Monthly Wrap-Up - January 2026 and Signs

Also joining Tom for his "Signs" meme on Wednesday and Eileen for her "Saturday Critters" next Saturday. 

Hello and Happy 2026 to all! 

January - Friday 2nd - Jose and I and our daughter Karina flew to Hobart in Tasmania on the 8am flight. Thomas (son-in-law) was flying back to Doha in the afternoon.

Taking off from Perth

Hobart, Tasmania's capital has a population op about 220 thousand and this is the last land mass before Antarctica.

After arriving at the tiny airport we went to pick up the rented car which Karina had arranged. From about 7 rental companies next to each other in the same building, only 1 seemed to have clients, so we had a long wait before being attended.... 

In Perth the temperature was close to 34C, but in Hobart it was 19C, so we really felt the cold especially because of the wind.

We drove to our Airbnb in Otago, a quiet residential area 15km north of the city. The friendly owner who lived above the 2 bedroom unit came out to meet us. She had moved from Perth to Tasmania about 20 years ago. The house had an amazing view of Mt Wellington just across the Derwent river.

The front garden had lots of roses in colours I had never seen before

The unit was comfortable and had everything that was needed although we just needed to sleep and have breakfast there. 

After unpacking we drove to the nearby shopping centre to buy breakfast goodies, dropped them in the fridge and drove past the city centre to climb Mt Wellington. It looked a bit cloudy up there, but we thought we would take a chance.

Halfway to the top the clouds became quite dense, the temperature had dropped to 10C, and we decided we would turn back and return to the city as we wouldn't see anything at the top.

On the way down we stopped in one spot on the main road as we had a good view of the city and mountains. There was even a house for sale with a great view (below).

View on the way down from Mt Wellington

In the city centre we visited the Food Summer Fest at Princes Wharf (entry fee applied). It had lots and lots of food and drink stalls (local beers, whiskey, gin, juices, ciders...) and after visiting some of the stands we decided on what we wanted to eat, and sat at a table outside the big tent.

Outside there were music groups, a mobile disco player that had people singing and dancing... all good fun.

                  

Karina and I rugged up for the cold and wind, although the locals wore short sleeves 😄

                  

With the sun setting about 8:30pm we had long days to wander around.

Sign outside one of the restaurants - can you figure out what it says?

Saturday 3rd - After breakfast we drove about 10 minutes across the river to the Mona Museum. 

The museum which opened in January 2011 was carved 17 metres underground into sandstone cliffs. It attracts up to 3000 visitors a day and is Tasmania's major tourist attraction. Owned by an eccentric Australian businessman David Walsh, it is the largest privately funded museum in the southern hemisphere. It is integrated into the Moorilla Winery site where you can have wine tastings.

Sign outside the vineyard :)

Before descending into the depths of the museum, we downloaded the Mona App, the "O" which provides details about the art works and artists.

The museum has no signage either, so you wander at your leisure (you might miss exhibits of course), while navigating the labyrinths of ramps, platforms, halls, stairs...thus challenging the "authoritative" museum experience as intended by the owner.

At the entrance to the museum we were serenades by a guitar player :)

A suspended sheet of glass bows under the weight of a boulder, by Italian Arcangelo Sassolino, 2018

pen a larger version of the following image in a popup:

This exhibit consisted of "strings "of water dropping to the ground and letters appearing every couple of seconds behind the water on the stone wall. From further away it sounded like there was a waterfall somewhere.

The grounds of MONA: 

Jose and I at the Mona grounds with Mt Wellington behind us

Full size flatbed truck trailer and cement truck sculpture outside the museum

Outside, in the kids playground the seven metre high bronze sculpture (with slides) called "Girls rule" was designed by American artist Tom Otterness.

When I saw it, I instantly thought he must be the same artist that designed the huge sculptures at Hamad International Airport in Doha, and yes he is!

Funny sign outside the food vans near the kids playground at the Mona Museum

After the museum we then drove to the city and had lunch was at Hog's Breath.

After lunch we walked past the Parliament, Treasury building and beautifully restored older houses, on the way to Battery Point and Arthur's Circle.

Tasmania's parliament House in Hobart (top), Treasury building (bottom left), older buildings (right)

In front of the Salamanca Place warehouses, built with stone quarried from the cliffs of Battery Point above. The famous Salamanca Markets are held on Saturdays from 8,30 to 3pm. When we arrived when they were already packing up their wares. 

Salamanca Place warehouses and 1833 sculpture representing the year construction finished on the area's first historically significant stone warehouses. 

