Photos from Tasmania Trip

We loved our trip to Tassie. We flew into Launceston, where we went to the Trowunna Wildlife Park, did a Tamar Valley wine tour, etc.

Then we drove to Hobart, stopping along the way at Nant Distillery in Bothwell for a tour and whiskey tasting. In Hobart, we went to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), had dinner at Garagistes, went on a Gourmania Food Tour, went to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, and toured the Cascade Brewery.

It was a pretty great time, mostly just food, wine, art and animals! We got a pat a Tassie devil, and got to hold a wombat joey, which made me very happy! :)

A very happy Amanda - holding a wombat joey

Nant Distillery in Bothwell

MONA

Matthew giving food and scratches at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Here's the album with our photos from the trip, and a couple of videos. 

Tasmania Trip

This is Australia

I came across a cool book - This is Australia by M. Sasek. Miroslav Sasek created children's travel guides to big cities of the world, beginning with This is Paris in 1958. This is Australia was originally published in 1970, so some of the facts are now outdated. However, I really like his illustrations.

Here are photos of the book, if you're interested.

This is Australia by M. Sasek

LEGO Sculpture

Artist Nathan Sawaya makes sculptures entirely out of LEGO, and we went to his Art of the Brick exhibit recently. Here's Matthew with a LEGO friend.

2011 Sculpture by the Sea

On 6 November, I went to Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi with Angelica and Natasha. As expected, it was crowded and hot. However, we had a lovely time.

Here is the link to the rest of my pictures from the day.

Art & About

The other day, M and I walked to Town Hall to see an art installation that's part of the Art & About Sydney festival. "Tsunami 1.26" by American artist Janet Echelman is a big floating lace sculpture that is currently anchored above George Street, between Town Hall and Woolworths. The rope has a tensile strength 15 times stronger than steel, and the netting was machine-knotted in a pattern based on a 3D model of the tsunami after the 2010 earthquake in Chile.

(Click photo to enlarge.)

(Click photo to enlarge.)

It's interesting during the day, but I'd like to go back to see it lit up at night, when I bet it's even better.

A Long Walk with Stops for Cheese and Beer

On Tuesday, Matthew and I went on a long walk, about 5 to 6 miles. We started at our apartment, walked up to Pyrmont and walked through the Sydney Fish Markets, which is fun, even if just having a browse. In addition to lots of fish (both raw and prepared), there is a florist and a nice deli there, too. We were tempted, but didn't buy anything, since we were walking and wouldn't be home for a while.

From there, we walked over to Harris Street to the gourmet shop Simon Johnson. We bought some Valrhona chocolate and some cheese -- Roy Des Vallees, a semi-hard sheep and goat's milk French cheese from the Pyrenees. Simon Johnson has a lot of delicious looking items, but it's quite expensive. Also, they really only had dry goods, a coffee bar and the cheese room. For some reason, I thought they would also have a deli/charcuterie, but they didn't.

Then, we walked over to the CBD, to the David Jones Foodhall, where we bought some bread, fruit and some ham, and continued on to the Royal Botanic Garden, where we ate our picnic lunch. Here's Diana, atop a cool water fountain in the Garden.

Afterwards, we strolled over to The Rocks, had a pint at The Lord Nelson Brewery, and then caught the train home. What a lovely, leisurely afternoon.

Finally, we passed by this new mural someone painted on the side of a house near our train station.