tasmania, part I

Hiking in Tasmania is serious business...hilly business.

Hike #1: Wineglass Bay/Hazards Bay Circuit; Freycinet National Park.

12.45 kms / 7.74 miles
4 hours 8 minutes



A classic Tassie "walk." We had to basically go up a mountain to get to the Wineglass Bay lookout (worth it) and then hike all the way back down again to get to the beach (also worth it). Then we made our way through a swamp to Hazard's Beach and back around the mountain to get back to where we started. By the end, my legs were shaking. My dad looked pretty beat too. Vincent showed off by carrying all the water the whole way and not even breaking a sweat. Hm. I guess that's what hip surgery and old age to do people. Vincent's day will come.

Tiring as it was, the scenery and weather couldn't have been better. Little did we know how our hiking-luck was going to keep up!

Hike #2: Crater Lake/Lake Lilla Loop; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

approx. 5 kms / 3.1 miles
approx. 2.5 hours

I didn't bring my super-awesome-gps-running-watch on this hike, because we thought it was going to rain. Thinking back, I don't know why that stopped me since it's water proof for up to 30 minutes in metre-deep water. Next time. In any case, this hike was a bit on the fly because our originally planned hike turned out to be an un-maintained trail which would require a little extra "gear." My father and Vincent took that as a sign that I was trying to kill them. They decided we would choose another hike. No trust. Thus, we did Crater Lake/Lake Lilla loop, which basically, once again, took us up a mountain to Crater Lake and then down to Wombat Pool and Lake Lilla.

Cradle Mountain is basically an alpine rain forest! The scenery is impossible to describe--I'd never seen anything like it. 1/3 of the plant life on Tasmania is found only here. They also have wombats...and tasmanian devils.

Hike #3: Dove Lake Circuit; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

5.89 kms / 3.66 miles
1 hour 56 minutes



Our last hike in Tasmania. Sigh. This was our easiest hike with the least elevation change and the shortest route. It was me, dad, Vincent and Bec! The view was beautiful and the weather held out for us. But we had to bundle up it was probably in around 4C/40F in some places/at some moments (my estimation). We walked right to the base of Cradle Mountain, which of course is the main attraction!

I'm secretly (or I guess now, not so secretly) planning another trip. Lemme know if you want in!

Seals and kiwi and wine, oh my!*

George, Agnes, Emily, Vincent, and I went to New Zealand this past weekend**. It was super and beautiful and delicious all at the same time.

We saw animals!




We experienced stunning beauty!




We drank beer made from hops and just the right amount of heaven, all carefully packaged in very cheap six packs! (And the wine wasn't half bad neither!)




Vincent and I even went swimming at Kaiteriteri.




Mixed in with all that goodness was a fantastic road trip where we got to hang out with great friends and meet lovely new people (and eat ice cream!)

The full trip is detailed here... if you think you can handle it.

* Other possible titles include: Penguins and tuatara and beer, oh my! or Sheep and beer and takehe, oh my! or Cows and kea and hokey-pokey, oh my!

** Technically, George and I went for three and a half days; Agnes, two and a half days; and the hard-core Emily and Vincent, two days.

i looked up and ::WHABAM!::

Mildred and Bartholomew are back, people, BACK!

I'm absolutely thrilled. I had missed them for most of the spring because a silly-dilly Currawong had set up shop just in front of my balcony. Well, s/he (and the offspring) are gone and my rainbow-coloured joy-packers are BACK!

Welcome to summer!!

special populations

Question: Which special populations provide evidence for the modular view of language?

Answer: Canadians, Deaf people, Koreans who were captured during the war and later released by the Japanese, and Pygmies.

a running linzi is the happiest linzi.

i've been very busy lately. i went to france to see friends and family... and castles... and catacombs... and mummified cats! then, i had to go to america to be clever...and other things. then when i got home i found out that facebook finally decided to let me into my account after more than a bloody year and a half (a big thanks goes out to cecily on this one). don't worry-- i've already deactivated it; my way of sticking it to the big bad facebook. eh.

anyhoo--other than that, i've been too busy being a phd student and running. well, running mostly*. my physical therapist just gave me the all-clear (with conditions). i can't believe i hadn't run in eight months. i'm surprised i didn't die waiting--the situation was pretty dire. ask vincent, he'll tell you. in any case, i can't run long enough yet to get to centennial park (doh!), but here's a picture of where i want to be in a month or so.


stay tuned for more. more about running indubitably! but also vincent and i are off to new zealand in about a month. think: fur seals and little blue penguins. coffee and bbq's. a very cold ocean and hot springs...and of course, kiwis!





* Except if Trevor is reading this. In which case "being a phd student" has totally been topping my to-do list.