Tasmania, Hobart

As I process my thoughts and experiences during my travels I am moved to say that Tasmania has exceeded all of my expectations mostly because of the people and the purity of the beauty here.

On a personal note I am deeply moved that Sarah would hostess me to this extent. I am also deeply indebted to Madeline who is looking after my affairs by making the trip into Victoria, British Columbia, with my birth certificate in order that a new passport may be issued from the consulate in Sydney, Australia. I am also amazed by how kind people are that I have met here. It has been incredibly healing for me.

 Last night I read this:

“A mujaheddin fighter once told me that fate gives all of us three teachers, three friends, three enemies, and three great loves in our lives. But these twelve are always disguised, and we can never know which one is which until we have loved them, left them, or fought them,” from Shantaram by Gregory Roberts. These words struck me deeply. Characters in our lives can play more than one of these roles in ways that invoke challenge in integral and critical aspects. Upon thinking about this I am always surprised by who ends up where.

Mount Wellington

Rosellas

We are being hosted by friends of Sarah’s in a home with a lovely garden. We have been meeting tons of people. Sarah has performed in an "a cupella" group. We have explored the famous Salamanca Market and also hiked on nearby Mount Wellington. Hobart is lovely I have decided, with a spacious, clear, and open feeling. There is a strong British feel to the city as well as being characterized by a strong component of sweet Victorian homes. I understand now why Sarah has chosen to make a life here. Today we are seeing an unusual and private art gallery, MONA. It is funded by someone who it is said who acquired his money through gambling on horse races. It is his private collection and it is reputed to have a strong theme of sex and violence in the contemporary art genre as well as exhibitions of  antiquities from all over the world.

I have been introduced to Rosellas, very pretty birds, and we have been watching then feeding. We are leaving Tasmania tomorrow and are headed for Katoomba, The Blue Mountains, on the eastern side of mainland Australia.