Birds of Tasmania…Seal on the beach …Adorable seal story from Devonport, Tasmania…

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Yesterday, friend and landlord Terry took this photo of a seal lounging on Sisters Beach.
Great shot of the seal checking you out Terry!

Yesterday afternoon, Terry emailed these two seal photos he’d taken on a visit to Sister’s Beach, a distance from Penguin. I misunderstood him and thought he’d seen the seal at Three Sisters Reserve, a short distance from our vacation home.

A baby emu.
Adult emus.

Later in the day, we jumped in the car to drive to the area I thought he’d seen the seal, hardly expecting to see it. We assumed that most likely as the tide had gone out, so had the seal. By the time we arrived, it was high tide and our hopes were dashed. No seal.  Today, I discovered that it was Sisters Beach, not Three Sisters.  We’d gone to the wrong beach.

The cockatoo, commonly seen in the wild.  In Trinity Beach in 2015, we saw them everywhere in large flocks.

Instead, we still revel in Terry’s photos presenting them for our animal lovers out there in cyberspace. Speaking of our readers, two things transpired on our site yesterday; one, for the first time ever, Australia topped the list of countries over the usual number one spot being held by the US over other worldwide readers; two, we almost topped our highest 24 hour readership.

This colorful pheasant refused to turn its head for the photo.  Finally, I gave up trying.

Thanks to all of our Australian readers for visiting us here! We so appreciate your participation! We aren’t able to determine where in Australia they’re reading, only that they enter through somewhere in the continent, including Tasmania and other islands. Your enthusiasm means the world to us!

Black swan.

As for today’s bird photos, we apologize for the less-than-perfect shots. It was a sunny day and I had trouble focusing in the bright sun with our limited equipment. Also, the majority of the birds were enclosed in fine mesh fencing making it extremely difficult to get the kind of shots we’d have preferred.

These birds appeared similar to the Helmeted Guinea Fowls were similar to those in our yard in South Africa.

While researching seals on the beach in Tasmania, I stumbled across this adorable seal story in a Tasmanian media source published this past July. For the full story, please click here.

For the story:

‘Sammy’ the seal found in Devonport cemetery toilet block relocated closer to the ocean

By Laura Beavis
Updated
Sammy the seal in a cage Photo: Sammy was locked in the toilet block before relocation. (Supplied: Devonport Council)  (Not our photo).
“A 120-kilogram seal has been released close to the ocean after being caught napping in a cemetery toilet on Tasmania’s northwest coast.

The male Australian fur seal was found asleep in a cubicle in the female toilets at the Mersey Vale Lawn Cemetery in Devonport on Tuesday.

The council’s Karina Moore said she initially thought it was a joke when a council works crew emailed her about the seal they dubbed “Sammy”.

She said the unusual animal encounter had attracted a lot of attention on the council’s Facebook page.

“It’s been one of those positive stories that we’ve had a lot of fun with, but we know that that animal’s been really safe and looked after by everybody,” she said.

Wildlife biologist Rachel Alderman said Parks and Wildlife officers sedated the seal in the toilet block while they prepared to move it.

“The officers were able to shut the door to the cubicle and keep it contained, which reduced potential issues for the seal and people, so you couldn’t have asked for a better result, really,” she said, “We try to intervene as little as possible, but obviously, in this case, the seal posed a potential risk to itself to get back to the water. It was possibly going to have to cross a road or encounter all sorts of other objects, and also human safety is a concern as well.”

She said the seal probably swam up nearby Horsehead Creek, and it was not unusual for seals to make their way into cities and towns in Tasmania.
“They’re a really abundant species all around Tasmania, particularly in the Bass Strait, and we’ve had them turn up in Cataract Gorge, paddocks, people’s backyards, and now we can add a toilet block in a cemetery to the list.”

The seal was released at a nearby beach.”

Australian Magpie
Today, in order to be out of the way, we’re heading to Ulverstone to purchase a few items while the house is being cleaned. This morning, Tom began watching two more US NFL playoff football games which started at 5:05 am.
Wish we could have taken a better photo of this colorful bird.
One week from today, we’ll be on our way to the Huon Valley for the second half of our three-month stay on the beautiful island of Tasmania. This first half has been glorious and we expect the second half to be equally enjoyable.
Have a beautiful day! It’s sunny and gorgeous here once again today!

Photo from one year ago today, January 9, 2016:

We attended the nightly show with Jane and Rob, our new Aussie friends, whom we’d met aboard Celebrity Solstice. The prior day the ship had docked in Tasmania. For more details, please click here.

More amazing Tasmanian wildlife…US football on Tasmanian TV today!…Meerkats and more…

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Meerkat are marsupials of the mongoose family. For more information on meerkat, see the quote below.

Although the Vikings lost too many games to participate in the NFL Playoffs, Tom is still interested in watching the games to see how the teams will be determined for the upcoming Super Bowl on February 5th, February 6th, in this part of the world.

This was the best shot we could get of the koala who was sound asleep, as usual. These laid back marsupials move slowly and sleep most of the day.

