Postcards, Potatoes and a Fishy First….

Great Aunty Jan & Mum convinced us to leave the four children in their capable hands and go explore on our own….What a Blessing! It turns out the four kids decided to “Help” Poppy & Great Uncle Nigel wash the cars and the Motor home…..hmmmm I think Great Uncle Nigel may have enjoyed the ensuing water fight a little too much! Apparently he came out armed with water pistols!!! (we missed the whole thing would you believe) I’m not sure how clean the cars/Motor home got…. but I do know the kids, Poppy and Great Uncle Nigel really enjoyed it!

Having being released from our charges, Daniel and I attempted to stroll through the markets… It was Big, Colourful, and very popular! Every Saturday Hobart city comes alive with the famous Salamanca Markets! A thriving marketplace that monopolises the entire length of Salamanca Street just near the Marina.

Can you spot me?

There I am…with the spotty bag

What an experience! I think it could best be described as a “press” of people! I was grateful that we didn’t have our four boisterous children to keep track of in that crowd! It was hard enough for the two of us to stay together (I reckon Aunty Jan might have known that would be the case). We couldn’t believe it, we hadn’t gone more than 5 metres into the Markets when we bumped into some friends of ours from the Sunshine Coast! It was lovely to see them. I did get a chuckle when one of their children said innocently…

“I thought you were travelling around Australia???”

We reminded her that ummmm we’re in Tassie!!! She blushed….having forgotten that fact.

We have travelled some 4400 km at this point!

So I reckon we’re having a good crack at it!

So after walking the length and breadth of the Markets we came away with just two purchases….Potatoes and Postcards! (owing mostly to the fact that an abundant variety of potatoes are grown in Tassie and we were sent to hunt and bag 2kg of Dutch Creams for Dinner tonight; and also that Daniel seriously needs work….we are stretched to the max at the moment, so small purchases are all that’s on the cards…pardon the pun!) We did saunter through St David’s Park which borders the markets, finding it very interesting looking at the gravestones of the early settlers. And I must say, kind of disconcerting that we were walking on the buried remains of soooooo many people in a public park! Tassie is full of surprises.

On the way home Daniel and I went and grabbed some fruit and veggies… Tasmania has seriously good fruit and veggies!!! The stone fruit is particularly good, and so BIG! Yummo!!! Just imagine telling the kids they have to eat as much fruit as they can…our bench is overflowing with fruit now, but it won’t last long with 10 of us on the go. And quite frankly I’d rather the kids were eating fruit and veggies for snacks anyway. As soon as she got home Leisl was pleading with me for a carrot! The others all went for the strawberries, cherries, plums, peaches and nectarines!!! Spoiled for choice…. I had to smuggle in the Beans and the Snow Peas for a bit later on.

We came home to an empty house. The pushbikes were gone. There was some evidence of a water fight, with wet towels & shirts/shorts draped over chairs…. All the children were down the road with Poppy and Great Uncle Nigel fishing from the jetty. Great Aunty Jan & Mum had gone off in search of apricots to make more jam… Apparently the children (and I’m quite sure the two men as well) had a wonderful time catching…seaweed! Losing their hats in the water and frightening the life out of everybody whenever they cast their lines!!! But the big thrill of the day was that Miss Rosa (the big 7 year old) caught her first FISH! Just a bit too small to keep, but a delightful experience none-the-less. She told me with great pride that she’d caught the only fish AND that she’d thrown it back!

Rosa with her first Fish!

Fishin’ the Derwent!