Last week we were in Tasmania.
The purpose for the trip was to see if we could live there.
Our immediate reaction when we arrived, sustained and reinforced throughout our entire visit was “Yes we can” (Isn’t that an Obama slogan? Oh dear!)
As you know, I’m a strong believer that the Universe sends us messages if we’re open to listening.
One of the first things we noticed was the number plate of the motor-home we hired for the time we were there.
The byline on it was “Tasmania – Explore the possibilities” – that’s what we were there to do.
When travelling we like to hire a 6 berth motor-home.
We find that’s just enough room for the two of us.
I really wonder about how people travel with more people in one of those or in smaller vans – it must get seriously cramped, especially in wet weather when you literally “need to go outside to change your mind”.
A motor-home is an excellent way to travel because you’ve got your accommodation with you (like a snail) and so don’t need to be locked into any specific time-table resulting from having bookings at hotels and such.
We picked it up from near the airport, quite annoying the taxi driver because it’s a short trip (but way too long to walk) and headed to our first destination – staying with friends who live at Battery Point.
For those of you who haven’t been to Hobart but are familiar with Sydney’s inner suburbs, it’s a bit like Redfern, Paddington or The Rocks.
It appears to have originally been a workers’ area with lots of very narrow streets and small homes which have been gentrified and are now very up-market.
Driving a van the size of a truck through the narrow streets certainly got the heart racing.
Hobart for us was the Salamanca Markets, a circus performance (Limbo) at the Spiegeltent and meeting wonderful people.
We left Hobart and travelled north.
Our intention was to check out the area around Devonport and Burnie as that’s where we are planning to live.
Central Tasmania is beautiful with some very cute, picturesque towns – notably Campbell Town and Evandale.
Our preconceived ideas of Tasmania as being green and lush were a bit of a disappointment as Tasmania (particularly the southern region) is in the grip of drought.
Most of its electrical power is provided by the hydro system with backup provided by a cable across to mainland Australia (referred to as the North Island).
In late 2015 the Basslink cable was damaged and so electricity can’t be brought in from Victoria.
The drought, together with the broken cable has created an electricity crisis.
So, like anywhere else on the planet, Tasmania isn’t all idyllic – there are challenges.
Part of our exploration was testing phone and internet access.
Our phone provider is Vodafone, which has a serious image problem but we found very few places where there was no signal.
I attended a client meeting while sitting by the side of the road in a small town called Carrick and was able to email files to my business partner.
That proved there’s a very good chance we’d be able to keep up “business as usual” irrespective of where we’re living.
We loved the area we’re hoping to live, even went to look at a house to rent but didn’t like it.
One of the great things about Tassie is that everything is so close.
A drive of 20 minutes from the heart of the major cities (if you can call them that) and you’re in the country.
In Sydney, a similar trip would take hours through atrocious traffic.
Overall, it was a very successful trip and we’ve decided we’re moving.
Just not yet.
We’ve a great deal of organising to do before we can relocate.
Our target date is before next summer.
Summer in Sydney is a real struggle for us – high temperatures combined with high humidity means Danita and I become very lethargic and almost housebound from November through February/March.
So, being away from here before next summer is a thrilling idea.
We’ve been housesitting since May 2011.
As I wrote in last week’s post we’ve come to the end of that phase of our lives.
It’s been great and served its purpose but as they say “all good things come to an end”.
And so, a new adventure begins.