Based on the fact that the playoffs are on TV here at Penguin, we’re anticipating the Super Bowl will be shown in Hobart and its surrounding areas where we’ll soon be moving. In fact, we leave Penguin a week from now.

Koala’s nose pressed against the tree as he slept.

As we begin to wind down for our next location in the Huon Valley, we’ve started using all of our perishable foods and gathering items throughout the house. This particular move will be easy since we don’t have to concern ourselves with baggage weight. 

This photo taken in July, 2015 took our breathe away.  This is a mother Koala with her joey in the pouch (which is the name for all marsupial offspring). A koala joey is the size of a jelly bean with no hair, no ears and is blind at birth. Joeys crawl into the mother’s pocket immediately after birth, staying there until about six months.  To see the post from this date, please click here.

Next Sunday, we can pack. I will prepare the final expenses for the six weeks we will have spent at Penguin to be downloaded next Monday before we depart. In looking at the preliminary expenditures, it seems we spent a little more on Penguin than we did on other islands.  

Meerkats stand on their hind legs to be on the lookout for predators and a possible meal.

Meerkats (from this site)

“These gregarious animals are often seen in groups, and several families may live together in a large community. Squirrel-sized meerkats are mongooses famed for their upright posture. They often stand on their rear legs and gaze alertly over the southern African plains where they live. Mothers can even nurse their young while standing.

Meerkats (also called suricates) work together in numbers. A few will typically serve as lookouts, watching the skies for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles, that can snatch them from the ground. A sharp, shrill call is the signal for all to take cover.

While a few individuals guard the group, the rest busy themselves foraging for the foods that make up their varied diet. Meerkats will eat insects, lizards, birds, and fruit. When hunting small game, they work together and communicate with purring sounds. Meerkats are good hunters and are sometimes tamed for use as rodent-catchers.”
Few perceive living in Australia as “cheap” especially compared to the low cost we incurred living in both Fiji and Bali for a total of eight months over these past twelve months.

Aside from an upcoming three and a half months we’ll be living in Costa Rica beginning on August 1st,  at this point we don’t have specific plans to stay in the same property for longer than two to three months. 

I missed the shot of this goat atop this fence. Moments after she jumped off, she let us take a photo.

Although we’ve loved Penguin, we’ve particularly found six weeks to be a good period of time to stay in most places, as in Phuket, Thailand in 2016. That’s not to say we’d have been disappointed to stay in Penguin a full three months. We’ve loved every single day and will be sad to leave.

When we noticed this Billy goat, we waited a few moments for a better pose.

But, a world journey is just that, a world journey, and our goal is to stay on the move. Of course, there’s the financial considerations.  Staying put three months or more ultimately reduces the overall costs. 

Baby goat posing for a photo.

With all the cruises we’ve embarked upon with much higher “daily rates,” from time to time, it makes sense to stay put long enough to average out the costs. In a mere 12 months, we’ll be taking the cruise to Antarctica, the most expensive of all of our cruises in the past and booked into the future.

Today, with football games on TV, it appears we’ll be staying put.  Its a beautiful sunny day. Maybe when the games end, I’ll be able to talk Tom into a walk to the gorgeous park down the beach.

At last the above Billy goat complied, moving closer to us for a better photo. 

Lately, on sunny days, I’ve been sitting outside on the front veranda for 20 minutes of Vitamin D which I’ve missed since we left Bali on October 30th. The sun and warmth feels fabulous after a number of cloudy, cool and rainy days since we arrived in Tasmania on December 3rd.

For those of you in the “frozen tundra” we wish you safety and well being. For those in blissfully warm climates, we wish you sunshine!

Photo from one year ago today, January 8, 2016:

The ship docked at the Port of Melbourne, one year ago today. For more details, please click here.

Tasmanian wildlife…Amazing surprises! Kangaroos and wombats!

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Joey head and legs hanging out of the pouch.

When we arrived in Australia 19 months ago (after a cruise from Hawaii to Sydney), we flew in Trinity Beach which is located 20 minutes from Cairns in the northern territory/state of Queensland. 

He was an enormous male.    If he’d been standing, he’d be as tall as Tom. His musculature was impressive.

We lived in a nice property with stunning views of the ocean, mountains and hills anticipating that we would see a lot of wildlife. Not surprisingly, there was little wildlife in the residential area in which we lived.    We were more than interested in exploring. After those first days, we were looking forward to seeing our first kangaroo. 

This made us laugh. Only the joey’s legs were sticking out of the pouch.

Our landlord directed us to a nearby field close to the highway where both kangaroos and wallabies resided, relatively easy to spot. We couldn’t have driven there quickly enough.

Mom and joey enjoying the sunny day anticipating treats from visitors.

Once we arrived, we realized we were too far from the kangaroos and wallabies to be able to take good photos. Over those three months in Trinity Beach we returned to that field many times hoping for a better photo, a few of which may be found in this post.

This mom didn’t hesitate to put her joey in a downward position for a handout.

From this site:

“Unlike the young of most other mammals, baby kangaroos are highly underdeveloped and embryo-like at birth. After a gestation of up to 34 days, the jellybean-sized youngster makes the journey from birth canal to pouch by clambering up through its mother’s fur. Once safely in the pouch, the joey suckles solidly for just over two months. 

