We started the day by going to the Hobart Harbor since the winning boat from the Sydney to Hobart sailing race was just coming in. We were especially eager to see the boat, the Comanche, since it was built in Damariscotta, Maine, although the crew was Australian. It is a very impressive sailboat!!

From there we drove north for a day trip to Freycinet Park, formed by glaciers with lovely rock formations and inlets from the sea. When we arrived, we hiked 1000 feet up to Wine Glass Bay. The climb in parts was intense. David was a good coach and cheered me on-good training for the Camino!! He also pointed out roots so that I could prevent myself from falling !! The park is very beautiful although the temperature was in the high 80’s.

We flew into Hobart, Tasmania, Thursday evening and after a restful night in our air b&b we began to explore Hobart, the capitol, which is a city of 240,000. The air is considerably cooler than in Adelaide.

In the morning we went to the replica of the Mawson hut, designed by Sir Douglas Mawson, an Antarctic explorer from Australia who made several trips to the Antarctic in the early 20th century.

From there we went to the Tasmanian museum where we saw an exhibit about the aboriginal people of the western part of Tasmania. Their arts are lovely and include basket weaving and jewelry-making. These arts remind me of the Native American arts in the U.S. But sadly, the aboriginal people were decimated by the British and forced off their lands.

We walked along the waterfront where the 48 hour sailboat race from Sydney to Hobart would end in the following days.

That afternoon we drove to New Norfolk, a small town to the north. The roads here are more like those country roads in the US-very winding with only 2 lanes. The countryside is very rural with many farms and vast fields and woods as landscape. It is so peaceful and beautiful but very dry due to extreme heat. In some areas water restrictions are posted.

Dave and I went to the vineyards south of Adelaide for lunch on Tuesday . The area is quite lovely and the meal delicious. There was haze from the fires on the hills surrounding Adelaide.

Here are some pictures of Christmas Day in Adelaide-temperature out is in the 90’s F :

Breakfast in Adelaide on Boxing Day

Very little is open in Australia on the day after Christmas, but we were able to find a very nice coffee shop for brunch on the 26th. Dave, Leah, Sammy, Tom and his son Ollie, and Shane, Leah’s father as well as myself enjoyed this time together.

After a very long travel time from Maine, at last I arrived in Adelaide where my grandson Sammy and his parents, Dave and Leah were waiting at the airport. I have fallen in love with Sammy!! And Dave and Leah are such good parents!!

Going through Sydney was sad as fires blanketed the city with smoke which we could smell as soon as we deplaned.

Adelaide is also experiencing haze and some from the fires in the nearby hills.

All of this makes me even more committed to environmental action!!!

Dinner the next day at Leah’s parents’ home in Adelaide with her parents and brother, Tom.

Irene and Shane, Leah’s parents.

Sammy, my wonderful grandson age 4 months.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.