A smash of a week

One week down in Hobart and it turned out to be a bruiser.  Our move to TAS had been going smoothly, so it was about time that we'd encounter some difficultly - which all seemed to happen in one week.  Rob arrived home last Monday afternoon and soon thereafter, Greg, Alicia and Griffin came to our house for afternoon tea.  Just as they were leaving (a brief but delightful visit), Alicia discovered a parking ticket on her car and Rob's car (which I had parked on the street the night prior).  A $100 fine!  Did I know I could not park at that spot on the street?  No.  The sign on the street in front of our house had a capital S with a line slashed through it.  Literal translation: No Standing.  Tassie translation: no parking.  Greg and Alicia know this parking sign but decided to park behind my car anyway because they were only stopping in for a cup of tea.  A $100 cup of tea.  Yet another Australian road lesson learned.

Now to explain my delay in blog postings or emailing in general; our Internet and phone service stopped working at the house.  Unable to determine what was wrong from our end, we called the service provider and after running some tests, our company assured us that a service person would come to the house to investigate the problem.  We lost connection on Wednesday afternoon and our service wasn't restored until today, Monday.  Luckily we had our cellphones.   Just one day prior to losing home service, we walked into the Telstra store (our mobile provider) and changed our phone plans to save on our monthly bill since we had established home phone/Internet service.  I don't know what our first month's bill will look like after six days of heavy usage but I am grateful to have had some connection to the outside world.  While in the Telstra store, we parked our car at a meter and just as the meter expired, a very not-so-lovely meter maid was ticketing us for an expired time.  We were literally walking up the car as the meter maid walked away.  Another $35 going to the city of Hobart.  Ticket number two in just two days.

This does not complete our bad car-ma (karma) for the week.  On Saturday, Rob and I had our first car accident.  Australians like to call car accidents, car smashes... so we smashed our car.  No one was hurt, but my Loris (the Mazda Tribute I'm primarily driving) is now in the smash repair shop for the next two weeks.  This is what happened... Our driveway is very, very steep.  With caution and ease, we are able to park both cars in the driveway and off the street (parking ticket central).  When I say, "we are able to park", I mean, Rob is able to park in the driveway.  I have only been parking on the street because of how steep it is - don't judge until you see the pictures... So Rob, as wonderful as he is, has been parking the cars.  He does this by reversing the cars down the driveway.  On Saturday, Rob had parked his Hyundai already and was easing Loris down "the mountain" when he thought he should realign the wheels by driving slightly up the incline then ease back down into the spot.  What he forgot, just ever so briefly to do, was place the car in drive... he left it in reverse, hit the gas and went flying back (on the downhill), slammed on the brakes, hitting his car and the wall behind the driveway before coming to a stop.  Good Grief!  All three of us were frightened and stunned for a minute.  I was standing along side the driveway and Maggie was in the car with Rob.  Rob feels absolutely terrible for making such a silly mistake, but that is what insurance is for...  We have both cars insured, only my car needs repair, thankfully.

At the top of the driveway, looking down, down, down...

Margret sitting pretty, to give a perspective of the steepness from the bottom of the driveway

The driver's side door is dented and scratched
It's hard to see but the door doesn't close properly because of the dent

Maggie assessing the damage

The damage to Rob's car, scratching of the bumper and head lamp.

