The Drive Of Your Life...

Aztec and I, looking good at 10am

...Happens to be in Tasmania. The sweeping bends, the autumn leaves tumbling across the road, the hydro electric power plant, the hills, the valleys,

The Hill Valleys?

It's like a car advert, although I haven't seen many ads for converted people carriers wizzing around mountainside roads like this

The dented barrier is a sign that the barrier works.

The route was the only sensible one to Hobart, and it was a cracker! Aztec held up surprisingly well, taking each corner like she'd been built to drive country lanes rather than carry 8 people. The 3 and a half litre engine helped a bit on the uphill sections. It took about five hours to get to Hobart, in what should be the longest stint on the road during my time in Tassie, I left early enough to arrive in the state capital around lunch time. I parked Aztec by the water front and had a look about.

Lots of shops and people, but not at the water front, a mix of architecture from various time periods and the usual traffic. The city seemed like a bustling centre of business, but my view may well have been skewed by the isolation and quiet I had spent the previous 5 hours driving through.

The small tourist towns were a distant memory as I wandered through Hobart's city centre, although it did have a couple of unique outlets, namely a distillery/whiskey bar. I partook in a tasting of a couple of the whiskeys on offer and I was dissapointed by the more expensive 'distiller's choice' but my faith in Lark Distillery was restored by the standard single malt, which had a real spicy feel to it (I'm not good at describing whiskey).

I popped into the gallery/museum, which is mostly under construction, so the exhibits were slim. The Antarctic thing was good though, I didn't bother with the ancient coins bit though.

I'm sure this albatross was feeling fabulous.

Loner? Oh, right, the albatross.

Everyman should be prepared for an issue involving cigars

Then back to the waterfront after sending a postcard home. I had some Blue Eyed Tavasomething and chips from one of the little floating fish shops and set off to go to Seven Mile Beach, where I would be spending the night.

After a beer.

It's a Seven Mile Beach with nobody on it.

And that's me for now. Tomorrow I'll be heading somewhere not even a mighty beast like Aztec can tame, which is why I'll be light aircrafting to the south west wilderness first thing in the morning!