our cottage and us

In Hobart, which is the biggest city in Tasmania, we stayed in a fantastic historic neighborhood called Battery Point in a cottage behind an old hotel. I thought I took a picture of the hotel itself, which was charming, but if I did, I can't find it. I did get a picture of the sign advertising our cottage. Note the date - 1834 - on the sign for the hotel.

The view from the cottage was terrific.

Down to the right is where the big harbor opens into the Tasman Sea, the ocean between Tasmania and New Zealand. Hobart, by the way, is the same latitude as Christchurch in New Zealand, which is five hours north of Dunedin.

One day we were there, we saw a cruise ship that had docked in town. Later in the day, back in our cottage, we heard the big blast of the ship's horn, and a bit later we saw the cruise ship leaving the harbor and heading towards open ocean. What made this particularly interesting to us is the fact that the ship was most likely bound toward Dunedin. We've learned that the typical cruise ship pattern goes like this: Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, across the Tasman Sea, then Milford Sound (on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand), around the south tip of the South Island, Dunedin, then up the east coast of New Zealand stopping in Christchurch, Picton, Wellington and a few places on the North Island. My aunt and uncle took that route, as did some friends from Seattle, and in both cases we met their ship in Port Chalmers, down the harbor from Dunedin, and took them around Dunedin for the day. Anyone interested in a cruise? Come visit us that way!

The hotel served breakfast upstairs, and the deck outside the dining room had great views for taking photos. Since some of our blog viewers have been asking for more photos of us, here you go.