Tazmainia

I awoke before dawn, (coffee may have been involved soon after) as the ship started to dock. Bernie is a small town, 40,000 people, with another 20,000 near by... By local standards it was THE city...

We were docked in there industrial harbor, at the wood chip dock, a huge pile of wood chips, and an equally huge spider like machine for piling and loading the chips. Large semi trucks were delivering more chips... Driving onto platforms which would the lift the entire rig cab high, dumping the chips out the back like a child's toy. Being on an industrial pier, we were not allowed to walk off the ship, but instead, had to take a bus...

Tina and I were booked on a trip to a local wildlife rescue facility, 40 miles away or so... So a bus ride up the coast, into the hills... The hills were strangely familiar, evocative of western Sonoma in California, north of San Francisco... Open grass covered valleys, Monterey cypress and eucalyptus trees on hill tops or standing as wind breaks, small 2 lane roads flanked by wild blackberries... More trees, more water, and more animals, but still much the same feeling...

The Wing's animal park was fun, part local animal rescue, part private zoo... more informal than anything in the US... We got to pet the Tasmanian Devil... Hand fed kangaroos, and touch the koala 's... They were serving fresh, hot scones... Then back aboard the bus for the drive back... Here as well as on previous tours, the Ausie tour guides and drivers were not afraid of including their views into their commentary... We heard about the price of potatoes, subsidies given to a potato processing plant, forest practices, and issues resulting in the increasing size of dairy herds...

Along the shoreline, the guide pointed out low fences, to keep the local penguins off the road when they came ashore at night...

Back to the ship... We got off the tour bus, and got in line for the shuttle into town, without going aboard... The shuttle arrived, filled with locals, here to visit the ship, and bid our captain farewell... He and the ship have been calling on Bernie for 8 years... This is the last call of the season, and next year a different ship with a different captain will call. This wasn't just a ceremonial visit... This was a farewell from friends.

The shuttle offered three stops in town, The first at their local visitor's center and art gallery, The Maker's Workshop, The second at the local history museum, which the map noted was close to the library, with cheap Internet access, the third, 4 blocks away, in the center of downtown... We got off at the second, stepping inside just as a downpour started, toured the museum, with it's recreated 1880's street, gallery about Austrailia in the wars, and up front, 4 women, spinning wool... When we were done, the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and all was good in Bernie... we went by the library, but they didn't have wifi... just machines you could use...

We walked downtown, armed with maps showing art-deco buildings... Downtown was a time warp... Little shops lining the streets, much like an American small town circa 1960, before suburban shopping malls and Walmart and acres of parking lots... (There was a Kmart with a parking structure off a block, and a Woolworth's on the main street, contributing, rather than spoiling the illusion) There were local guides, wearing red vests to answer questions, but a distinct shortage of tourist shops selling t-shirts. We walked to the ocean front, with a wonderful wooden boardwalk, back along the beach, to the Maker's Workshop (and bus stop number 1).

There was penguin fence along the bluff, and Tina and I searched unsuccessfully, but at least a few of our fellow passengers saw a penguin or two. Inside the Maker's Workshop, we discovered an unexpected treasure... The building hosted spaces for local artists to work in public, then sell their work... The city had until recently had a large paper mill, now closed... While losing jobs, the city also went from polluted to sparkling clean... To some extent many of the artists were remembering their heritage by their paper based art, including life size figures, exotic hand made papers, and prints on paper... The space also included a locally made caterpillar underground excavator, as well as a cafe, and a tourist information desk. I believe it may be the nicest tourist center I have ever seen, maybe the best example of a working artist studio... The city was delightful... it seemed like a city embracing change, rather than just remember the good old
days...

Eventually we caught the shuttle back to the port and our ship, checked in with the sister (Karin, the remaining sister) and again found seats in the Crow's Nest for Happy Hour. Just before sail away we went out on deck... Bernie had one more card to play... On the dock, in orange safety vests was a small pipe band... Three bagpipes, three snare drums and one drummer with a larger drum, along with one other kilted man, sans instrument... As the ship cast off her lines and sailed away, they played...

Thoughts on Australia.... (at least the tiny part we have seen...)

It is modern, vibrant, highly urban in Sydney and Melbourne, there were wonderful forests we visited both around Melbourne and on Taz...

Australia is expensive... We knew that going in, but we're still surprised... generally, liquor is expensive on a cruise ship, leading some passengers to either smuggle liquor on board, or disembark when possible to drink... in a strange juxtaposition, beer aboard is half the price it was ashore...

Australians were welcoming... friendly... gregarious...

They have all the technology we do, but beyond smart phones, it isn't as obvious... They have wifi in coffee shops, but people don't sit at the tables with their laptops open, and free wifi is difficult to find.

Australia is a huge place... Much of the outback maybe dead dry, without vegetation, but at Ayers Rock there was lots of plants and trees. We associate eucalyptus with a dry climate... Here at least some are part of a fern forest. We only saw the Blue Mountains from the air, missed the tropical north, as well as the barrier reef... I think I need to come back...