Like busy bees, we spent the week getting settled in our new home and becoming familiar with Hobart.  We've had to do some repair work on the home we are renting, and although a cleaning service came to the house after the previous renters vacated, it still really needed a scrub.  Rob tackled the bathrooms while I pulled everything out of the kitchen for a cleaning and reorganization.  Our dishwasher was broken, the door to our washer was broken, our back gate was broken and several light bulbs were burnt out through out the house. These things have since been repaired by our rental company during the last week.  Rob and I have purchased new furniture, unpacked, moved in and I even made my first batch of chocolate chip cookies with my Kitchenaid mixer.  We had Greg, Alicia and Griffin over for dinner so I made cookies and a small cake the night before.
Now, our oven looks cool but is not the most accurate when it comes to temperature.  I have a temp gauge in the oven to better direct my baking but I under baked the cake anyway and when I eased it out of the baking pan- it smashed onto the drying rack.  Smash cake.  Rob and I ate the done parts (the edges) and tossed the smash cake in the trash.  The next day, after our dinner with the Stanton family, I hand delivered some of my chocolate chip cookies to our neighbor next door.  Neighbor Phil had knocked on our door twice to inform us that we were leaving a set of driveway lights on during the night.  We took care it,  after figuring out which light switches worked which outdoor lights.  Then after our trash wasn't collected on Wednesday, Phil saw me outside and told me that we overfilled our trash can.  I had already called the trash collection company (enquiring if we needed to set up a payment and was informed that our trash can was simply missed the day before) and the rubbish was removed later that day, just as full, no drama.  Neighbor Phil informed us that he was retired and so he is always around.  I believe him and to show him a bit of kindness, thanked him for his help with cookies.  Hopefully he liked them.

Just a short side story this last week... I went to the nail salon to have a much needed pedicure.  I don't know if this is normal for Hobart, but for a pedicure I was directed to a room, sat on a massage table while the nail technician worked on my feet.  Usually you sit with several other ladies in a nail designated area.  Just as soon as I opened my mouth, she realized I was an American and was very curious with the American lifestyle.  During the hour, she rapid fired me questions.  Just as soon as I finished answering one question, she had another one in the queue.  It was almost endearing to have someone so interested in our culture when I have been working on the Australian culture.  Examples of her questions and my answers; Her: have you seen any famous people? Me: Umm, not really.  I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger at Disneyland once but that's not too exciting.  Her: do we eat potatoes in America?  Me: Yes.  Her: Why do we wait until we are 21 to legally drink alcohol?  Me: I don't know.  Her: do people under age drink alcohol anyway? Me; Absolutely.  Her: why are people shooting or blowing up people in America?  Me: I don't know but it saddens us just as much as everyone watching.  She was a sweet gal and I enjoyed the conversation, especially since I was just answering questions.  She did ask me for an example of something that is present in TAS but not in the US.  I told her we don't have meat pies in restaurants, rarely in the supermarket and in general, people don't make them at home either.  She was amazed.

Maggie has decided that she likes Hobart much more than quarantine.  She seems exactly like her old self; the loving, gentle, sweet pup that she is to us and everyone she meets while walking.  It seems like her appetite is improving as she is eating all of her food again.  Rob worked night shifts all last week so Maggie kept me warm in the bed at night; but this week, she is demoted to her bed on the floor.  There is a forest reserve a few blocks away from our home and it allows dogs off leash to exercise.  Maggie loves going up to the reserve and we've met some nice dogs and owners in our walks.

Walking on a path in the reserve where Maggie is free to roam

It's fall here in the land of TAS

Back at home. Maggie is not sleeping, she is just resting her eyes.

This past Saturday, I went to the Salamanca Market here in Hobart.  This market is year around, has artisan crafts, food, gifts and music.  The Salamanca Market is a treasure in Hobart Town and I really enjoyed walking along the many tents.  I did pick up a few gifts, Tasmanian honey, tea and fruit.  However, the food is something to talk about.  I arrived hungry and within 10 minutes, I was eating a slice of mushroom and olive wood-fired pizza.  Then I had to try a danish donut because the Danish know how to make good donuts.  And before I left the market, I ate a nutella crepe.  I'll be back next week.  Then on Sunday, while Rob was napping from working a night shift, I met Greg, Alicia and Griffin at a local farmers market.  Once more I bought a variety of local mustards, veggies, sweet treats and enjoyed lunch with friends at the market.  It is lovely to walk the market with friends.

Salamanca Market entrance with map

Despite it being chilly and a little rainy, a lot of people were at the market

There is still some settling and work to do with the house this week but we are winding down.  Rob and I even enjoyed our first Tasmanian date night in town last night.  We have four weeks until our destination wedding and in the meantime, I'm glad not to stare into my suitcase for a change.  This is our new home.