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One week to the day after we got to Tasmania, the conference finally
ended. It was well-run, fun, full of great people and tiresome buffets.
The great people more than made up for the dinners. Talks were ... well,
talks. Some were great, Ak's was flawless, and some were, well. Hmm.
I walked out of one and another fellow started out at the same time. He
gave me one of those Aussie grins and said 'bit stuffy in there int it?'
to which I replied 'windy too though' and he gave a good laugh. So not
all of them were classics.
Anyway, the last day was Open Day for the public. After that wound down
a bit we had a short while on our hands, so off on the bus to the
Botanical Gardens. This involves changing busses at the main Franklin
Square station. While there, we got confused and plunked down in a doorway
to puzzle out the transfer.
A local woman intuited our situation and offered advice, explaining the
route. Turned out we were going her way, so she arranged to have the bus
stop at the right place and gave us some hiking hints, which we got wrong.
Don't forget that lady.
We did get to the gardens round about, and they were charming and fun.
Entirely, mind you, on the Queen's Domain, land set aside for the
Governor of Tasmania, appointed by Liz Herself. He has no effective
function but gets a great house. Most of his yard, though, is set aside
for a park that includes the gardens.
The picture was taken inside the Conservatory, which is one of those
places where the architects got the light right. It's really worth the
visit when you're in town. Interesting cactus collection too, and the
subantarctic garden is not to be missed.
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