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Lisa, Vicky, Jon and I visited Cockles Creek which is the most southern most point of Australia (well, almost). The weather was stonking hot and we had lots of fun fooling around on a giant whale.

Erm, this was rather unexciting. It’s just a big bridge built up in these huge trees south of Hobart.

Vicky Argyle, Tasha Munro, Lisa McClintock and I all ventured south from Hobart to visit the Hastings Caves. The caves are truly spectacular and you can get some wonderful pictures inside. There’s a sign outside saying you aren’t allowed to use a tripod, but the guide told me it was okay as long as I didn’t hold the tour up There were all sorts of creepy crawlies inside, although getting pictures of them was difficult as I wasn’t allowed to use a flash and they usually moved before I could get my tripod setup.

Below is what the Hastings Caves look like if yer spinning round in circles - I dropped my camera

The bush outside the caves was very dense and full of wildlife including Wallabies, possums and the occasional Tasha and Lisa.

Aside from the occasional near miss with wallabies and possums scampering across the road in front of our car we (me, Lisa and Vicky) also visited a wildlife sanctuary between Port Arthur and Hobart.

My series of photos of strange looking but probably quite common birds continues. Is this a duck or what? I shot this photo in a little town just north of Hobart in Tasmania.

Vicky, Lisa and I visited the Port Arthur penal colony. This is the site of one of Australia’s most infamous prisons. The old ruins are spectacular and well worth the visit. We also went on a ghost tour around the colony the night before.

There were some stunning examples of early colonial architecture around Tasmania.

Jon, Lisa, Kelly, Vicky and myself all piled onto a little boat and took a cruise around the harbour in Hobart. Vicky’s obsession with taking gagillions of photos went into overdrive during the trip.

Lisa, Jon, Vicky and I visited one of the oldest prisons in Hobart. There were lots of creepy things to see including this scary ghost of a beautiful woman, for some reason she looks oddly familiar.

Jon Kitchen looked oddly at home inside a locked prison cell.

The stones in the floor which the prisoners stood on before heading up to the court room showed just how long the prisoners were required to stand down there before sentencing. The stone blocks of the floor had ground out dents in them from the ball and chains the prisoners wore wearing whilst standing down there.

I went to Hobart for IC07 which is the biggest inorganic chemistry conference in Australasia. The conference was a success. I met lots of new people, made some new friends and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Hobart is an excellent place to visit. It’s very picturesque, the weather is great and it’s not too busy.