Weekend Wander – April

| TravellinPenguin
_N3A7351 copy
My view when I got up.

When I woke up the other day I looked out the window and saw sun, bright leaves and no wind. As I am off to Spain, Portugal and Morocco in three weeks time with two girlfriends I thought I’d better get a bit fit. We are on a small tour (with our own rooms so we’ll continue to be friends) and the tour company requires one is able to walk at leasts three kms on cobblestone and up and down stairs. I got dressed, grabbed my camera and decided this was another walking day. I’ve had quite a few of these over the past couple of months.

I had Mr. Penguin drop me off in South Hobart which is only three kms down the road and I decided to head into the city, another three to four kms to the centre. I needed a plan. Elizabeth Street runs north and south through Hobart. I decided once in the city, I’d head straight up this street into North Hobart. It is a slow incline uphill as one walks, enough to get your heart rate up and the next task was to plan my destination. There is a Cat Cafe in North Hobart and I thought I would go there and get some toast and have a coffee to reward myself. Off I went. This is the walk.

 

_N3A7358
I began the journey at the top of MacQuarie Street and headed into the city.
_N3A7366
Once in the city I sat in the Elizabeth Mall and practised a bit of street photography. I do enjoy watching people. This woman had her husband under control and following her without argument.

 

_N3A7371
I liked the shop front signs as the woman seemed to ponder the 3INA Makeup 
_N3A7374
On the north end of the Mall I headed towards North Hobart in the distance.
_N3A7379
I thought I should look up once in awhile. When in cities we tend not to see what is above us. Hobart has some lovely old architecture if one just stops and bothers to look at it. 
_N3A7387
Here is another building that will be 100 years old next year.  
_N3A7390
As I walked along this fenced in churchyard an older man came up to me and stopped. I thought he would ask for directions. I stopped and looked at him. I enjoy talking to people on the street. He smiled and said, “If you ask for sustenance, it will come.” I said, “Yea, you’re probably right.” He smiled and walked on. That’s what I love about walking. 
_N3A7399
I arrived at the Cat Cafe and they were closed. I guess they are taking Easter week off as so many people are doing. I squatted down and took photos of the cats through the window. They all looked fat and happy. 
_N3A7402
Farther on there is a corner restaurant that has all day breakfast. I sat outside and noticed how many dogs were sitting quietly under tables. There were more dogs than prams which always makes me happy. This collie was attentive to a Rottweiler puppy across the way who was chewing on everything he could find under the picnic table while the two women above chatted quite happily. When he started eating the dirt out of a pot plant they intervened. 
_N3A7404
This couple on the left intrigued me. I would guess newly dating. He talked and talked and talked and talked some more. They were dressed in very trendy clothes and have their whole life in front of them. I kept thinking though I wanted to tell the young woman to get up and leave and don’t look back because he had no interest whatsoever in anything she had to say. I think I saw her open her mouth once.  When I went to pay for my coffee, eggs and toast he was still talking. It was definitely all about him today. 
_N3A7408
Now, This guy has a bit of a story. In the Mercury Newspaper there is a classified ad that makes absolutely no sense published several times a week. It is always :Attention- Croatian Name. It mentions something that happened in the 1990’s but is not coherent and monetary figures are involved. It’s like a secret code you’d see in those British crime dramas. He walked past me, stopped turned around and handed me a note. It was a classified ad he had photocopied of the ones seen in our newspaper each day. His English was bad as he explained it to me. I smiled and thanked him for it and he walked on. When I got home, I showed it to Mr. Penguin and he said, “Oh that guy is nuts. He’s in the paper, blah blah blah”. I googled his name and there is an actual facebook posts with more than 1000 followers of people who are trying to decode the messages. People photograph the ads and then between them try to work out what they mean.  I thought, “Wow, a Hobart underbelly.” I followed him down the street and he cut off the main road and went around the back of a pub and disappeared.  I won’t put this photo on the FB page as they have enough to talk about. 
Snip20190426_1
This is the coded message he handed me. Any thoughts?

I then headed back into the city and turned up the hill towards South Hobart to wait for the next bus home.

Camera Penguin.png
8 kms under our belt today.

 

7 thoughts on “Weekend Wander – April”

  1. What a beautiful area you live / walk in!!!! Love all the cats and dogs. You encountered some interesting folk on your walk, that’s for sure!

    Like

  4. wonderful shots, i feel like i’ve been in Hobart… quite an enigma in the newspaper: something legal having to do with payments of some sort is all i could get… we have a new chihuahua, 3 mos. old, and we’ve been introduced to the ubiquitous chewing business… his name’s Henry…

    Like

Comments are closed.