Tasmania - Touring the city of Hobart and Botanical Gardens

I arrived in Hobart Tasmania and found I was staying in the oldest hotel in Hobart...dating back to 1836. It was very quaint and was quite regal in the room furnishings...take a look...

So after lunch I began a tour of the city...and found a beautiful botanical garden...along with some very historic buildings dating back to when Hobart was first settled as a British colony so that the French would not take it for themselves!!...  First a picture of the city with the harbour outlining the city of some 200,000,,,,

Then a picture of Mt. Wellington....hidden by clouds....the temperature is quite cool and Mt. Wellington is often in the clouds....but later I will try and get a better shot...

And as I make my way to the Botanical Gardens we pass but one example of the quaint homes here in Hobart...

The garden was highlighted by such beautiful flowers....just look at these babies...

The Japanese Gardens were wonderful....look at these shots of the garden and waterfall....

The entrance to the garden was quite charming and look at this water mill.....

Okay...I will leave you today with this shot of me in the garden...and for some reason I seem to be secondary to the garden behind me.....you can tell I should clearly be in the center...LOL!!!

Okay....tomorrow it is a day trip to Port Arthur....when I was in Tasmania several years ago I found Port Arthur to be one of he highlights of my whole trip to Australia/New Zealand....when you see the pictures  you will understand why....

Melbourne...was wet...rained daily for both days...yuck!!

Well Melbourne was a washout...I spend the day in the museum....but I have to tell you...it was really cool there....they have these cable cars...everywhere!!!  Easy to use and run until the early morning hours.. and some are on a free route...just hop on and off.

So these couple days were not lost....because I found something for two special people by the last name of Russell....first of all in Melbourne they have a street named after them...a fairly big street...busy...and hey...I did not find any Ward street...so take a look at this for the Russell boys...

How cool huh?  Well ....lo and behold....as I continued walking back to my hotel in the rain...getting my little...well you know..wet and wetter!!  I discover this...

Now....I need to explain....both of these Russell men...are big fans of Makers Mark!!  Big time fans...so how ironic is it...that I not only find a street named from them...but a building...there own Makers Mark building!! Goodness gracious...I could almost see the red wax running down the side of this place!!

But before we get too excited...I have the rest of the story....It like an earlier Blog photo in New Zealand....has this ending...

Yep....like Jesus in New Zealand....Makers Mark is For Lease....but, that is a good sign...it is still out there...not For Sale....but For Lease!!...Enjoy my Makers Mark Russell men!!

Moving on to Tasmania....way way way down under...but still part of Australia....

A Saturday to remember......Mardi Gras in Sydney

One of the World's largest party nights is about to begin....it is Mardi Gras time in Sydney, Australia...a coming together of GLBT persons to celebrate with the World....and I am here to tell you...now that it is the day after...it was one BIG party...thousands and thousands were involved.  In the early hours before the parade the streets were sealed off within 2 blocks of the parade...and Hyde Park across from my hotel was sealed off to protect the park as well as prevent injury to the parade celebrants.  So here is what it looked like from my hotel room about 3:00 in the afternoon...some 4 hours before the parade....

About 4:00pm I begin my trek to a reserved seat at the parade.  A reserved seat because there was food and drink...and more important toilets....don't laugh...this is a 4 hour parade...and with drink being very plentiful...it may come in handy....but I have to admit I only used it after the fact...way too much parade action to leave my seat.

As I trek up the street...and realize the streets were sealed off with barricades.....  the sidewalk was the only way to navigate the 20+ blocks to my seat location.  But there were sights on the way....

One of these guys you will see later as part of the parade...very unique I might add....

And yes...the police were out in force...hundreds....of them...on bike, horseback and walking....

It took about and hour to reach my seat location....and I settled in for the festive evening.  I watch the make-up artists at work on anyone who wanted their face painted in festive Mardi Gras color.  And socialized with persons from Scotland, Thailand, United States, South America and a lot from Australia/New Zealand.  

Later when I took my glass of Rose to my seat I sat there and began noticing these large birds...at first I thought they were crow...NOT....they were flying fox...in the States I call them bats!!  Yes, these were huge BATS...flying all over the place just a dusk.  Take a look at this one....

Soon I looked over my head in the trees and see this guy hanging on....YIKES....but then I got distracted and forgot about it....only realizing when I put these pictures together...this was hanging over my head for quite a while....

