Burnie, Tasmania
Trip Start
Dec 17, 2007
1
7
31
Trip End
Jan 20, 2008
Burnie, Tasmania,
Australia
Monday, December 24, 2007
My first stop off was to find a sun hat. Yesterday in Melbourne I had my baseball hat on to shield my eyes but my ears and neck got burned. With the lovely hole in the ozone layer directly above this area of the world the sun is extremely intense and not to be taken lightly. Sunblock should be regularly applied to any exposed skin, minimum spf 45, and most light skinned people wear brimmed hats and sunglasses
Apple pie at the Pie Shop in Burnie
.When the bus was pulling in to the information centre in the heart of town I noticed a familiar sign on a store - a red bullseye. Yes, there is Target here in Australia. I decided to check out the competition and to their credit the merchandise was very nice and all the employees wore nice business slacks and red silky button downs with black shoes. Very different from the mix and match your own red and khaki of any variety back home. The condition of the store reminded me of an old Shop-Ko desperately in need of a renovation, but the store was very clean and neat. They obviously did the best they could with what they had. I didn't find a hat there and so continued to look about the town.
I next went to the Canon store. This morning I managed to try and blow dust off my new wide angle lens and managed to spit on it accidentally. I couldn't get it cleaned off and wanted to get it taken care of before I did damage to the expensive coatings and such on this pro lens. I also hoped that they would have a protective UV filter I could screw on to the end to prevent this in the future. Unfortunately I realized the second that I entered that this was a copier store and not a camera store. The staff was so so nice though and went out of their way to help me
Burnie Beach
. They told me about the local Kodak shop down the street and another one as well and said that they should indeed have what I'm looking for.Turns out they were right, I found a 77mm UV filter for my lens and some lens cleaner and wipes and got my lens cleaned up perfectly.
Next I saw there was a KMart store. Still in search of sun protection in this very intense land of UV rays I went inside. This store looked more like an upscale Wal-Mart, better by far than the Target and more people shopping inside. Funny! It's the opposite where I live. I found a very cute wide brim straw crocheted hat for $16.00 AU and purchased it immediately and went on my way.
Now I was hungry. I wanted to get some lunch and rest for a few minutes. I was close to the information centre called iSite and went in to inquire about a good restaurant. Being that this is Christmas Eve Day shops have different hours than normal and they mentioned a good restaurant for fish called Fish Frenzy. I walked back down to the waterfront and found the restaurant. I purchased a large cone of breaded shrimp and chips (french fries) for $10.00 AU and took a table out on the verandah to watch the waves crash in along the beach. The meal came quickly and was quite delicious. It wasn't too greasy, so as to give me problems, and I enjoyed it slowly while people watching. There was a very brisk breeze off the ocean today so despite the sun the temperature was quite bearable-most likely high 70's. Due to getting a bit of sunburn yesterday while wearing shorts I opted to wear lightweight long pants today and wasn't too hot.
Camera Shop at the museum
I walked along the beach for a bit and looked for some seashells and took photos. I marvelled at how green and tropical the water looked and then found a banner with Christmas emblems on it and knew that I needed to take a picture to prove that I was indeed in a warm clime at the holidays!
After a while I felt that because this was Christmas I needed some good Christmas dessert. I saw there was a pie shop along the beach that had not only savory pies, but also sweet ones. I ordered a blueberry apple pie (they are the shape of a potpie but so much flakier and better here) from the children who were manning the shop for their summer holiday. The service couldn't have been better! The oldest was maybe 12 and the youngest probably 6 years old. They were all siblings and very polite and professional. My plate arrived with a beautiful presentation of dusted cocoa, the pie heated with vanilla ice cream on top and whip cream dusted with cocoa. It was a bargain too at only $3.50 AU. I enjoyed it slowly, savoring each mouthful and again marvelling that I was experiencing this summer time treat in December in Australia! :) On my way out of the shop I thanked the kids for the fabulous dessert and they smiled politely and thanked me for my business. How adorable, it was the highlight of my day so far.
After rolling myself out of the pie shop I decided to walk back up to the info centre and go through the museum they had there
Christmas Eve on Burnie Beach
. For a small fee I spent 2.5 hours wandering the "streets of early Burnie" in an indoor replica of the town and its history. It was well worth the money and I enjoyed slowly wandering from shop to shop in the museum. We have a similar type setup in our public museum in Milwaukee that I also frequently enjoy.After the museum it was time for me to grab the shuttle and head back to the ship and get back to work.
The mayor once again greeted us as we got off the bus and thanked us for visiting their town.
Burnie was delightful. Each place I've come to so far has simply wet my travel appetite more to actually come back and visit these sights longer and more thoroughly. As much as I love cruising and getting paid for it I don't really truly feel I do justice to any one place when I have only 9 hours or less in a port and then move on to the next one. On the other hand, without travelling in this fashion and getting paid for it I'd probably never afford to do it in the first place.
Merry Christmas!
-T
