December 18th, 2009

Finally made it to Tasmania! I'm at Cam's place right now typing away on the computer. We flew out of Brisbane yesterday and arrived in Hobart at around 5 in the evening. But get this... it was all lovely and warm and 30 degrees in Brisbane (because it is summertime, obviously), and it WAS 12 DEGREES in Hobart. 12. I know Tasmania is a bit seperated from the rest of the continent so perhaps they missed the memo about the change in seasons. On the plus side, it feels very Christmas-like; more so than anywhere else in Australia if only because I am used to cold holidays. I packed lots of shorts and singlets (tanks) and sadly only one jumper. I am told that this isn't really normal for Hobart in the summer and that apparently the day before we got here it got up to 36 celsius. I will believe this when I feel it. Needless to say, when Phil offered to take Cam and I out for a surf this morning I declined in favour of hiding under an electrically heated blanket with a very hot coffee.

Cam finished teaching last Friday and we moved out of Isaac and Teresa's place the following day. It took three days total to drive down the coast to Brisbane - about 20 hours total. We stopped the first night in Airlie Beach (in the Whitsunday's) and stayed at a friend's place (Kylah). I lived in college with her last year at UQ, and she offered to put us up in the guest suite at her absolutely gorgeous house with loads of windows and an amazing view. Anyway, it was really nice to catch up and I'm really happy I got to see her.

Wemade it to Brisbane on Monday. I was really worried to take out my cookies because I didn't think they would have survived the trip. Luckily the mounds of wax paper and cardboard and tape and plasticware I used to pack them seem to have worked, and none had gone soggy either. We all decorated them at the Marshall's house with icing and sprinkles and they tasted delicious. I made two big batches in Cairns and probably ate about 1/3 or more in cookie dough/cookies (but obviously if I am going to give them as gifts I need to be taste testing to make sure they are edible, which they were). Cam's uncle Brian calls me moose which is sort of why I thoughtit would be fitting to make moose-shaped gingerbreads. But also I liked the moose Aunty M made last year and they remind me of Canada.

I made Cam take me to Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast the next day. It's sort of like a smaller version of Universal Studios. It was excellent except that maybe 10 minutes after we got there and were in line for the Superman roller coaster it started to rain. Actually no, it was pouring. Apparently they can't run some of the rides in the 'rain' so they SHUT DOWN Superman. We got drenched but the rain died down maybe 4 hours later. I highly recommend the Scooby-Doo ride and Lethal Weapon (a roller coaster but your feet dangle out the bottom and the track is above you).