We climbed the narrow Kelly steps (named after Australian explorer and whaler James) built in 1939, that connects Salamanca Place to the suburb of Battery Point built on the cliff.

It is one of the most historic suburbs in Australia featuring the charming cottages of "Arthur Circus" and views of the Derwent River.

Arthur's Circus, a historic circular street featuring 16 heritage listed 2 bedroomed Georgian cottages from the 1840's and 1850's, surrounding a central park, is considered one of Australia's earliest planned "circuses". Originally built for workers and sailors, the cottages are highly sought-after, with the last one sold in December 2024 for 1,4 million!

Arthur Circus

After our walk, we drove back home to rest. At night we returned to Battery Point to have dinner at the Greek restaurant Attica.  Great service and beautiful food too.

Sunday 4th -  Sadly it was time to leave Hobart, after breakfast, and drive to Launceston.  Luckily the further north we drove, the warmer it got, to a maximum of 27C.

A couple of stops along the way to buy cherries, just before our stop in Ross.

Ross is a small charming town between Hobart and Launceston with beautiful Georgian buildings, the intricate Ross bridge, convict history and the Wool Museum.

The Ross Bridge is Australia's third oldest bridge, built in 1836, a masterpiece of convict artistry with 186 unique carvings by 2 stonemasons who received a pardon for their work.

We visited the Ross Female Factory, (on Portugal street), one of Australia's most intact female convict site where we could read about the harsh lives of the women convicts.

In the centre of the village is a crossroads corner with Georgian architecture from the 19th century, representing Temptation (hotel), Salvation (church), Recreation (town hall) and Damnation (former jail).

We visited the Tasmanian Wool Centre, with a collection of stories, objects and artifacts relating to the establishment of the wool industry in Tasmania. They also sell woolen clothing. 

From Ross we drove to Evandale, just 20 min south of Launceston, renowned for historic buildings like Clarendon House and the annual Penny Farthing championships. We were too late for the weekly Sunday markets.

A rose with a bee, in front of Clarendon Arms Pub and a penny farthing statue, a lovely Cafe where we sat outdoors, St Andrews Uniting Church and across the road St Andrews Anglican Church

And it was time to drive to our Airbnb right in the centre of Launceston in Brisbane St. 

Behind double wooden gates, which might have been a former shop, there were 2 apartments . Ours was on the ground floor (first floor for American readers), very long and narrow, no windows, just light wells and a tiny courtyard accessed from the kitchen. Very modern and well furnished with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a nice lounge/dining/kitchen area.

We dropped our luggage and got back in the car to drive to the nearby Cataract Gorge. With the world's longest single span chairlift - 308 metres (985 feet) between 2 pylons. Operating since 1972, the total length of the chairlift is 457 metres (1462 feet).  The crossing takes about 10 minutes.

$$

A beautiful spot, great outdoor area for the residents, with a public pool, bbq areas, nice grassed area for picnics...

Karina on the chair to the right

After alighting from the cable car we encountered wallabies and peacocks roaming around.

We walked back to the entrance crossing over the Alexandra Suspension Bridge.  This swinging bridge is 60 mt long and crosses the first basin of the Cataract Gorge, one of the 3 ways to cross the gorge - chairlift and Kings bridge, being the other ones.

Named after Queen Alexandra, the bridge was originally  constructed in 1904. In 1929 it was washed away by severe floods and reconstructed in 1931, with further works undertaken in 2003.

Karina and I on the Queen Alexandra bridge

Next we visited the Launceston City Park for a relaxing walk around and to check out the Japanese macaques, a gift from Japanese sister city Ikeda City in 1965. But Monkey Island had closed at 4pm so we didn't get to see the monkeys.

The park has a conservatory, band stand, duck pond, children's playground plus many war memorials. The Albert Hall built in 1891 on one corner of the park, was built for the Tasmanian Industrial Exhibition which ran from November 1891 to March 1892 and is now the Convention centre.

Albert hall (top left), the park has various statues, the main gates

Another beautiful structure in the park was the Queen Victoria Jubilee Fountain, which commemorates the diamond jubilee of 1897.

That evening we had dinner at and Indian restaurant near the airbnb - Tassie Dhaba. Even though they weren't full, it took ages for someone to come and take our order, but then the food was served quickly. Food was good, albeit quite spicy when we had asked for mild. 

A walk around the main street after dinner, adorned with Christmas lights, and then bed as we wanted to leave Launceston by 9am.

