Category Archives: Tasmania

Hello (from) Hobart!

September 10, 2013 By in Family, Tasmania Tags: , , , 25 Comments

We’re here!

It was quite the journey. We gained an unexpected stopover in Singapore due to someone me muffing up our flights… and we lost DorkySon’s beloved iPad packed with apps due to someone me forgetting to pick it up after a security screening in Dubai.

But we are really, truly here. How do I know? Well the water is going down the plughole a different way. The crescent of the moon is in the wrong place entirely. And all around me are people saying ‘sick’ and ‘sweet’ and ‘bonza’ when what they really mean is ‘jolly good, old chap’. Continue reading →

DorkyDad’s Last Transmission From London

September 2, 2013 By in Guest Posts, Harpenden, Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , , , 25 Comments

The movers are here now.  I type this against the background chatter of ripped masking tape and heavy cardboard boxes being assembled by rough, experienced hands.  Tonight this flat will be empty save for two beds and the three of us.  In just under 60 hours the plane will lift off from Heathrow, bound first for Dubai, then on beyond to Melbourne.

We are away to Tasmania. Continue reading →

Top things to do when you move to Tasmania

August 31, 2013 By in Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 24 Comments

A young boy taking photos of the boats at Hobart waterfront

I have been poring over Tasmanian blogs and guidebooks for the last few months, trying to get a feel for the place and pick out a few activities for us to do in Hobart early on. My favourite way of getting to know any new place is just by walking around it and stumbling upon things – so I’m sure that once we’re there this list will be hastily revised – but for now this is what I’m looking forward to.

Fullers Bookshop: My book addiction has already been well documented on this blog. Spending the last two years living in a town with NO BOOKSHOP AT ALL has been painful, and has filled me with near rage every time I’ve walked down the high street. So what a joy it will be to move to Hobart where there is a much-loved indie bookshop that holds events and discussion, publishes its own titles, blogs its recommendations and generally does all the good and lovely things that a bookstore should do. Our bank balance is not going to be happy, but I sure am. Continue reading →

The One Where We Move to Tasmania from the UK

July 28, 2013 By in Family, Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 146 Comments

A statue of Louis Bernacchi at Hobart waterfront with the text 'Moving to Tasmania from the UK'

We are moving house again. Not a little move, but a big one.

We are moving from the UK to Tasmania.

Yikes.

*

I can tell you the exact moment that I made my decision.

It was a beautiful sunny day. I was sitting on a bench in a playpark, the sun on my face, drinking a cup of tea and making easy conversation with another mum – someone I’d met all of forty minutes earlier. Her young son was gurgling contentedly on a picnic blanket at her feet, while mine had just jumped off the slide and was running up a small hill towards the swings, when suddenly he stopped and shouted.

‘Mummy! Mummy! Come and look at this! It’s a parrot! Lots of parrots!’

I walked towards him, and sure enough, there were five or six brightly coloured rosellas walking around, squawking and pecking at the grass.

DorkySon was enthralled, and something flicked in my head at that moment.

Yes, I said to myself. Yes. We can do this. We can move to Tasmania.

And so we are.

Continue reading →