Life in the Roaring Forties

   Since my last entry, Monty the Dog and I have moved a thousand miles south of Sydney, down to the latitudes of the Roaring Forties, the location of the famous trade winds that used to sweep the old sailing ships along from the Cape of Good Hope, across the southern Indian Ocean, beneath the continent of Australia to the cool-temperate island of Van Diemen’s Land. After a decade of patiently waiting for my chance to settle in Tasmania, I am now finally here in Hobart.

  House prices during that decade have risen fivefold in Hobart, quadruple the rate at which Sydney house prices have moved. Oki helped us get here, as I am totally incapable of driving 1,600 kilometres on my own. I tend to fall asleep at the wheel after about two hours of driving, and I would have had several head-on collisions and caused many deaths between Sydney and Hobart, if it hadn’t been for Oki’s help in doing most of the driving! We stayed overnight with my middle son, Adam, who lives on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. The next morning, we visited our friends, the Rinaldi family, for morning tea, before setting off for Melbourne and the overnight ferry to Devonport in northern Tasmania.   

  After weeks of packing up the family home, then ten weeks at Oki’s place in Kandos, followed by a week with my friends, John and Jackie, in St. Ives, before another six weeks minding my neighbour’s house in Gordon while she was away, and finally the long trip south, Monty, now an aging twelve-year old Labrador, was rendered totally bewildered by the whole experience and was not at all happy to step inside a cage on the ferry to be left alone all night while we crossed the rough seas of Bass Strait.

   We arrived in Devonport about an hour before dawn, and started our five-hour drive south as a cold sun started to rise behind the thick, morning mist. The temperature was 2 degrees (centigrade) at the coast, but fell quickly as we drove inland, reaching minus four an hour south of Devonport. The mist refused to rise and was still with us at 10.30 a.m. along with a thick frost. Although these frigid conditions might have scared some people, Oki and I loved the beautiful wintery scene of white grass and crisp, brittle frost hanging from the fir trees along the side of the road. Thoughts of White Christmas and scenes from Dickens’ novels, plus the absolute beauty of the frozen mountains, valleys and lakes along the way, made for a spectacular drive.

   We stayed overnight with my brother, David, in Hobart, before moving into my new, little, one-bedroomed house the next day. Having bought the furniture, along with the house, made it easy for us to just move in and get comfortable. The house was built in the mid-1800’s and is in an area of South Hobart along with a lot of other cosy, little, historic cottages. The shops and bus are just around the corner, and there is a walking track beside a rivulet that flows down from Mount Wellington, the large mountain that provides the backdrop to this beautiful, little city. It is just a twenty-five minute walk along the track into the centre of Hobart, and will be a great place for Monty and me to walk each day, either down towards the city, or up towards the mountain.

   I’ve been here for one week now, and am enjoying being just a few hundred yards away from my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, Alex, and friends, Elizabeth and Kevin. This is the first time in my life that I have lived alone. I’ve always had family with me up until now, so it will take a while to get used to my new situation. Having family and friends nearby will be a huge help, and soon, I will join a bowling club and do some other social activities so that I can make new friends. I will miss my Sydney friends, but plan to visit them a few times a year, when I come up to do some school-holiday tutoring at my old tutoring college, “Think Table”. I will also miss my beautiful birds: the kookaburras, currawongs, magpies, cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, butcherbirds and whip birds. The birds down in Tasmania are smaller, quieter and unfamiliar to me.

   Within the last week, I have changed my car registration and driving licence to the Tasmanian variety, put in a new, energy-efficient hot water system, ordered new bookcases to store my library of books, found a nearby, off-leash park for Monty, and organised a builder to give me a quote for converting the old, outdoor shed into a bedroom for visitors, which I hope I’ll have plenty of!

   The climate down here is a good seven degrees colder that up in Sydney, which I like, and in summer, it will mean lovely, mild temperatures as opposed to the long, hot, humid summers of Sydney. Over the past two mornings, I have looked up at Mount Wellington and noticed fresh snow on the upper peaks. The summit is often hidden by cloud and when it clears, it is such a pleasure to see the beautiful, snow-capped mountain looming down at us.  Sydney has a beautiful harbour, but this mountain is Hobart’s jewel.

   I plan to start up my tutoring job down here, but I’m not in a rush. I want to sort out the house first, unpack my belongings (mainly books) and get to know my way around Hobart, before I rush into work. There are many Chinese students down here who need ESL English lessons, and also some Koreans, whom I hope to get to know, as they are keen for their children to learn not just English, but also science and general knowledge. Having taught Korean families for many years, I have a very soft spot for them – they are such, gentle, polite, friendly people. I will miss my Korean friends in Sydney, but hope to see them as well, when I do my Sydney visits.

   Jack, my youngest, turns twenty-two in a few days, and I am flying him down here for his birthday to see the new house and to enjoy a week in Hobart, before he starts the last semester of his science degree. He plans to do a post-graduate diploma of science at the University of Sydney next year, followed by a Master of Neuroscience in Canberra. Adam is planning to buy a little house in Albury (house prices in Sydney are beyond the means of young people), he will complete his Master of Politics and International Relations, along with his great job as a political research officer for the Shadow Minister of Science and Industry. Benn, my eldest and farthest away, lives in London with his beautiful girlfriend, Nicola. They have known each other since university days, studying together in film and television. Nicola works for Sky television and Benn is a freelance film editor. They have both done really well in London, despite the financial crisis. Nicola has been training hard on her bike and is about to enter the Tour de France – what an achievement! I will really look forward to their coming out for a visit to Oz in the not-too-distant future so that they can see my new, little house. And that’s about it for now.