Bass Strait: What's it really like?
February 16th 2007 02:11
One week in Tassie:
I have now had just over one week in Tassie. It has been all new and I have learnt a lot of new things and I have had an attitude change in some others. First off I did not believe people when they said Tassie is always cold. It is the middle of summer and though I have been able to get around in shorts, thongs and t-shirt it has been a long way from walking around in a sweat. The wind is what has the chill in it. Out of the wind and you start to broil. I guess anything that starts in the Antarctic has to be cold. At night I use my doona and some of the Queenslanders have been asking for instructions on how to use the room heaters!
At first I didn’t realise Tasmania was in the grip of a drought as well. It was raining when I arrived and the grass was tall. It seems my thoughts about the dams not being full, was the clue I should have taken. When I walk on the grass here on the campus it cracks and breaks under my feet. The west coast is getting rain but I don’t know if it is enough. Apples are not being picked in some orchards and they are just being allowed to drop and spoil on the ground.
I had looked at the Tamar river on a chart and I was quite excited at the size of the river and its location so close to the college. I thought I would be up and fishing each day. No! I have yet to see anyone angling in the river, even from the city wharves. I am told that there is a bridge across the river that leads to Beaconsfield and from that bridge schnapper can be caught. Well I know how high the bridge is and I don’t think I have enough “string” on my rods to go schnapper fishing there. The river I have explained before does not have an inviting look or feel to it. Strong currents, murky muddy colour on some days and deep blue on others. The banks are covered with a slick oozy mud, but there is grass up the high water line. This grass is owned by farmers and I don’t know yet how they are about people tramping through their paddocks to try their luck fishing.
I thought I would be out sailing as much as I could but the sailing clubs are all a fair way from the campus. The Tamar Yacht Club is at Beauty Point which is a forty five minute drive away and me with no car. I did venture in to the Royal Hobart Yacht Club while I was there and thought I might breast the bar and tell some lies with the locals. Well at 11.00 am there was a table full of sailors sitting around drinking coffee! I know for a fact the Tassie sailors are a tough breed and drinking coffee doesn’t make you a wimp, but really, where were the bar-flies? My own club has ‘church” every Sunday morning at 10.00 am where the irreverand can gather and cleanse their souls and pallets with a nice ale or two.
I am having trouble getting Internet connection here. The College has a large IT section which is available to help. They also have a large computer lab and library computers that all connect to the Internet but unless I have my own laptop connected with my own mail system and auto passwords I feel lost. The rooms here are supposed to have a wireless connection to the net but it has not happened. There seems to be a “manyana” attitude to some things around here. When I have time I will get the laptop connected to the library wireless system but the library is only open from nine to five and our lessons are, you guessed it from nine to five.
My fellow students are of an average age from thirty five to fifty three so all are much younger than me. They do all share a common bond with a love for the sea and boating. They are all apprehensive of the tougher side of the course and most spend all their spare time studying last years notes. I can’t download the notes on my computer and my “D” drive will not read the disk so I have to wait my turn when everything is revealed in class. This week we have First Aid at sea and hopefully I will be able to bring you an insight or two as to what I have learnt.
I have now had just over one week in Tassie. It has been all new and I have learnt a lot of new things and I have had an attitude change in some others. First off I did not believe people when they said Tassie is always cold. It is the middle of summer and though I have been able to get around in shorts, thongs and t-shirt it has been a long way from walking around in a sweat. The wind is what has the chill in it. Out of the wind and you start to broil. I guess anything that starts in the Antarctic has to be cold. At night I use my doona and some of the Queenslanders have been asking for instructions on how to use the room heaters!
At first I didn’t realise Tasmania was in the grip of a drought as well. It was raining when I arrived and the grass was tall. It seems my thoughts about the dams not being full, was the clue I should have taken. When I walk on the grass here on the campus it cracks and breaks under my feet. The west coast is getting rain but I don’t know if it is enough. Apples are not being picked in some orchards and they are just being allowed to drop and spoil on the ground.
I had looked at the Tamar river on a chart and I was quite excited at the size of the river and its location so close to the college. I thought I would be up and fishing each day. No! I have yet to see anyone angling in the river, even from the city wharves. I am told that there is a bridge across the river that leads to Beaconsfield and from that bridge schnapper can be caught. Well I know how high the bridge is and I don’t think I have enough “string” on my rods to go schnapper fishing there. The river I have explained before does not have an inviting look or feel to it. Strong currents, murky muddy colour on some days and deep blue on others. The banks are covered with a slick oozy mud, but there is grass up the high water line. This grass is owned by farmers and I don’t know yet how they are about people tramping through their paddocks to try their luck fishing.
I thought I would be out sailing as much as I could but the sailing clubs are all a fair way from the campus. The Tamar Yacht Club is at Beauty Point which is a forty five minute drive away and me with no car. I did venture in to the Royal Hobart Yacht Club while I was there and thought I might breast the bar and tell some lies with the locals. Well at 11.00 am there was a table full of sailors sitting around drinking coffee! I know for a fact the Tassie sailors are a tough breed and drinking coffee doesn’t make you a wimp, but really, where were the bar-flies? My own club has ‘church” every Sunday morning at 10.00 am where the irreverand can gather and cleanse their souls and pallets with a nice ale or two.
I am having trouble getting Internet connection here. The College has a large IT section which is available to help. They also have a large computer lab and library computers that all connect to the Internet but unless I have my own laptop connected with my own mail system and auto passwords I feel lost. The rooms here are supposed to have a wireless connection to the net but it has not happened. There seems to be a “manyana” attitude to some things around here. When I have time I will get the laptop connected to the library wireless system but the library is only open from nine to five and our lessons are, you guessed it from nine to five.
My fellow students are of an average age from thirty five to fifty three so all are much younger than me. They do all share a common bond with a love for the sea and boating. They are all apprehensive of the tougher side of the course and most spend all their spare time studying last years notes. I can’t download the notes on my computer and my “D” drive will not read the disk so I have to wait my turn when everything is revealed in class. This week we have First Aid at sea and hopefully I will be able to bring you an insight or two as to what I have learnt.
| 39 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
