Lovely Launceston

I have made it to the town of Launceston in Tasmania, and it's already been adventurous. Tasmania has a total population of under half a million, approximately 100,000 of which live in Launceston. The scenery was beautiful as we flew in and disembarked from the plane. Launceston Airport is quite small, so I was looking for baggage claim signs and was a bit confused when I didn't see any. So I walked around the airport (took 3 minutes total) until I noticed a small group of people gathered around an exit. Finally several small trolleys appeared with bags on them. We had to stand back as a fruit and vegetable sniffing dog climbed on top of of the luggage to find possible contraband, and then we were allowed to find our own luggage.

To make the trip economical, I got a room above a pub, which I figured was fine since I was only there one night. Unfortunately, the problem with having a room above a pub is that they're not open until the socially acceptable drinking time of around noon. So I trudged with my backpack many blocks to sit down, have some coffee and a delicious breakfast. As I was leaving and struggling to throw my backpack on, a lady came up to me and offered me a ride wherever I was going so I didn't have to walk with my bag. How nice is that?? I declined the offer, but sometimes it's enough just to have been asked.

After dropping off my bag, I went for a hike to Cataract Gorge which was very beautiful. The walk to the first basin was relatively easy and scenic. Then there was a huge climb to the very top which was invigorating to say the least, passing by wild peacocks (Mom, I still have nightmares) and a wallaby with a joey in her pouch. Not a soul around and it was very peaceful, though I briefly wondered why I was the only fool around making this hike. About half-way up, I realized I would've given one of my appendages for the hiking boots I coveted in 8th grade, as they now could've served an actual purpose other than an early 90's fashion statement. Upon reaching the top, I was startled to find a man up there without his shirt on since I thought I was alone. I jumped and told him that he had scared me, as he tried to cover up his chest with his shirt in a sort of endearingly teenage-girl kind of way. "Oh come on, it's not THAT bad, is it?" he says. Oops. The view was breathtaking though (of the mountains and water, not the fellow hiker I managed to insult in 1.5 seconds flat) and I picked my way carefully back down the mountain.

Now during my early morning stroll through the town, I was inspired by some of the creative store names or accomanying designs I came across and though I'd share a few here with you:

• Fone Zone - selling phones, obviously
• Charcoal Chicken - this featured a chicked who was well-endowed in the breast department crossing her fishnet covered legs seductively with a wave of her wing
• Balls 'N Bumpers - sports store
• Den of Antiquity - thought that was clever
• Hatton & Laws - despite this sounding like a reputable albeit expensive law firm, it's actually a pharmacy
• Wombat - surprisingly this store does not sell wombats, but women's clothing
• Holy Sheet! - selling bed linens (or manchester re: previous post)
  
• The Sheep is Back - knitted apparel
• And finally, a personal favorite of mine: Peter Less though this was all run together in lowercase so it looked like peterless - this was quite obviously a real estate agent who was enormous and therefore not teased as a child because of his name

Here's hoping the weather holds for the week!