Although it started a bit unusually (getting out of bed before 9 am and allowing a vampire to steal some blood), there were fewer surprises during my wanderings around town today than yesterday. Scott was meeting up with some old friends, so I came into town with him but went to run my own errands. That completed I grabbed a fantastic roll from Jackman and McCross and ate it in Princes Park. I spent most of the time wishing I had my camera; it was a beautiful day and Battery Point is a great place to wander.Â
Sometimes the best time to get a cache in a muggle infested area is to do it when there are lots of muggles around. When there are squillions of people, one lone person doing something strange doesn’t stick out so much (especially as you can always bet there’s someone doing something even stranger than you). So I thought I’d try for the final of Boating for Beginners. However the area it is hidden in has too much through traffic, so I gave up after the bazillionth tried to push past. There’s a cruise ship in, so the usual Salamanca pedestrian traffic was even more annoying than its usual annoying self, and with Americans not understanding what side of the footpath to walk on. . .well, after a while I gave up and had a rest on Parliment Lawns.
I sent Scott a message, and soon I’d met up with him and was wandering the markets with his friends Jenny and Jonathen. The markets looked very much like the markets. Lots of stuff, and I was very good and didn’t allow myself to be tempted to purchase a plant for the garden. Scott had a bratwurst, we wandered, Scott had some strawberries and cream (I did steal some mouthfulls!). When Jenny and Jonathen left for North Hobart, Scott phoned Julian to see if he wanted a ride home with us. Julian happened to be only a few metres away, however so was half of Hobart: the Toy Run was arriving.
The Tamanian Motorcycle Riders Association has an annual Toy Run. Basically, thousands of bikies gather at the Derwent Entertainment Centre then ride en masse into Salamanca. Along the way they throw lollies to children watching, but the main point is for them to bring food and gifts which are donated to the Salvation Army. The Salvos were there, ready with plastic bags and trucks, in the middle of Parliment Lawns. We even bumped into two geocachers, Sirius and Tim the Enchanter (of the family team Fairly Magic). This was all very nice, however I was getting hot and tired. And we’d parked on a street that was now closed. Grump, grump. Eventually the river of bikies ceased, the police quickly had the street open, and I had a few photos on my phone (really regret not having my camera). All in all, a nortmal December saturday in Hobart.
