Hobart

I have one more day and two more nights in Hobart. The town actually reminds me quite a lot of Dunedin in a weird sort of way... quite hilly, cold, laid back culture, etc. (Sydney = Auckland, Melbourne = Wellington, Adelaide = Christchurch. Perth = Tauranga?)

There was snow on Mt Wellington on the first couple of days we were here, and with temperatures around 11-12 degrees (Celsius) we realised we hadn't packed enough warm clothes. But here we are at the end of the week and it's 25 degrees - shorts and T-shirts...

The badminton games have been reasonably good, but all the socialising has grated on me a bit. Particularly the relationships between me, the people in my unit, and the people next door. Anyway I'm trying not to dwell on that.
Then everyone is saying, 'See you again next year', and I'm thinking to myself, 'No you won't!' None of this has really been my cup of tea. Being a midweek ladies' tournament, the average age of the participants is probably around 55-60. But despite this, the mid-week dinner we had consisted of food, then music almost as loud as the conference dinner at ICONN earlier this year. I simply could not stay - and I don't know how the old people coped, but they were all up the front dancing... seems that they all see it as a time to get away from their families and let their hair down. I can't really relate to that. I guess I just haven't fitted in to anything. Was I expecting to? Probably not. Am I bothered? Not now. I had a good time by myself yesterday - had the afternoon off after playing early in the morning, so I hired a mountain bike and went for a ride up Mt Wellington. I made it as far as the chalet (about 3 km from the top), decided that was far enough so I turned around and rode down - biggest adrenaline rush I've had for a while :)
Tomorrow I'm going on a tour to Richmond, Port Arthur, and a Tasmanian devil sanctuary place. By myself (i.e. not with the people from my unit). Then on Sunday it'll be time to go home - and not a day too soon. I am so over all of this. It's just like school really - girls all giggly and stupid, gossipy and backstabbing. No, I won't be going to another ladies' badminton jamboree thing.

I haven't got around to downloading the photos off my camera (for both the Queen Charlotte trip and Hobart) but as soon as I do I'll put them up here...