A very cold start, and not the nude swim !

It's a tradition here in Hobart for nude swim on the Derwent River to celebrate the winter solstice.  This morning 750 people lined up to jump in the water that was actually 11 degrees, all the while the outside temperature being 1 degree.   So it was warmer in the water than out of it! 

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2015/jun/22/naked-nude-swim-mofo-hobart-derwent-video

  We didn't bother, as we didn't bring our nude with us, but instead got up before sunrise to head off "up the mountain" as Mum always called it....Mt Nelson, where she spent her childhood and early years.   She loved returning here on a yearly basis for most of her life, and had many wonderful memories of her life up that mountain.  There was a very heavy frost this morning, and by the time we reached the car park at the top, we were driving on it, and we're the first ones to do so.

The view from Mt Nelson is quite stunning really, I got this pic from the net.

These are a couple of mine...it was just 1 degree, but we figured the wind chill factor must have been around   -5.   Just having my glove off for five minutes whilst fiddling with the camera left me with a bit of frost nip, and a couple of very painful fingers for ten minutes.

Not only my fingers suffered, but so did the camera, I now know that the batteries don't like cold either, so I had to resort to my phone for some of my pics.

We found a nice tree to scatter Mums ashes, and said our final goodbyes, whilst playing "How great thou art " , one of her favorites hymns, on Kwongs iPad.

A quick whip back down the mountain in the peak hour traffic to Hobart, and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at a French patisserie come cafe.   The cakes in that shop looked nicer than some we had seen in Paris, and they gave us a nice preview of what we might be choosing from in six weeks time whilst we are back in France.

After packing our cases, TRO and  I walked  back down the street from our hotel, and toured the replica of Mawsens Hut, built near the waterfront.  It was quite amazing, and incredible to think that a wooden hut could stand up to Antarctic weather. The  orginal is still down there, and is being maintained, weather permitting, in Antarctica.

Off to the airport after checking out of our hotel, and an uneventful flight home.

We plan to return to Tasmania in the next year or two, and explore some other parts of it.