At around six months, once the youngster is sufficiently well developed, it will leave the pouch for short periods, returning when it needs to feed. Red kangaroos leave the pouch for good at around eight months and continue to suckle for another three to four months; gray kangaroos leave at about 11 months, continuing to suckle until they are as old as 18 months.

Interestingly, female kangaroos are able to suckle two youngsters simultaneously – one in the pouch and one outside, offering two different types of milk, as well as having an egg ready for implantation.”

We made a lot of noise in an attempt to get this wombat to look up for a photo.  It was chow time. Note how he’s  more interested in eating the starchy pellets instead of the slice of pumpkin and the apple, somewhat like humans.

Eventually, after driving through more remote areas and not spotting any wildlife, we decided we couldn’t live in Australia for these extended periods and fail to see its wildlife, unique to the continent. As a result, we contacted the Cairns Tropical Zoo (a rescue facility) to ask if they’d host our visit, give us a tour and share details we could publish for our readers. They were delighted to assist.

Finally, he picked up his head for a side view, immediately returning to his food.

Here’s the link to one of the zoo posts we published at that time. This particular visit in the Cairns area was a little more expansive than our recent visit to Wings Wildlife Park which had a few less species.

Too big for the pouch, but still nursing. As stated above in quotes, joeys can nurse up to 18 months after leaving the pouch.

Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed visiting Wings Wildlife Park, which provides for a few more hands-on experiences than in Cairns. Each facility of this type, including many others, we’ve visited in various parts of the world, have their own unique offerings, providing the visitor an opportunity to appreciate the wildlife more commonly found in each country.

This young kangaroo was relaxed, hoping for a handout.

The kangaroos, seen up close and personal, were a particular highlight of our recent visit, especially seeing the not-so-shy guys firmly enclosed in the safety and comfort of their mom’s pouches.

Scratching.

As we wandered the facility up and down a number of steep inclines and hills, we took dozens of photos many which we’ll continue to share over these next several days, even with new topics we’ll post unrelated to the zoo.

The kangaroos have a huge natural habitat in Wild’s Wildlife Park, which is obviously conducive to procreating successfully in captivity. These two moms both have joeys in their pouches.

The only disappointment in visiting these types of facilities is the difficulty in taking photos of some amazing birds and small creatures enclosed in tightly woven mesh/fences. We’ll include the few good shots we managed along the way.

This joey looked somewhat large to still live in her mom’s pouch.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend engaged in activities that bring you joy and fulfillment as we’ve found in this wonderful place, this Tasmania.

Photo from one year ago today, January 7, 2016:

Tom, for the first time ever, ordered a Caramel Macchiato on the Celebrity Solstice one year ago today. It became his “go to” coffee drink at the Café el Bacio, where each morning we prepared the post. For more details, please click here.

Finally, we saw the notorious Tasmanian Devils..A video!….Fabulous day out!

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In fact, the devils of Tasmania are not as ugly as expected, except when they show their teeth when threatened. The photos we’d taken of the rescued animals, the intent of Wing’s Wildlife Park, left them little reason for them to feel threatened in the spacious habitat in which they comfortably live in the park among other like animals.

Our short video about the Tasmanian Devils.

We didn’t know quite where to begin sharing our photos from yesterday’s visit to Wing’s Wildlife Park in Gunns Plains, Tasmania. There was a wide range of native wildlife only to Australia inspiring us to take many photographs that we were excited to share.

Over the coming days, we will publish photos in groups of animal types based on the fact that we have too many to publish in a day. For those of our readers less interested in wildlife, please “bear” with us. 

The natural habitat included hollowed out tree trunks, stumps and isolated areas to comply with their natural instinct to burrow at certain times.

Then again, when we’ll be in Antarctica in 12 months and Africa in 13 months, neither of which will be able to resist posting wildlife to the point of being ridiculous. For us, as we’ve mentioned many times, the greatest joys in our travels are surrounding wildlife, vegetation, scenery and culture.

Yesterday’s visit to Wing’s Wildlife Park especially appealed to us based on the facility’s goal of presenting rescued animals. We have little interest in regular zoos when animals are purchased, kidnapped and taken with the intent to be trained for show’s to satisfy the public’s curiosity. 

Posing for a photo.

Over these past few years we’ve visited a few such places that were indeed rescue facilities, but the animals “performed” or were ridden by visitors. Such was the case when we visited Moholololo Elephant Rescue facility in Hedspruit, South Africa three years ago this month.

We’d heard that the elephants were rescued and care for by some the finest rescue people and support staff in Africa as outlined in the story we posted here. At that time, we passed on the elephant ride uncomfortable with the concept. Instead, we each did a short walk with an elephant holding our hands with their trunks a shown in the photos from that post.  

I tried to get a teeth baring photo when three Tasmanian Devils were playing a bit, but it happened so quickly, I missed the shot.

In a seminar we attended upon our arrival the presenters explained that the elephants were treated with loving care and were unable to be returned to the wild due to injuries and disabilities preventing them from being able to sustain life. 

