 |
| View of the Huon River from the veranda of our new vacation home. Nice! |
 |
| Cozy dining area. |
As always, it takes a few days to feel settled as we discover where everything is located, how to use locks, appliances, the TV “source” or “input” buttons for use of the HDMI cord and for the best signal from the Wi-Fi.
After chatting online with Australia’s primary internet service provider yesterday we’ve figured out the best data plan for our SIM card and hotspot which we’ll use as an adjunct to the house’s slow Wi-Fi connection. I’ll use the hotspot while Tom uses and house signal. Unfortunately, neither works well if we share one of the signals simultaneously.
 |
| The living room/lounge area suits our needs. Plus, the sofa is comfortable! |
After we uploaded yesterday’s post, we headed to the town of Huonville (see map below), a15 minute drive, to arrive at the local grocery store, Woolie’s (as Woolworth’s is called in Australia) complete our food shopping.
 |
| The galley kitchen works well for us. The range is toward the far left, as shown in the next photo below. Tom’s happy there’s a dishwasher! |
Tom usually stays in the car reading a book on his phone while I shop. He gauges how long I’ll be and comes into the market to help to load the items on the conveyor belt.
In Australia, shoppers must bring their grocery bags or will be charged varying amounts for recyclable bags. We’ve kept the yellow insulated Costco bag, the Africa cloth bag we purchased in Kenya over three years ago and a smaller insulated bag the owners in Maui left for us as a gift. These same bags have served our shopping needs throughout our travels.
 |
| Tom, the perfect French press guy, makes ideal coffee every time. Guess we won’t be using the toaster. |
Since arriving two days ago, we’ve spent AU $515, US $389 for groceries but it appears we’ll have enough food to last for more than a week. This may seem to be a substantial amount but included in these items were paper products, bottled water, enough grass-fed meat for over a week, spices, organic produce, and more.
Typically, when we arrive at a new location, our first grocery bill is in this range. However, in the subsequent weeks, the expenditure is considerably less, usually well under AU $265, US $200.
 |
| This spacious master bedroom is located on the main level with a roomy en suite bathroom. |
The drive from the house to Huonville was pleasant with the gorgeous scenery along the way, photos of which we’ll share in tomorrow’s post. We can’t wait to go to Hobart tomorrow to take more pictures of this fantastic part of the world.
 |
| The laundry room has a washer located next to the master bathroom. There’s a dryer in the garage. We haven’t had a dryer since Trinity Beach, Australia, in June 2015. So, of course, for almost ten months during this period, our laundry was done for us. |
As its turns out, we are located in the town of Geeveston. Here’s a bit of info about this small town with a population of about 1500, from this site:
Geeveston is a small Australian town south of Tasmania on the Huon River, 62 km southwest of Hobart, making it Australia’s most southerly administrative center.
The town takes its name from William Geeves, an English settler who Lady Jane Franklin gave a land grant in the area then known as Lightwood Bottom (after a type of timber prevalent in the area).
The settlement Geeves set up was renamed Geeves Town in 1861, and the name eventually became Geeveston. Geeveston is for local government purposes included in the area of the Huon Valley Council and is part of the division of Franklin for both Australian House of Representatives and Tasmanian House of Assembly electoral purposes. (Continued below).
 |
| The master bath fulfills our needs with plenty of fluffy towels, robes, and amenities. |
Geeveston is on the Huon Highway and is the gateway to the Hartz Mountains National Park. It is the center of Tasmania’s apple and fruit-growing industry and has also been highly reliant on the timber industry since the late 19th century.
A pulp mill was opened in the town in 1962, and was Geeveston’s largest employer until the plant closed in 1982, devastating the area economically. The Forest & Heritage Centre, a tourist center that details the timber industry’s history in the area, is located in Geeveston.
Although Geeveston is quite a small town, we’re very close to several other small towns:
 |
| Zoom in to see Geeveston, located south of Port Huon, shown on this map. |
 |
| The pool is covered, which is easily removed by a cranking device. If it warms up, we’ll use it. More photos of the backyard will follow once it stops raining. |
Photo from one year ago today, January 18, 2016:
 |
| Our ship, the Celebrity Solstice, which we’ll board again in Sydney on March 1, looked huge while docked at the Port of Tauranga, New Zealand. For more details, please click here. |