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| Regardless of the roads we take to explore the area; we’ve never been disappointed. This scene reminded us of what one may find in a painting. |
Leaving Penguin in six days will be relatively easy in many ways. We won’t have to be concerned about leftover nonperishable foods. We can take what remains with us.
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| Beautiful farmland. |
We won’t have to weigh our luggage or pack as neatly as usual when flying or boarding a cruise. We’ll save those concerns for March 1st (50 days from today) when we’ll fly to Sydney to board yet another cruise.
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| A pond nestles among the rolling hills. |
The five-hour drive to the Huon Valley will hopefully be as pleasurable as driving through the countryside when we arrived in Hobart on December 3rd, taking two leisurely days to make our way to Penguin. But, this time, we’ll do it in one day.
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| Organized and neat plantings on a farm. |
Hobart is actually a less than four-hour drive from Penguin, as Terry explained yesterday. However, the new vacation home is another 45 minutes beyond the capital city. We’ll certainly take plenty of photos along the way, sharing them for many days to come.
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| A view down a ravine. |
We still have hundreds of photos we’ve yet to post, with hundreds more on the horizon over these next 50 days, including a few outings we have planned for the remainder of this week.
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| River flowing along the rocky riverbank. |
As mentioned above, leaving Penguin will be easy based on organizing and packing requirements. However, there another aspect that’s causing us a degree of apprehension. We’ve loved it here. It will be hard to leave.
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| The bright blue sea of Tasmania never fails to impress. |
There’s no doubt that our new friend and landlord Terry has tremendously added to our experience in Penguin. This house (click here for the listing) has been ideal for us with its well-equipped kitchen, comfortable dining room, living room, three bedrooms, and neatly trimmed grounds.
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| Three Sisters Reserve on the road to Ulverstone. |
We prefer a three-bedroom house when possible, although if necessary we’re fine with one bedroom. But, having a bedroom for sleeping and two additional bedrooms allowing us to keep our luggage lying open on the bed(s) with everything available is quite a nice perk. This prevents us from having to unpack entirely and also to repack with great ease.
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| There are 8222 islands within the maritime border of Australia. |
Then, of course, the views have been breathtaking. So as I sit here now in the living room on the comfy leather sofa, I need only look out the front windows for an exquisite view of the sea.
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| Frequently used train tracks run along the beach for many miles/kilometers. |
Each day over the past week, as the temperatures have warmed, sitting on the front veranda for a healthy dose of Vitamin D has been a thoroughly delightful experience in itself.
With the narrow road and sidewalk in front of the property, between us and the beach, a fairly steady stream of walkers and runners pass by, never failing to wave, say hello, or belt out a hearty “gaday!”
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| A park bench donated by the Ulysses Club with their motto, “Grow Old Disgracefully!” |
Then, there’s been Terry, our personal tour guide, social director, and public relations rep, who’s gone over-the-top to ensure we’ve had an exceptional experience.
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| Low tide at a rocky beach. |
Although not required by us, Terry stops by every few days to either work around the yard or stop to see how we’re doing. He’s very respectful of our privacy and is so with all his tenants. But, early on, he picked up on the fact that we’ve loved his visits. He’s quite an amazing guy!
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| A peek through the trees to low tide. |
It’s through his kind and conscientious efforts that we’ve seen as much as we have, met as many people as he directed our way, and learned as much about Penguin and its surrounding areas in these short six weeks, soon coming to an end.
Today, we’re off on an interesting tour of a countryside facility we’ll be excited to share in tomorrow’s post with more to come over the next several days.
Be well. Be happy. Please check back tomorrow.
Photo from one year ago today, January 10, 2016:
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| View from the ship of a monument in Hobart where we’ll be heading in six days. For more photos from the ship one year ago, please click here. |