As a result and due to a lack of funds, donations from the public and fees to enter the facility helped offset the cost of the elephant’s care and quality of life.

Taking a sip in the pond.

Its under these types of circumstances that we appreciate and understand the intent of wildlife rescue facilities, especially when we’ve witnessed their loving care.

On the other hand, a regular zoo, has little appeal to either of us with this one caveat… when we visit Minnesota and if, our grandchildren want  us to go with them to visit the popular Minnesota Zoo, we won’t say no. 

They almost looked quite huggable.

Sometimes, we have to put aside our principals for a short period in special circumstances. A day later, we can return to our beliefs and ethics, especially knowing we’ll be back in Africa a mere six months after leaving the US for the family visit. 

Visiting Wing’s Wildlife Park left us with a good feeling. The public is allowed to feed and pet many of the animals who seemed to enjoy the attention and of course, the food. 

A warm sunny day kept this little fellow lounging in the sun for a nap.

Their areas were clean with plenty of appropriate food and vegetation befitting the nature of their species.  When the staff entered the various habitats, the keepers voices expressed loving and gentle tones that the animals seemed to respond to with enthusiasm.

The fees to visit the facility was a little high for this area at AU 23, US $16.89 per person. We hadn’t called in advance requesting they waive the fees for our story which occurs in many instances. In this particular case, we chose to keep it low key and simply enjoy ourselves at our leisure.

On the road to Gunns Plain we stopped for photos at an overlook. Sadly, this Tasmania Devil was lying dead in the grass, most likely hit by a car. We’ve seen considerable road kill in Tasmania. The roads have no shoulder and many nocturnal animals are killed at night when motorists aren’t able to stop in time to avoid hitting them.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with other wildlife photos and look forward to “seeing” you then! Thanks for being an integral part of our life of world travel!

Photo from one year ago today, January 6, 2016:

As we boarded the ship one year ago, we noticed it was still decorated for Christmas. For details of a medical emergency prior to boarding the ship and how we handled it, please click here.

Tom’s haircut in Penguin…A visit to yesteryear in a historical barber shop…

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Linda, the barbershop owner and sole employee and Tom, before his haircut.

Tom hadn’t had a haircut since August while we were in Phuket, Thailand over four months ago. His hair was unruly and difficult to manage. It was time for another buzz cut.

The front entrance to Zvoni’s Barber Shop, owned by Terry’s sister Linda.

Of course, we decided to visit the shop in downtown Penguin owned by friend/landlord Terry’s sister Linda, who’d purchased the historical shop eleven years ago from the former owner Zvoni, who’d owned it for 40 years.

Although the shop was filled with supplies and memorabilia, it was spotlessly clean, well prepared for men’s, women’s and children’s haircuts.

Not surprisingly, the shop was filled with memorabilia each with a story, most of which Linda was well acquainted over her years of ownership as the sole proprietor and employee. 

Postcards, letters and articles received over the years.

If Linda’s out, the shop is closed which is seldom. Other than Sunday’s and holidays, Linda is always on hand to tend to the haircutting and styling needs of local residents and visitors.

The shop has uses two antique barber chairs, over 80 years old, made in America.

Its ironic how each barber shop we’ve visited throughout the world, whether a traditional shop in Singapore as in this post or a haircut outside under a tree, long ago in Belize as shown in this post and photo below, has its own unique history and we’ve looked forward to each experience.

Tom’s haircut under a tree in Belize in March, 2013. The barber had no official shop, but had access to a electric outlet in a nearby building. For the rest of this story, please click here.
Each barber shop or salon has had its own story to tell as did Linda’s which proved to be interesting enough to be included in a Time Magazine article about Australia’s hidden treasures, presented about 10 years ago during a publication highlighting Australia.
Linda has several glass enclosed displays of various antique barber tools and equipment.

We can only imagine how excited Linda must have been to have a story about her and her shop published in this well known magazine and what a boon for business and tourism in this quaint town of Penguin.

The Time Magazine issue about Australia included the story as shown below, of Linda’s barber shop, Zvonie (named after the former owner).
Time Magazine’s article about Linda and the barbershop published approximately 10 years ago. 

I wish we’d had more time to talk to Linda but business comes first. She had another customer waiting for his haircut. Beside the excellent haircut, we both reveled in the simplicity of the experience which was rich in its 80 year history and originality, offered by diligent owners both in the past and today, with Linda in charge.

When Linda directed me to this photo, I gasped to see her with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip asking how she managed to get this photo. I got suckered! This photo was taken at the London wax museum!

If you plan to visit Penguin or its surrounding towns, waiting to get a haircut until you arrive in Penguin will add one more memorable event to your experience at this special little shop, owned, managed and run by one more special individual we’ve been fortunate to meet in Penguin, Linda Murphy.

Tom, with a new buzz cut.
Soon, we’re off and about for an exciting adventure. We’ll be back tomorrow with photos and details.  Have a beautiful day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 5, 2016:

One year ago, we stayed at a hotel across the street from the pier where our ship awaited us. It was raining hard and we decided to take a taxi rather than haul our bags in the rain. For two other cruises later in the year, Tom hauled the bags to the pier and we simply walked across the street and down these steps to check in. For more details, please click here.