Signs from a shoe shop selling Ugg boots/slippers

Tasmania is known as the Apple Isle - but this sign outside a bakery was The Big Apple

Monday 5th - On our way to Ulverton (117km - 1,20h) we first stopped at Chudleigh - "Rose town". The village's anticipated development never came, but by 1862 an extensive system of caves (Mole Creek Caves) was discovered which attracted visitors to the area. 

Chudleigh - Rose Town 

We visited the nearby Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary - a privately owned sanctuary started in 1979, which is involved in five conservation breeding programs.

In over 70 acres of natural habitat the visitors can spot free-ranging kangaroos, hand feed waterfowl, and participate in the free interactive daily tours - 11am, 1pm and 3pm - which include meeting a wombat and a Tasmanian devil, plus viewing the devil's social feeding.

A kookaburra, albino magpie, a very shy echidna, Tasmanian devil, black swans and Cape Barren geese

A very chilled wombat, Jose and Karina patting it

Tasmania Devils eating a carcass and the guide holding a grumpy one

A wallaby with the joey in her pouch, Karina and I feeding the friendly wallabies

Next stop about 36km North West was Sheffield, also known as "Mural town". With Mount Roland at 1,234 mt high, in the background it's an enchanting place with its productive land, dairy farming (butter production), lamb and beef production.

The town settled in 1859, grew along the Mersey-Forth Power Development Scheme in 1963 when construction workers moved to the area. A decade later when the project ended the population declined and the town suffered, and it was thanks to the Kentish Association for Tourism and a local Brian Inder that the town was turned into the biggest outdoor gallery.

The first  murals were painted in the 80's depicting the town's history and natural surrounds. The town now attracts 200 thousand tourists annually.

We went to the local pub for lunch first, and then while Jose sat in their lounge having his coffee and reading pamphlets Karina and I walked around taking photos of murals, all the way to Mural Park.  It was a Mural heaven for sure!

Pub lunch of fried scallops with chips, Mt Roland behind the pub with a mural

After dozens of photos we met up with Jose and  drove to our final destination - Ulverstone - where we arrived 30 minutes later.

Another beautiful airbnb - a 2 bedroom cottage with a charming little garden.

We dropped our bags and walked across to the sea, too many rocks, not suitable for a swim.

A friend (ex-Perthite) lives 15 min away in nearby Penguin, and later we drove via the coastal road to check the area before meeting up for dinner at the local pub.

Jose and Karina next to The Big Penguin, the beach, a Dutch windmill donated to the town

Penguins are all over town, even the cute bins have penguins

My friend had mentioned that we could drive to Burnie, about 20 min away to go and see the Little Penguins (or Fairy penguins) come home the sea about 1 hour after sunset to feed their young hiding in the burrows.

There is an observation centre there and there were some guides shining red light lanterns on them so the public could see them.

They are so cute waddling in over the rocks and their young coming out to eagerly welcome them and demand a feed.

Jose managed to film a couple coming to their burrows.

Little Penguin making its way to the burrow  (video at the end)

Tuesday 6th - Left the Airbnb at 9,30 to drive back to Hobart with various stops in-between.  First at quick stop at Railston - the Topiary town.

Then a stop at Ashgrove with their Cheese factory where we stopped for cheese and coffee. In the garden they had a collection of cow sculptures, plus a couple more inside.

The factory was interesting to visit, with a lot of written information about the process of cheese making.

As part of the Tasmania's "Tasting Trail", the restaurant served all sorts of things containing cheese. They also had a little shop selling local jams, biscuits, cheeses...

The cheeses curing, cheese sign, salad with cheese and cheese toastie and a platter of 4 cheeses with crackers and jam

Next on the "Tasting Trail" was a stop at nearby Christmas Hill was to visit a raspberry farm, but they were quite full, so we just went across the street to the Ice-creamery for a delicious ice-cream.

A quick stop a Deloraine, a scenic town on the Meander River, known for its arts and crafts annual fair. I noticed a few wooden sculptures by the river and a couple of murals, but I just took a few photos and we carried on to Liffey Falls.

There was a long gravel road before arriving at the Liffey Falls carpark. From there a 2km walk (45 min return) with a few scenic stops along the multi level falls. 

Some people were swimming, but we just wet our feet and sat there relaxing for a short while as we still had about 2 1/2 hours drive to Hobart.

At 7pm we arrived at our last Airbnb in the suburb of Mornington, across the river from Hobart - an older suburban house, nothing special. Had dinner at nearby Venezia Italian Restaurant.

