Hobart: Day 3 - Evening

So much to write about, but want to keep it short because I'm watching the Gumboots DVD and really enjoying it, and I also want to get some more sleep tonight.

Breakfast at 6.30am as usual. Handed in my clothes and underwear for laundry/dry cleaning at reception.

Walking around the hotel room I notice a bit of pain in my left ankle, as though I've sprained it. The pain stays with me for the rest of the day and into the evening.. it comes and goes but seems to be particularly prominent when I'm barefoot in my hotel.

Lots of laughter with the client and the team throughout the day which is great. The weather is beautiful which helps keep my spirits lifted. Also started to finish off my work which was pleasing.

Knocked off work early to visit Mt. Wellington.. and the bitter coldness was worth the amazing view. Even the drive itself is a lot of fun. Photos turned out really well which is also pleasing. Definitely want to visit again on my holiday weekend here next week. Preferably with suitable footwear though - we drove up to the mountain straight from work, so I was pottering around in my heels and got stuck way too many times between the wooden planks that made up the walkways to each of the lookouts.

Noticed bodyguards hanging around whilst we were sightseeing. Turns out they were looking after an extended family of 9. We wondered who the family was but left it at that.

Dinner at the Drunken Admiral (made a booking during the day just to make sure). The pasta at the self-serve salad bar was the best! The oysters were the highlight. I was totally put off my main meal because I ate an anchovy without knowing what it was! It was all I could do to avoid spitting it out into a serviette.

Coincidentally, the family and bodyguards arrived at the restaurant shortly after us. Based on my observations of the bodyguards at their own dinner table, it appeared that they also remembered us from the mountaintop. Tried to forget about all the action movies I'd seen, and suppressed thoughts of being taken out by the bodyguards. This party's presence added an extra dimension of excitement to tonight's dinner.

Tried to go for dessert at Mures, but they were shut by the time we headed over, so we retired to our hotel apartments. My clothes returned all nice and clean.. but I think they've just ruined one of my bras, which is really annoying because I only just bought it last week (and it wasn't cheap either!).

My bags are mostly packed, just need to finish off after tomorrow morning. Read a passage from my Spanish learning book tonight, and I had a better flow with my reading which was a nice surprise. Looking forward to reading more this weekend.. hope to read with/teach Lan as well.

Haven't done any drawing yet but I'll get to it at some stage. Read my Time magazine at breakfast this morning, will repeat tomorrow morning. Haven't written in my handwritten journal yet. No TED.com videos yet, I think I need to install iTunes first because that's the only program that will read them from my knowledge.

Had a ridiculously awesome conversation with Largie towards the end of the mountain visit, during the drive back down the mountain, on the way to dinner, and throughout dinner. Politics, racism, world issues and the incredible difficulty of solving them, events in history, Australian political history, the history of humans, medicine and science.. lots of world history/politics. And a bit of Takeshi's Castle and British comedy. Really rewarding and intellectually stimulating conversation that filled me up better than the dinner tonight. Don't get me wrong, I was stuffed from dinner, but the conversation was so refreshing. It's good having such knowledgeable friends, I learn so much from them.

Got in touch with Fitzy today as I'm going to be flying to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. Did a bit of research online and discovered that the St Kilda markets are on tomorrow night, and they're only on Thursdays. But I don't know what the distance is from the airport and/or his place, so I don't know if it's a viable option. In any case I'll be happy to see an old friend again, and I'll be that little bit closer to seeing my boyfriend again. Feels like it's been a long time since I saw him, even though it was only on Sunday. Really looking forward to this weekend, I hope everything goes well.