Tasmania, Australia
Tasmania (or Van Diemen's Land) is an island 150 miles across the Bass Strait south south east of Australia's mainland. The population is a tad over 500,000, half of whom live in Hobart, its capital city. It includes over 300 islands; the largest is about 225 miles long by 190 miles wide. Almost 45% of Tasmania lies in reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites. The wildlife is marvelous.
Tasmania is sparsely inhabited, primarily by Anglo Saxon descendents - although immigrants from many nations might be spotted on rare occasions. Hobart is an unpretentious city on a spectacular harbor with a charming historic center, a royal botanic garden and one of the world's most interesting and challenging modern art museums (MONA).
Much of the landscape is covered with forests, livestock or agriculture. It's climate is moderated by the nearby sea. The locals seem unpretentious, humorous, courteous, well informed and gracious. Walking the streets of its small towns, one gets the feeling of life as it must have been lived 70 or 80 years ago - although its technology is current. My overall impression is one of a society with everything necessary reasonably at hand and with a natural beauty unspoiled by over-use or abuse. (Click a thumbnail image once to enlarge; click within the left or right of the image to advance or go back - or use your right and left arrows. Please give the thumbnails time to populate before a larger image will open; there are many - enjoy them as thumbnails while you wait.)
Tasmania (or Van Diemen's Land) is an island 150 miles across the Bass Strait south south east of Australia's mainland. The population is a tad over 500,000, half of whom live in Hobart, its capital city. It includes over 300 islands; the largest is about 225 miles long by 190 miles wide. Almost 45% of Tasmania lies in reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites. The wildlife is marvelous.
Tasmania is sparsely inhabited, primarily by Anglo Saxon descendents - although immigrants from many nations might be spotted on rare occasions. Hobart is an unpretentious city on a spectacular harbor with a charming historic center, a royal botanic garden and one of the world's most interesting and challenging modern art museums (MONA).
Much of the landscape is covered with forests, livestock or agriculture. It's climate is moderated by the nearby sea. The locals seem unpretentious, humorous, courteous, well informed and gracious. Walking the streets of its small towns, one gets the feeling of life as it must have been lived 70 or 80 years ago - although its technology is current. My overall impression is one of a society with everything necessary reasonably at hand and with a natural beauty unspoiled by over-use or abuse. (Click a thumbnail image once to enlarge; click within the left or right of the image to advance or go back - or use your right and left arrows. Please give the thumbnails time to populate before a larger image will open; there are many - enjoy them as thumbnails while you wait.)
