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Our departure from Melbourne came with some slightly rougher seas and winds, bringing out lots of sailboats filled with after-work sailors. Many people thought it was rough going, but it was just a little back and forth during dinner and throughout the night and our following day at sea. We spent quiet time on the Thursday, catching up on loading the photos and writing the journal. Rob spent some time acting as COTV webmaster. Our dinner during the day at sea was with Damien LaCroix, the General Manager, who invited us and two other couples to eat with him in the Grand Dining Room. We had a very pleasant time and found the menu to be in a constant state of improvement as well. Quite a few of our crew friends stopped by the say hello, which also added to the enjoyable evening.

We arrived in Hobart at about 7:30am. It is a long entry into the harbor through many islands and headlands. We had selected another lengthy excursion to Huonville, Geeveston and Tahune. The main attraction was the last, Tahune. Our guide, David, while a very nice man, had a horrible habit of dropping his voice as he talked on so you only got an occasional word or two of what he was saying. A number of passengers went up to the front of the bus and spoke to him about it, but he always reverted back to having a soft conversation with himself so we all gave up and didn't get much out of his commentary. Our first stop was in Huonville, off the Huon River, in the middle of apple growing country. Tasmania, the smallest of the 6 Australian states, used to be called the Apple Isle. Their exportation of apples has decreased over the decades, although they still send a lot of apples to Asia, where they are required to be larger than those needed in Europe and must be without blemish. We went to the Apple Museum where they had exhibits of the history of the apple industry in Tasmania and a lot of the old equipment used. They also make cider from those apples that do not meet the specifications of beauty of the export market and we tried a glass. It had been fermented for some months and was unlike the Martinelli's apple cider we are all familiar with.

We re-boarded the coach and moved on to Geeveston to see the Forest and Heritage Center which focused on another of Tasmania's earlier industries, timber. The Southern Forests were clear cut in the late 1800s but much of the land has since been declared National Park or Forest and so the forests have rebounded. They are home to many of the 650 species of eucalpyts, known to us as eucalyptus (in California we primarily have the blue gum.) They have actually counted the rings of a giant tree they have found, which is not available to public viewing, by taking a core sample that showed it was over 3100 years old.

From Geeveston, the coach took us about an hour or so through the forest areas to the Tahune Forest Airwalk. Because there were two bus loads, ours had lunch at the Cafe at the visitor center while the other group went to the Airwalk and then we reversed places. Lunch was salads, grilled meats, chicken kebabs and sausages and apple crumble for desert. The local water, from the Huon River, was served on the table and was slightly brownish which turned some folks off. The River itself is very brown when you look down on it at this location. However, the water has been filtered, etc and as the lady said, no one has grown two heads yet, so Rob and Daryl drank it. After lunch, it was our turn to go further into the forest to the access point and then onto the walkway itself. You are walking up in the tops of the forest among 120 year old gum trees and a variety of other species like leatherwood and myrtle. The walkway rises as you continue and ends in a cantilevered section over the river and high in the forest. Daryl is not generally so happy about heights, but went to the end of the cantilevered area as it was well worth seeing the view. Our guide from the Airwalk, Tim, talked to us about how it was built and the various species of both trees and animals in the area.

We re-boarded the coach and headed for our final stop at the Home Hill Winery, a family-owed and run winery with lovely grounds and buildings. Like most California wineries, they have discovered that there is money to be made from having a decent restaurant and gift shop. We tasted 6 of their wines, which were much better than those we had tasted in the Yarra Valley. Rob and Daryl talked with the chefs in the kitchen about what they were preparing for the dinner menu (looked much better than our lunch) and then we all boarded the coach for the return to the harbor and the ship.

We were scheduled to depart port at 5pm so needed to be aboard at 4:30, but there seemed to be a delay casting off. Since we are right at the back of the ship, we had a front row seat of seaplanes landing, ferries passing back and forth and the crew of the tug waiting to pull us away from the dock and out into a wider part of the harbor so we could swing the nose of the ship around and head back out.

Dinner was our first time to Toscana this trip and since we had changed our reservation twice, we did not end up with a window table. We bonded with the maitre d', Rashman from Romania, who is a new face for us, and we are now "family" to him, so we have assured the seating we want whenever we want. Daryl has finally figured out how to "work with" the wait staff so that she gets the smaller portions she is happy with and does not end up having everyone ask if there is something wrong with the food because she can't eat as much. We seem to be the rare exception, however. The couple next to us started with an octopus carpaccio appetizer, then soup, then another appetizer or pasta, then osso buco or veal scaloppini. We ate an appetizer and a smaller main course in the same amount of time and leisurely drank some wine. They were still waiting for dessert when we left.

We headed for bed as we were going to put the clocks ahead one hour overnight. We are looking forward to 3 days at sea.