What is that.. an upside down rocket ship?

Murray was actually on a business trip in the UK and came home a little earlier than expected so we were finally able to meet him as we were enjoying our breakfast. You may think it’s weird that we stayed at his house without him being there, but Eliza had been very accommodating for us thus far so it didn’t bother us. We met over our day plans with Murray to see if he had any advice and thankfully didn’t try persuade us different or offer to take us anywhere (since I have a hard time saying no). We were ready to just get up and explore the city of our own since that’s what we like best. We made our way to the Botanical Gardens first which seemed to be all the way across town but since we’re good at walking and talking the kilometers went by rather quickly. Along the way we came across a soldier’s walk which was a way to commemorate the fallen soldiers from the wars by planting trees for them. We noticed there were actually plaques in front of every tree to display the name of the soldiers which was pretty neat.

 As we approached the Botanical Gardens we kept noticing signs for a zoo but hadn’t seen anything about that in the tourist pamphlets we had picked up. We soon realized why because it was actually a closed down zoo that had only been open for 16 years. The iron fence definitely showed that the animals were all sad it closed down but it was historical since it was the location where the last Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity. It was still neat to be standing in a place that once ago held so many animals and amazing family memories.

We moved along to the Botanical Gardens and relaxed on a bench overlooking the water front eating our lunch. It was nice to just relax for a little bit and chat with each other since we have been on the go for quite a while now.

 After we finally decided to get up and moving we explored the rest of Hobart starting with the Cenotraph that was designed to also commemorate the fallen soldiers.

 Then we just took our time exploring some more shops and museums before we headed towards Salamanca. Riley had found this pretty cool Friday night musical events that was supposed to take place in the courtyard of the Arts Centre. We had to wait around until 5:30 for it to start and then it didn’t even start on time! So we were stuck waiting until 6:15 for the first band to start when we figured we just had to leave. Our host had messaged us about an hour earlier to let us know that they would be cooking curry for dinner and we didn’t want to be late for that! The walk back was a lot tougher since it is a complete uphill climb but arriving back at the house was a relief! Dinner was absolutely delicious since it was Eliza’s specialty (she’s from Hong Kong). It definitely had a little bit of a kick though since she’s used to spicy. Riley loved it since he says he hasn’t had spicy in a while, but my mouth was screaming after the first bite! The dinner table conversation was a little overwhelming yet intriguing since Murray is full of so much information about lots of things! Riley was put on the spot a little whenever he mentioned that he was an economic major since Murray started naming off economical events and important figures. Riley has been wanting and meaning to read up on his economic materials for this reason but hasn’t gotten that far yet. Nonetheless we both enjoyed talking with him and Eliza and learning lots of new information!