Friday, February 29, 2008

Cruise, Part 3


Today, actually Saturday local time, the Sapphire Princess arrived in Hobart, Tasmania. The skies were partly cloudy with a morning temperature of 67 degrees. It was scheduled to clear up and be 75 before the day was over.

My parents were scheduled for a 4-hour tour called Explore Hobart's History. The tour includes a visit to Runnymede House, a historic home that is now a tourist attraction. It overlooks New Town Bay. Next is the Maritime Museum of Tasmania showcasing Tasmania's maritime history. Then on to the Royal Tasmania Botanical Gardens and the Mt. Nelson Signal Station.

They will depart Tasmania at 6:00 pm Saturday local time, which is 11:00 pm Friday here in Oregon. They will have 2 full days at sea, then one day of fjord cruising during which they remain on the ship, then they will arrive at Dunedin, New Zealand.

Until then, I had to do a little research on the Tasmanian Devil. Here are pictures of the cartoon one and the real one. He's about the size of a small dog, lives mostly solitary, hunts for his food, screeches loudly, and puts out an odor when threatened. He's actually kind of cute, but definitely not something you'd want to pet. Oh, and they are marsupials, which means they carry their young in a pouch like a kangaroo. Awwww.

1 comment:

DrillerAA said...

I sometimes put out an oder when I'm threatened. Probably not the same thing, huh?
Looks like they're having a wonderful trip and seeing some marvelous sites.