Legal poppy/opium growers in Tasmania…Who knew?

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See the included news story below regarding the death of trespassers thinking they could “get high” from the unprocessed from poppy/opium capsules.

Recently, when we drove through the countryside outside of Penguin, we stumbled upon a number of fields of flowers in full bloom. Unsure as to the type of flowers, we both speculated they could be poppies, which was confirmed when we encountered the above sign.

From this site:

“The Tasmanian opium poppy farming industry was established in Tasmania in 1966. Farms in Tasmania produce about 50% of the world’s legal poppy straw that is later refined into opiates such as morphine and codeine.”

Tasmanian Alkaloids is Tasmania’s largest corporate grower of opium poppies.

At first, when we saw the pretty flowers, it didn’t dawn on us that they were poppies. Once we noticed the warning sign it all made sense.

We gasped in surprise, curious as to the history of the poppy crop in Tasmania. In speaking with Terry, our friend and landlord, who’s lived in this area all of his life, he explained that Tasmania’s remote location has made it a good location to grow this dangerous crop.

Over the years, many foolhardy travelers have attempted to take advantage of the poppy fields by stealing the opium poppy capsules as shown in the photo included here today. This has resulted in a number of deaths as described in this article:


“Deadly opium poppy capsule thefts increasing in Tasmania

By Emilie Gramenz

Updated
Thousands of Australians donned a red poppy to commemorate Remembrance Day, but thefts of parts of a potentially deadly variety are creeping up in Tasmania.
 

To most, the poppy is a pretty garden flower, but in Tasmania, opium poppies that are refined into medicines such as morphine and codeine are a major agricultural crop, with the island state supplying half the global stocks. It’s an eye-catching and lucrative crop but tightly controlled because the plant’s capsules can be deadly if ingested.
 
Stolen poppy capsules have caused the death of several people in the last decade, most recently a Hobart teenager who overdosed in 2012 after brewing a tea of poppy heads.
 
The Tasmanian Justice Department’s annual report reveals capsule thefts are creeping up.  A total of 516 capsules were stolen in 2015-16, up from 331 the year before, although far below the 3,923 capsules stolen in 2013-14. Chief executive of Poppy Growers Tasmania, Keith Rice, said some losses classified as thefts could be attributed to snap-happy tourists.”

 Close up of the opium poppy capsule contains the valuable alkaloid content used to make painkillers. (Not our photo).

The cost for thieves to travel to Tasmania to steal the capsules is prohibitive and getting them out of the Australian state would be difficult, if not impossible. When we arrived at the airport in Hobart, security was intense with dogs sniffing for drugs.

As indicated above, some thefts of the capsules are perpetrated by local teens and youth hoping for a free and easy high which ultimately proved to be fatal in many cases.

When we drove through the countryside, we encountered several fields of poppy farming used for medicinal purposes.

As for the crop itself, please click here for a detailed story as to how the poppy/opium crop production has changed over the years, seriously impacting poppy farmers in the state: “Rising stocks, declining demand, and more productive poppy crops are causing Tasmania’s poppy growers a world of pain.”

Tasmania never ceases to amaze us. We continue to learn from its people, its agribusiness, its vast expanse of awe inspiring scenery, and its ability to maintain a long-ago culture of rural living and authenticity rarely found anywhere else in the world.

We had no idea poppy farming was big in Tasmania until we saw the poppy paddocks in the country. 

After a busy day out yesterday, details of which we’ll share tomorrow, we’re staying in today. We’re preparing a special meal (for no special reason) which got me up chopping and dicing early this morning. Clothes are drying on the clothesline and if the sun peeks out, we may venture out on a walk.

Have a great day

Photo from one year ago today, January 4, 2016:

The vegetable stand where we purchased most of our produce during our 28 days stay in Pacific Harbour, Fiji. For more details, including the total expenses for the four-month total stay in Fiji, please click here.

A sunny day drive to the countryside…We never know what we’ll find…

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Green/spring onions were being processed for wholesale distribution.

While driving often throughout the countryside, we are often surprised by what we have found along the way. Whether its an exquisite view of the ocean, horses and colts in a field or a kilometer of roadside wild flowers, we often stop for a better look and to take a few photos.

We have rarely found a region as rich in diversity and landscapes as we have seen since arriving in Tasmania a month ago today. Not only are the views of the ocean, mountain and green hills breathtaking, but the people are some of the warmest and friendliest we’ve ever met in the world.

The farm, Dendra Market Gardens, seemed to be inaccessible to the public.

With 13 days remaining until we depart Penguin to head to the Huon Valley, a 45 minute drive from the capital of Hobart, we’re taking advantage of every opportunity to explore, especially on sunny days, treasured here in the summertime.

When we stumbled upon Dendra Market Gardens a few days before Christmas, we weren’t surprised we weren’t able to arrange a tour when the owner and his workers were obviously swamped preparing produce to be transported for the busy holiday season.