Let me get to this parade...I have to begin by saying I have never attended a parade with so many participants...some of the units had 200 or 300 participants...and this was a 4 hour parade...great music...dancing...but different from a parade in the US....no throwing of candy, beads, or any other trinkets....just a great time for everyone.  It began with motorcycle groups...Guys and Gals on Bikes..

There were police units.....construction/trade units....and of course surfer units (yeah...big in Australia...i.e.,Bondi Beach)

Even the Pope was there.....

Opps....NOT!!

There were water polo teams....swim teams....sailing teams....

Superman was there along with a unit with Kilts...to show that...as you guessed any undergarment was in his hand....not on his body!!!!

There was a lot of music...most of it recorded...but here is one of the marching band units...associated with the Wizard of OZ unit (some 200+ strong) along with the Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion...

The costumes of some of the units were outstanding.  Beautiful and huge feather outfits were the main attraction for units from Thailand and other Asian Countries....

and these beauties....

and remember the guy I captured a picture of on the way to the parade?  Well here he is again....

Yep...one of the "Gayola" group.....go figure.

There were these vehicles in the parade...

Now that would be a great way to get back to the hotel.....but here a couple lasting pictures of the parade...

There were a hundred other images I could have selected of the parade...But this could go on and on...let me give you one of two couples on the street as I made my way to party time...

and this...is what I faced for the next few hours....

And so about 6:00 am...I toast to my friends at Red Rock.....one last shot!!

What happened to Bob??

Evening....well morning to some....

I know some of my followers have wondered..."what happened to Bob?...Have not seen a blog in a couple days."...Fear not BBF (Bob's' Blog Follower) I am in Sydney taking a week before I head further down under to Melbourne and Tasmania.  I met up with a former co-worker Matt Johnson here in Sydney and have been just 'hang-in out'.

One of the best parts of just being in Sydney at this time of year is the weather.  A t-shirt and jeans or shorts is about it for the past 4 days.  This is while I mix with the regular tourists - minus camera.  I decided to put down the camera for a few days and just relax.  Fear not tomorrow will be a major photo shoot.  Why?  Tomorrow is Mardi Gras here in Sydney.  The largest party/parade conclave for GLBT people.  Over 1 million are expected to participate....but I have to be honest....no signs of any of those 1 million yet.  But I am told....wait till Saturday (tomorrow)!!

Being tourist includes shopping, theater, tourist traps, sights on a must see list.  All of those and more...Matt and I walked the streets of Sydney shopping...some clothes, candy and of yeah what would be complete without a a visit to the Apple store !!

As for theater I went to see "Boy from Oz"...the Peter Allen story which was a Tony nominated and award show in the States with Hugh Jackman.  But the current touring production with Todd McKenney.  Todd was the original "Peter Allen" in the hit show.  He created the role and is now doing a reprise.  An outstanding performance!!  Peter Allen as some will remember most was the husband of Liza Minelli....and a favorite of her mother Judy Garland.

Tourist traps and sights.....everywhere I guess...but here in Sydney it is the Opera House, harbour area, zoo, hop-on-hop-off Ferry (like the hop-on and hop-off bus of course).  Traps?....Luna Park and Watsons Bay....only there for the tourist - with the likes of restaurants/bars and fun parks for young and old kids!!  Maybe I should include the Zoo Ferry on the "trap" list...since they have a ferry boat that is exclusive to take you to the zoo...at $49.50 each!!  Yeah....the zoo!!

Okay...here is my most breaking story for this blog....I have not downgraded to a carry-on bag and my back-pack!!!!!  YIKES!!!  But, true my friends....now let us see where we started from in my saying I could never do this with a carry-on....I had the likes of the following....

Yeah...there I am at Washington Dulles with my "huge" duffle bag(20+ kilo)....and a stuffed carry-on (12+ kilo)!! Oh, and I also have a back-pack (10kilo) not in this picture.  Well, what transpired after a 3 weeks was a realization that less is better....more is out of the question.  So I am no down to approximately 17 kilo in a carry-on bag and a back-pack of 10 kilo!!  The weight of the "round the world" has been lifted off my back and shoulders.  The excess bags?  One was mailed home from New Zealand after I bought the carry on bag at the airport in Sydney....the large duffle (never has been and never would be a carry-on) was taken back to the States by my friend Matt....

So this is what I look like now heading to the airport...no need to check bags...just hop on!!

Wait a minute...did I say I had put the camera down for a few days?  Well, just one picture taken in the last 5 days....I just had to show you the breaking news on luggage.

Okay....tomorrow is the big parade for Mardi Gras and I will have pictures....you won't want to miss it!!