Salamanca in the neighborhood

Phew what a day! I mean, what a day... I don't think I've been anywhere where so many people have actually wanted to know - I mean wanted to really know what I was up to - honestly I really felt like people here really wanted to connect.

They said Salamanca Place was prettty busy on a Saturday morning but I didn't really get that they meant - really busy! The sun came out and the heat in the little house rose. It was a memorable day though, and continues on the theme of life really isn't what you expect it to be.

Ha, I hate to get all psuedo-Buddist on ya, but I read the other day a quote from Jung, 'Destiny is something you discover on the road you take to somewhere else' - actually he put it far better than that.

This is Mike and Rosie, they spend half their time in Nova Scotia and the other 6 months in Tasmania. I always grew up believing that wherever you live you should feel like you really want to be living there and today I met quite a few people who really live here because they want to be living here.

And this is my first Scrabble game in a while, we figured that if you can pronounce a word then it's probably legitimate. It brought up some curly ones but my friend here was almost as lateral as I was.


And then there was Kate-Rose - this gal is a spelling machine. We stuck to Queenbury rules but luckily Kate's mum called her away when she was winning 63 to 36.


Here's a few classic pics for the hell of it.




Three gals with a tast for sunshine.


Sorry I can't remember this woman's name (below) simply because her story was so interesting I forgot everything else. She has been setting up an Orphanage in Muzaffarpur, Bihar in India. It's called The Mona Lisa Project - named after a young girl she first met a few years ago and decided to help her out. Well the project gained momentum and ended up turning into a two storey house, and every few months she comes into town to try and find a little more support for the project.

I was really touched by this story, I suppose because of the simplicity of one person doing what she thought was a good thing to do, not thinking about the consequences so much as just putting one foot in front of the other. Small things gather momentum I suppose. Anyway, this is her, I hope she gets her support and thanks for the chat. Next time I will write your name down too.

A couple of notes from the mailbox.

And while I'm at it, here's a couple of gals working on a theatre development project as part of the festival, they brought me fudge which in Australian language is a bit like arriving with a pallet of tinnies - yep I have a weakness for sweet things. Anyway, we talked a bit about shows we'd seen and appreciated their honesty and intrigue. I'll look forward to see what they've been working on.

There's blue gold in those hills - Glenorchy

So this is Tassy! People tell you a place is like this or so and so but it's never what you expect and Tasmania is like no-where I've been before despite it's resemblance to New Zealand and Australia. This place - as they say in the guide books is like no other.

Glenorchy is about 7km out of Hobart, near a lake, under a mountain. It's got a mall which is very similar to a lot of malls (you see it's the commerce-made bits that are always less original) and a bunch of friendly locals.

This is a note from the first person who dropped by (sorry I can't remember her name) but she very kindly invited me to her house warming as well. Unfortunately I couldn't make it due to a prior engagement with the Governor of Tasmania overlooking the river.


This is Kerryn, he's a geologist who - I have to be honest here - has completely changed my idea of what a geologist is. He's a big kayak fan which is both a palindrome and a good reason to live in Tasmania. His house is rented and apparently a big run-down shambles but has great carpets and wallpaper. Now that's gotta be as good a reason for living somewhere as any.


This is Maria - she insisted on getting me something to eat, I insisted back and we had a kind of insist-off between us.


Clearly I have name memory issues because I cannot remember these people's names either but they are from Cygnet and had some revealing info on the demographic of that town. I feel like I've been well equiped with insider knowledge for the future.


This is Nigel with his daughter - a very articulate and thoughtful guy. The red thing in the foreground is my melodica.

Tomorrow I'm going to Salamanca Square and as usual I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

There's a great read in the Lonely Planet about Tasmania (I read it on the plane over from Auckland) that speaks about the dream of owning a quarter acre block and the fact that Tasmanians even more than their mainland cousins know what it is to have your own patch of grass you can call your own. What is that? Independance? Stubbon-ness? Or maybe just knowing a good thing when you're onto it. Anyway, if today was anything to go by I reckon I will learn a fair bit about how people actually tick around these parts.

Here are some images from Nigel and Audrey who sent them in to me.