This particular farm cultivated a wide range of products.

We met the owner, chatting with him for a few moments as he approved of our photography and wandering on our own. Respectful of the busy holiday processing, we only spent a short time walking around the beautifully planted and arranged farm located in the small town of Cuprona, Tasmania.

And small town, it is indeed! With a population of 308 based on a 2011 survey, we have never seen a “city center” that could hardly be the case, for a city of this size. Instead, locals travel no more than 20 minutes to gain access to Burnie the closest larger city as shown in this map below:

Later, in researching online, we discovered the following information about Dendra Market Gardens from this site:

“Tasmanian Dennis Davis used to work in the shipping industry, and grew lettuces out-of-hours.

But somehow the leafy greens drew him away from shipping altogether and now he’s a full-time market gardener employing 30 workers.
He doesn’t grow lettuces anymore, but has parsley, snow peas, tomatoes, silverbeet, Asian greens, leeks, and radishes.  (And more since publication date of this online post).  Although he no longer grows lettuce, he has parsley, snow peas, tomatoes, beets, Asian vegetables, leeks and radishes.
It’s summer in that part of the world, which makes agriculture more common during the right season.
“They’re all niche crops that we’re growing,” he said.
“Some of them have happened primarily to keep people employed through the winter time so that we can maintain a stable, experienced workforce.”
And that experience is important because all the vegetables are hand planted and weeded.”
“We do a lot of hoeing.”
“We average probably 1.6 million plants in a year and they’re all planted by hand because it’s much more accurate and efficient.” Continued below.
Produce grown under a cover for protection from sun and rain.
In the 14 years Dennis has had Dendra Gardens at Cuprona in the north-west he’s seen a significant change in consumer tastes.
Asian vegetables are growing in popularity, and he now grows five varieties. “We’ve had a gradual increase in Asian migrants coming to live in Tasmania. But the general population seems to be being educated toward new kinds of food.”
Zucchini is a popular crop in Tasmania, which is referred to as cogent in many parts of the world.

So far, we’ve found many local businesses in Tasmania such as this farm to be less sophisticated in their use of the technology and the Internet for the promotion of their products. But, owners and staff are savvy and aggressive in their efforts to grow their businesses with integrity and passion for their products and services.

By coupling years of hard work, dedication and old country values seem to be working for each of those we’ve highlighted in our posts over this past month. It’s an amazing place, this Tasmania. We look forward to more discoveries over these remaining days on this special Australian island.

Soon, we’re taking off for a visit to Ulverstone and who knows what more awaits us! Happy day to all! 

Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2016:

One year ago today, we posted favorite photos of our time in Pacific Harbour, Fiji as we prepared to leave. This photo of Tom was on the night of his birthday last year when we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Pearl Resort’s gourmet restaurant, Seduce, definitely deserving of a five star review. For more details, please click here.

Perpendicular Deli, Espresso Bar, Restaurant and shop… A “not-to-be-missed” stop for tourists and locals…

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Talk about friendly people in Penguin!  Karen and Daniel, owners of Perpendicular are the epitome of Australian (and Penguin) warmth and kindness, making every patron walking through the door feeling as if this special spot could easily be a second home.

When Terry, our new friend, and landlord told us about Perpendicular Deli, Espresso Bar, Restaurant and shop, located off Main Street, only a short walk from our vacation home in Penguin, Tasmania, we couldn’t resist making a visit.

Karen and Daniel, both Australians, the thoughtful, creative, and friendly owners were quick to share their story of dreaming of owning a business in this quaint oceanfront town. 
Perpendicular Deli, Espresso Bar, Restaurant and Shop is located off Main Street in Penguin, Tasmania at 7 Arnold Street (behind the big bargain bottle shop). Note the penguin on the roof!  Easy parking is available in the lot as shown and on the street.

During this past year, they’ve made their dreams a reality with hard work and dedication, a customer-friendly design, easy to access location and the finest of food products and amenities. 

In the process, a casual, French-inspired café, barista, and restaurant was born to further the dining needs of the residents of Penguin who’ve had few dining establishments in this small town of a population of approximately 4000.
Casual dining area in Perpendicular!  Breakfast is served from 6:30 am to 10 am and dinner  is served from 5:30 pm six days a week.  Perpendicular is closed on Wednesdays.  Call with questions:  0416 462 162 or (03) 6437 2659 or email Daniel at daniel@danielmarks.com.au
Penguin attracts tourists from all over the world for its beautiful beaches, water sports, quaint persona and habitat for the small Fairy Penguins.  When tourists arrive in a community, having a variety of dining establishments becomes a must.
Travelers staying in holiday homes with cooking facilities usually have little interest in preparing complicated time-consuming meals.  Those staying in hotels often seek a local and inviting venue that enables them to dress casually, enjoy delicious meals in a relaxed environment and be on their way to sightsee and engage in water sports and other activities. 
A comprehensive display of oils and condiments befitting cooks of all experience.

Perpendicular totally fulfils that objective when either local residents or tourists are seeking quality foods to enjoy onsite or to takeaway for a fast and convenient meal, delicious with the finest of ingredients Perpendicular has readily available.

