The blessing of generous hospitality

Tasmania has become a yearly 'pilgrimage' for us. 2008 was our fifth visit as a married couple. We love this part of the world. The pace, the landscape, the freshness, the stunning coastlines, its historic beauty, the food, the wine and great friends. The benefit of having been to Tassie numerous times before is that we don't feel the pressure of having to see a lot of places and travel the whole state. We are very content covering very little territory, staying in one or two places and revisiting our favourite spots.

We are very blessed to have great friends that live in Launceston. For the third year in a row, they have accommodated us for the most part of our holidays. It is a place where we are able to unwind and relax. They live in a lovely house with a stunning garden full of blooms, vegetables, chickens, ducks and rabbits! We have thought provoking and fun conversations and very much enjoy our hostess' amazing cooking. So it is a good place to go with two young children. Everything on hand that you would have at home, other kids to occupy Caelan and Elisha, someone else to do most of the planning, cooking and shopping. A real treat! We are very thankful for their generous hospitality. I am not sure whether we would do the whole stop a different place every couple of nights with young kids - let alone the cost of it!

Our friends have two daughters: Ruth (8, pictured right ) and Rebekah (5, pictured left). They are beautiful girls who were very patient and kind to our boys. They even shared their bedroom with Caelan. We went to a few parks together. One amazing park is City Park, where the photos in this post are taken. The grounds are superb and the highlights include ducks, japanese macaques monkeys, a fantastic playground and a 'train' ride and great coffee.