Hello from Hobart!

G'Day Hobart! View from Greg & Alicia's Home.

Today I sit at a picture window, facing the bay in Greg and Alicia's beautiful home.  I can't help feeling incredibly grateful and privileged to be gazing at such beauty this morning.  Greg and Alicia live in Sandy Bay, Hobart, an area not far from the hospital or downtown Hobart and they have gorgeous views of mountains and water.  The house is still and silent with the exception of my typing and the sounds of the trees outside, swaying in the occasional sea breeze.  Where is everyone... ?  At work :)  Greg and Alicia's son, 14 month old Griffin, is at daycare and I get to write this post with full gratitude for some peaceful, blissful, quiet time... :)

Rob and I arrived in Hobart last night around 9pm.  We didn't see much of the town because it was dark but today, after Rob gets done with paperwork and orientation to Calvary Hospital, we will tour two homes for rent and see some more of the town.  More to come on that with the next blog post...

We boarded a small jet plane for the hour flight from Melbourne to Hobart.

I am happy to share with you that our visit with Maggie yesterday went really well.  Maggie, for the first time in about a week, looked great.  She has lost some weight, we can see it and feel it when we pet her but she was in such good spirits yesterday, she looked and acted a lot like her old self.  Some of her facial expressions have resurfaced... call me crazy, but dog's do have different looks and you get to know what they are thinking once you know them.  She was more loving as well; letting us pet her for long periods of time and licking us on the face while we sat in the grassy area with her.  We gave her treats galore while we were there and we brought left over chicken from the previous night's dinner to share with her.  Gone in 15 seconds.  We started up a conversation with a nice couple next to our grassy run and they have two dogs in quarantine.  They told us that one of their dogs had bloody paws from continuous pacing on the concrete and supposedly snapped at one of the keepers so their dog was labeled as "vicious".  The owner said her dog has never bit anyone before and likely snapped out of pain in her paws.  Hearing this story, makes us feel (I'm sorry to say) better about Maggie.  It seems like she has finally adjusted to this new environment.  She may not prefer it, but I think she sees that we come back to see her and bring plenty of treats for penance.  Yesterday, Rob and I felt like we had true hope in that Maggie will be alright.  Our new friends also informed us that come August, there is chance the quarantine for animals in Australia will be decreased to ten days.  Do not tell Maggie this... it will be our little secret.

Walking down the green mile, err, pins #60-70 to the grassy area.  Maggie says hello to the dogs as we go. Or she is saying, "look at me busting out of jail!"

Hello Pretty!

Look at it...

Go get it!!

Sit and give me a shake

One of my favorite pictures so far: Man and dog and... ball

Yesterday we also verbally purchased a car. It's a 2004, Mazda Tribute and I will have pictures to share once we pick it up on Tuesday.  Prior to making an offer, we had a mechanic look over the small SUV and he gave us some insight on what needed to be fixed.  The car is being repaired this weekend while we are in Hobart.  Before we left, we negotiated a price which seems fair and we are pleased.  This means, however, I'll be driving next week... for the first time in Australia... There will likely be some quick jerks to the left followed by curse words.  And I may need to buy Rob a drink (or four) after my first driving duty.

That's all for now!  I'll update soon on our home search!  It feels good to be in Hobart, finally.