After days of cloudy skies, this morning we stopped at Perpendicular to take an additional outdoor photo.  When we’d previously visited Karen and Daniel before Christmas the day was dark and cloudy. 
The deli case includes a variety of meats, cheeses, olives, and more. On the top shelf of the refrigerated case noticed the huge chunks of homemade nougat candy.  That was tempting!  The shelf above the refrigerated case contains an array of sweet treats and other gourmet items.  Prices are very reasonable for the quality products.

This morning, rushing to return to complete this post, we drove as opposed to walking to Perpendicular. Once Tom parked the car so I could take the outdoor photo we’ve included today, I decided to pop in to say hello and to purchase the olive oil-based feta cheese Daniel had mentioned on our prior visit.

Terry explained that Perpendicular carries the exact same Caraway Cheddar we’d purchased by mail from the Pyengana cheese factory. Almost a month ago we stopped at the cheese factory on our road trip from Hobart to Penguin purchasing one block of this cheese. Once we were settled we called Pyengana to order a 10 block supply by mail. Now that we know Perpendicular carries this brand, we can purchase it locally at Perpendicular.
Today for our main meal, I’m making myself a jumbo prawn salad with chopped hardboiled eggs, olives, tomatoes and cheese. Of course,  I knew the perfect cheese for such a salad would definitely be quality feta.
After we returned home, I opened the package of feta cheese for a taste and my taste buds soared with delight.  I can’t wait for mealtime! Tom, not a big fan of salads with meat (except taco salad), will have grilled steak with prawns, a side salad and veggies.
A superb barista section prepares a wide array of coffee-based beverages for the most finicky of espresso aficionados.

We’re excited to have found Perpendicular Deli, Espresso Bar and Providore and look forward to stopping by a few more times for meats and cheeses during our remaining two weeks in this amazing town of Penguin.

 Happy New Year’s Day to our friends on the opposite side of the International Dateline! For us, the holidays are over and it’s another “wonderful day in the neighborhood.”  

Photo from one year ago today, January 2, 2016:

The pool at the vacation home in Pacific Harbour, Fiji was pristine being cleaning three times a week. We spent many days during the one month stay on the island of Viti Levu (the main island of Fiji) lounging outdoors. For more details please click here.

Happy New Year!…Video from Sydney Harbour Bridge…Making errors throughout the year…

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View from a local beach, on a stroll around the country.

This morning for the first time in a year, we posted “Photo from one year ago today, January 1, 2016” that indicated “2016” as opposed to “2015.” We’ll see how long it takes for me to make an error and post 2015 in this daily highlight regarding a photo from the prior year.

It is easy to make mistakes while writing each day of the year. Since we began our trips in October 2012, we’ve published the following posts for every year:

There are many ponds on the farmland.

2012 – 159 posts
2013 – 346 posts
2014 – 376 posts
2015 – 365 posts
2016 – 373 posts

With our goal of posting once a day, why did we post less than 365 times in 2013?   It was at the halfway point of 2013 that we decided to publish daily.

Why did we spend more than 365 days a year in 2014 and 2016? First, 2016 was a leap year, which added one more day on February 29. Secondly, when we’ve flown or cruised frequently we often posted a short blurb earlier in the day, later uploading a more comprehensive post.

Recently planted agricultural field for hotter summer weather.

As for errors, they’re inevitable. As much as we’d prefer to be “error free” no matter how much proof reading, we conduct, we easily miss typos, grammar errors and my nemesis, paragraph spacing issues.

We’ll start with the paragraph spacing issues. Blogger has a faulty system. Posting multiple photos have an impact on the ability of users to correct line and paragraph spacing. 

Farmland on a sun-drenched day.

In addition, when the Wi-Fi connection is slow, the spacing of lines and paragraphs becomes a major problem. If there is one thing that takes the most of my time, it is to try to correct the spacing. It’s not so much a problem with other blog publishing programs like WordPress. 

Why aren’t we moving from Blogger to WordPress? We’d lose all of our stats and have to begin again, perhaps losing many of our past posts. As an avid “numbers cruncher” and stats fanatic, this would be awful. So we used Blogger, hoping that one day they will make changes to impact this one area of concern.

View of our vacation home from a nearby park. (Similar image shown recently).

Beside the paragraph spacing issue, we make plenty of errors. I can read and reread a post several times. Once I upload the post, within moments, Tom is busy reading through every word and photo caption. There is rarely an occasion when he doesn’t find any errors which I immediately correct per his suggestions. 

At times, I’m appalled by the nature of an error. How did I not see this when reviewing the post? I suppose it’s human nature. We easily miss mistakes we’ve made. That’s why they’re called mistakes.

Mom and her colt. 

As the New Year rolled in last night, while we watched the festivities in Sydney on TV for which we’ve included the this fabulous video, I considered making a New Year’s resolution for the first time in decades, no more errors in the posts.

But, as I contemplated this possibility, my eyes landed on our slogan at the top of our home page which reads: “Wafting Through Our World Wide Travels with Ease, Joy and Simplicity.”

