Oddly enough, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was playing on the plane over to Sydney; the movie basically inspiring me to travel… but it’s just so bad I can’t bring myself to watch it a second time.
Anyways, I’ve made it to Hobart, Tasmania in Australia! I am currently sitting on my deck listening to a very loud, odd sounding bird, looking out to the beautiful mountain range and bay in the distance. Although it’s winter, I’m very comfortable with bare feet, yoga pants, a tee shirt and a cardigan at 11:13AM.
View on my way to class/from my balcony
It is very clean here! For the first two days I didn’t see any trash outside of a trashcan. Once I thought I saw a few gum wrappers in the road, but they ended up being the remains of an interesting looking plant. I exclaimed how clean it was to my Swedish roommate, and he didn’t think it was any cleaner here than his home… (way to go, New York).
Organic products AND aesthetics!
Tasmania is considered the “natural state” of Australia, so a lot of the products sold here are organic (in the city of Hobart, at least). There are also a lot of local products at the super markets and at the boutiques in the city.
Yesterday I spent six hours walking from Sandy Bay to Hobart, shopping and talking to store owners, and trying to find my way around. I got home around 4:30PM, and realized that from the time I left the house till when I got home, I counted three pieces of trash total… A leather strap that looked like it belonged to a purse, an empty cardboard cup near campus, and an abandon water bottle that looked like someone was coming back for.
PS: Things are very expensive here, but minimum wage is $18. It all makes more sense now.
In addition to touring the city on my own, I’ve been on a hike with a few friends! It was snowing pretty hard near the top of Mt. Wellington, but we had a great time.
View from Mt. Wellington
Lots of snow up towards the top!
Well, I don’t have that much for you… I’ve only been here a few days.
Until next time!
-Patty
Hey patty, it sounds great. It is nice to hear how clean it is there. It is quite hot here but rain is on its way for he next three days. Hope you are enjoying your classes. Love you
Glad to hear from you!