan is accumulating a great collection of amazing flower photos.