Close up Bottle Brush plant.

In my old life, perfectionism was the order of the day, an endless objective, never fulfilled. That’s changed progressively over these past four plus years. We’re finally nearing the pinnacle of acceptance of our flaws, our idiosyncrasies and our eccentricities. We’ll never strive for perfection again. 

Instead, we strive for ease, joy and simplicity. Within this concept lies no accommodation for attempting to be perfect at anything. The burden of striving for such an impossible goal has long since passed.

Bottle Brush plants growing in the yard of our vacation home.

So, instead of a resolution to avoid making errors when posting, we choose to accept the reality that posting 365 days a year (or more) is a breeding ground for errors. 

Of course, if we’ve misspelled or misrepresented information on a locale, an item we photographed, a culture or a people, we kindly ask you to let us know so we can make corrections accordingly. We never intend to provide faulty information. In this aspect, there’s no margin for error.

The Holland America cruise ship was passing by a few days prior to Christmas.

For the rest, we ask our readers to bear with us, knowing our intentions are genuine and heartfelt.  Accuracy will always be our goal, perfectionism will not. Maybe we all may benefit from not being so hard our ourselves. It’s a lesson we continually strive to achieve.

May your New Year bring you personal acceptance, peace and love. Happy New Year!

Photo from one year ago today, January 1, 2016:

Riverfront property in the neighborhood in Pacific Harbour, Fiji. For more photos, please click here.

Our year in review…Photos of us…Happy New Year to all!…

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We were on the Mekong River Cruise and tour in July, stopping at a the Kampong Cham temple in Cambodia.

It was a very good year. Five months during the year, from June 1 to November 1, I was recovering from a spine injury that probably clouded many of our activities. 

In February for my birthday, me and Miss Jessica, an alpaca cria born under our watch while the farm owners were on holiday.
Out for dinner in February in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
We enjoyed an excellent dinner at this restaurant in February.

Healed and pain free, that’s all behind us now as we move into the New Year anticipating many more adventures and amazing experiences including the upcoming trip to the US in a mere five months.

Out to lunch at a winery in New Zealand in March.

In addition to this challenging time, during which we still had many memorable experiences, we had many exciting moments in the following locations and on the following cruises:

In July, Tom squeezes his way out of a narrow opening after crawling through a tunnel at the site of the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam. He was very brave to do this and the crowd cheered when we made his way out.

2016 in review…

January:  left Fiji for cruise from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand – 2 weeks
January – April: Alpaca farm vacation home in New Plymouth, New Zealand – 3 months
April – Cruise from Sydney to Singapore – 2 weeks
May – June:  Vacation villa in Bali, Indonesia – 2 months
June – July:  Boutique hotel in Singapore – 1 week
July:  Hotel in Vietnam and then on to Mekong River Cruise and Tour – 3 weeks
July – August:  Vacation home in Phuket, Thailand – 6 weeks
September – October: Returned to the villa in Bali – 2 months
October (end) to December (3rd): Cruise circumnavigates the Australian continent – 33-nights
December to present – Vacation home in Penguin, Tasmania where we’ll remain until heading to Huon Valley, Tasmania in mid January – 6 weeks

In Bali, lounging at the infinity pool.

In between all of the above, we spent 32 nights in hotels and took 10 airline flights (not counting layovers). Whew! Writing this here makes us realize how much we’ve moved about during this past year, especially when so much of it occurred during that difficult five month period.

We swam in the pool every sunny day in Bali.

Now, with only 16 days remaining until we depart Penguin, we realize how quickly time flies. We could easily have enjoyed spending three months in Penguin. 

A visit to the Monkey Temple in Bali in May, wearing the required sarongs.

No doubt, once we arrive in the Huon Valley after another long and interesting drive on an alternate route from our original drive through Tasmania, surely we’ll be thrilled to experience another part of this amazing state in Australia. 

On a port day in November during our 33 night cruise, we spent the day in Perth with friends Michelle and Carlo, whom we’d met on a prior cruise. How sweet of them to spend the time with us!

The world is huge. We’ve only touched the “tip of the iceberg,” speaking of which, in one year and three weeks, we’ll be boarding the cruise to Antarctica. Wow! It’s even hard for us to imagine how much we’ve seen thus far and how much we’ve yet to see in the future.

Tom is talking during one of the two seminars we conducted on the 33 night cruise in November. Check out that hand moving with his words!

As the New Year rolls in tonight at midnight, we hope to be awake to share a kiss and to welcome in this new year of our world travels, of our lives and on this journey which for now, has no end.

Me, checking my notes, during one of the two seminars we conducted aboard ship in November.

Happy New Year to all!  May this New Year bring you the fulfillment of your dreams, an abundance of love and affection and enough laughter to rock your world wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, December 31, 2015:

In last year’s post we included photos from other New Year’s Eve, including this photo of us on New Year’s Eve including this photo from 2013, in Marloth Park, South Africa at Jabula Lodge where we’ll celebrate my birthday in a little over a year in February in 2018. For more past New Year’s Eve photos, please click here.