Hello Hobart!

Oh dear, another week since I posted! I've finished the next two mercerised cotton scarves but I can't take any photos because I am holed up in Hobart this week. Just when you think you can't get any further at the arse end of the world you wind up in Tasmania ... but I am not disrespecting it at all because it is a lovely city. I am doing a parliamentary law and procedure course at the university of Tasmania which sounds a bit dry but is actually quite interesting. There are a couple of dozen people doing the course and we all work in various parliaments in Australia and NZ, so it's kind of like a university course and kind of like a professional development course. Which is good - relevant mostly and lots of like-minded people to swap geeky stories with.

They're keeping us fairly hard at it but Hobart is small enough to be able to go for a walk at lunchtime and after lectures and see quite a bit. Above is Salamanca - a largely intact Georgian waterfront - convict labour and a very dodgy history but now all art galleries and hipster bars. Of course. Hobart managed to avoid a lot of unrestrained development in the twentieth centurty (poverty and neglect rather than good decisions, although I may be doing it a disservice) and is now very lovely to my Canberra eyes. 

We have been spending some time in Parliametn House as well as the university - it was originally the customs house and built in 1830 before becoming the parliament in 1856. It is much less ornate than the Victorian Parliament which is full-on mid-19th century neo-classical and has pillars and columns all over it. This is much more charming. Although very inconvenient, and most business is carried on in dodgy 1960s extensions. 

We have a free day tomorrow (Sunday) and I'm going to wander around some more and see what I can see. You would think there would be some wool shops and weaving shops but I can't seem to find much ... or nothing that's open on a Sunday. I'll start at the farmer's markets and see where my feet take me!