Cruise Ship Season

Despite the well experienced fact that Tasmania can get all four seasons in one day, it does get markedly warmer and more stable during summer; and that brings big ships to town.

From the mouth of my cave

I am fortunate in that my cave looks out over the waters that are the approaches to the harbour and I have been watching with some pleasure the great ships passing by not half a mile away. They are a change from the usual sights of sailing boats, of which we have plenty.

Mostly they come at night and I look up to see the acres of light slowly make their way past. Sometimes it is daytime and I can watch the graceful turning and slow berthing. And of course they go out again after a day or two.

They take up quite a bit of room in our modest harbour.

This was taken with Phantom 3 Pro drone - with Radiance of the Seas docked. 

Especially when they arrive like busses, several at a time.

The water is not always that colour. It changes very much dependant on the sky and the clouds and the rain and the fog. It can often be very blue: gin-clear sky and deep blue waters. Other times it is slate or steel. 

Sailing out in the evening sunshine in blue waters with the hills on each side must be quite a sight for the passengers. Our harbour may not boast grand, dramatic mountains around like say, Rio, but they are welcoming and friendly and studded with jewel-like houses.  Sailing in at night provides them with the sort of view I have most nights.... a thick string of Christmas lights against the pitch black, with the stars above.

Docking at night allows a ful day's sight seeing next moring when all the tour busses line up to tale passengers off to wineries and lookouts, to mountaintop and hidden, treasured valleys.

One has to think of Hobart as it is. A 'low-rise' city, fairly old (second oldest in Oz) and a tad cramped for space between the hills. The ships are taller than most buildings.

There is plenty enough room for the population which can easily accomodate the influx of  and additional several thousand for a few days at a time.  Now if only we could persuade all the cooks on board to take a day off, all those passengers would fill our cafes and restaurants ! 

I wonder if the ship operators tell the passengers about the Traditional Latin Mass we have every Sunday. 

The weather has been fine this week. It will get even better as Christmas approaches. Then it will really become busy. Not only will we have these big ships but the combined race fleets that sail down here on Boxing day for a week of drunken sailor time.

I look out over the finishing line 

Pax.