Wednesday 7th - We left our Airbnb at 9am to drive to Port Arthur, 97 km south east of Hobart.

We figured we would have a maximum of 3 1/2 hours to tour the 100 acre property which is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site,  before driving to the airport for our flight home.

Port Arthur Museum , Sir George Arthur Lt. Governor of Van Diemen's Land

Walking around it, you could almost feel as if you are in an idyllic, peaceful country town, but the stark reality is that Port Arthur was part of Australia's penal colonial past.  This prison operated from 1830 to the 1850's and was closed in 1877, and through it passed the most hardened convicts, which included women and children mainly transported from the British Isles! 

Tasmania, then called Van Diemen's Land, was so remote and isolated that there was little hope of escape.

In the Museum visitors could pick a card that had a picture of a convict or staff, and in interactive drawers you could find info about either a prisoner or staff and you would try to find that person's crimes, their life in the settlement and ultimate fate.

My card was "Sir George Arthur" (1784-1854), who was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) from 1823 to 1837, establishing Port Arthur in 1830 as a secure, isolated and severe penal settlement. His tenure was characterized by orderly penal discipline, the establishment of the "Black line" against Aboriginal people and strick and ruthless administrative control.

Sir Arthur George would have lived in this house with all the commodities the poor convicts lacked

Rooms in the house (above)

The prison seen from the sea

The ticket price included a 40 min tour around the Isle of the Dead across the prison. Whenever someone died, they were buried there. There are 1466 unmarked prisoner graves and 180 marked personnel graves in the Isle of the Dead, where one caretaker and one prisoner lived for up to a decade at a time handling all the grave-digging and burials. These men could eat, sleep, read when they wanted, which was preferable to the close supervision, hard labour, punishment and the cramped cells on the mainland.

Isle of the Dead tour by ferry

We managed to see as much as we could in those 3 hours, then drove back to Hobart's airport and handed in the rental car. Our flight via Sydney departed at 4,50pm, and we landed in Sydney at 6,45pm. Our flight to Perth left at 9,05pm and we landed at 11pm.

Our driving route - we drove 1.170km in total

Wednesday 8th - a last minute afternoon visit with Karina to the "Hills" town of Kalamunda and a visit to Perth's Observatory, where I had never been in all my years in Perth.

The Observatory has a lot of sculptures in front of the building and they are planning on a "Sculpture Park" to be ready sometime this year.

Thursday 9th - In the afternoon we drove Karina to the airport for her flight to Doha.

Tuesday 13th - I had a meeting at Spearwood library  regarding a volunteer role to read Portuguese stories to kids, once a month, which will be starting on the 7th March.

Friday 16th - Picked up my friend V at her residential place and drove to Hillary's Marina to have lunch with our mutual friend M.

Saturday 17th - We went to Portuguese Consulate in Fremantle (about 30 min away) to vote for the Presidential election in Portugal. Sadly a very small portion of the community votes, either because they are not registered to vote, or because they live far away. With the huge distances in Australia it makes no sense that we would have to vote presentialy for the Presidential elections, but for the Parliament elections the voting is by mail. Abstention was something like 90%!!

Portuguese Consulate in Fremantle

Monday 26th - Australia Day - While some celebrate with parties, picnics, fireworks and citizenship ceremonies, others protested calling it Invasion Day, a reflection of Australia's complex colonial history.

It was also the coldest Australia Day in Perth in 37 years, with 23C maximum. In the meantime the East coast was sweltering!

Saturday 31st - Jose and I attended the Ed Sheeran Loop Tour concert at Optus Stadium. We caught the train to the Stadium, the free travel is included in the ticket price.

We were there by about 5,30 pm, and caught all 3 support acts - Australian artist Mia Wray, then the all female Irish band Biird, and last the Australian singer Vance Joy. At 8pm Ed Sheeran came on.

Ed is a great entertainer, during 2 1/2 hours he sang to about 55 thousand fans, all the main hits, a couple of requests of unknown to me songs and a couple of heavy rock songs (noisy - not to my taste). 

He talked about the beginning of his career, the background of some songs, about a dear friend that he lost, the grandmother he lost, and songs he had written for them... He's very talented and has also written songs for other artists like Justin Bieber, One Direction, Taylor Swift, James Blunt, Keith Urban...

I loved the concert (apart from the 2 noisy songs) and everyone looked happy on the way out to the trains.

                                            In Burnie -  Little Penguin feeding the chick

Beautiful sunset seen from my backyard in January