Wedge Island

My stay in Hobart will be short lived; however given time it would likely have become my new favorite Australian city. It’s like a condensed version of the Brooklyn’s streets, San Francisco’s waterfront, and Quebec Cities’ architecture; except all the transients here are homeless by choice. The climate is perfect. Today I awoke to sunshine, followed by a cold midday breeze, ending with a chilly overcast evening. I’m sure by midnight it will clear up enough to reveal the other worlds that litter the night sky before repeating the cycle tomorrow morning. And of course it wouldn’t be Australia without the deafening rants of flocking Rainbow Lorikeets to give you an early rise.

Tomorrow I catch a city bus to UTAS (University of Tasmania), apparently not too far from here, and meet with my fellow seabird volunteers at the Zoology Institute; where we will exchange the usual small talk and load up our gear. From the Sandy Shore boat ramp we will then embark on an hour’s cruise through Hobart’s natural harbor to Wedge Island; for a 5 day camping experience harassing nesting seabirds in the name of science. I have all the appropriate gear packed away; sleeping pad that doesn’t do much expect add weight my pack, one of Bill Bryson’s books “The Lost Continent” in case the campfire talk goes sour, and of course insect repellent to fend off the many flees and other nasty ecto-parasites that will inevitably attempt to invade the “hard-to-reach without looking inappropriate” parts of my body.

Time to get dirty.