It’s a very long journey from the UK to Hobert, involving a 12 hour flight from Heathrow to Singapore, then a shorter flight to Melbourne, followed by a one hour hop to Hobart, the capital of the state of Tasmania. I was therefore very happy to arrive at the Grand Chancellor hotel on Saturday 8 July where I was staying for 10 nights. The hotel is a great place to stay as it’s on the waterfront with wonderful views across the harbour and the River Derwent beyond.
The hotel was only a few hundred metres from the lively Salamanca Market, which I visited on Saturday afternoon after I’d recovered a little from my flight.
Close to Salamanca Market was moored the Australian Antarctic research and logistics vessel Aurora Australis – rather appropriate as our Antarctic meeting was taking place in town.
The SCAR meeting went well and included a couple of receptions, including one at Government House.
After the SCAR conference Steve P., a friend from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, took me for a day to southwestern Tasmania, visiting the Huonville valley and the forests along the Huon River. A highlight was visiting Tahune, which has walks through the Huon Pine forest and an aerial walkway from which you can view the forest canopy. I even got a lifer bird in the Black Currawong, which is one of the 12 species endemic to the island of Tasmania. This was before I even started collecting lifers.
