Winter in Taz

So yes, it is winter here in Tasmania! It's just so bizarre to think that it may snow on the 4th of July! The short days are definitely requiring some adjusting - it gets pretty dark here by 4:30, so subsequently I'm hungry at 5pm and ready for bed by 7pm. So far I've been fighting that, but it's tough when it's cold and dark!
I'm a bit confused by winter here, aside from it being super dark and some of the leaves falling, many of the plants act like it's summer. Many of the trees are flowering here (like this crazy beautiful tree below; I have NO idea what it is!), the roses are in bloom, and on my way in to school today I saw a lemon tree whose branches were weighted down with ripe lemons. The parrots outside our building aren't fantastic indicators of winter either. If this is winter, what will summer be like? I have high hopes that it will be positively tropical, but I don't think that will be the case....

Hobart!

So this is Hobart! Well, part of it anyway. In the background is Mount Wellington, which is the impressive backdrop to the west of the city. I took this picture from the waterfront, it's really a bay, but the river flowing into it is called the Derwentwater River.
Hobart is gorgeous, a lot bigger than I expected, but very nice. The City is broken up into lots of little suburbs, which extend for over 15 km N-S along the river, it's impressive! The downtown area is really nice, it looks like there are some great little shops, markets, and wharfs with excellent seafood. I have lots of pictures to post, so more to come!

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I'm going to a land down under...

t minus 45 minutes and counting! Perhaps I shouldn't be spending this time online...
Anyway, I leave for the airport shortly, and after several very long flights, I will arrive in Hobart, Tasmania (hopefully!). Graduation was this past weekend, and it was fantastic - a terrific party at the house de Tina, lots of family members, lots of beer, lots of fun. I can only hope that Hobart will have people and times half as fantastic as those here in Eugene!

Only a few short weeks til I go Down Under! I've managed to make the rest of my time in Oregon exciting though!
In early May I had my "Defensorama", where I defended my dissertation, so I suppose I'm now a Rock Doctor...that has a nice ring to it. It was a really crazy experience; after 5 years of grad school for it all to be over in an hour was kind of a shock to the system! But I had friends and family come into town, which was great, and we threw a nice Mexican fiesta that night.

Countdown to Taz

I created this blog to document my upcoming travels in Tasmania. Departure: 7 weeks! That sounds like a lot right now, but it really isn't....