Tamar River by gezeib
I know we’re going to love living in Tasmania!
From the minute we got off the plane and Layla the quarantine dog excitedly sniffed my bag to discover I’d had bananas in it only hours earlier and her guard told her how good she was, I thought this is a friendly place.
I continued to think this as we hired our car and headed into Launceston to grab some lunch and meet our first real estate agent. We wandered past many cafes before opening the door to This Café and the owners welcomed us immediately, telling us about the warm soups they’d prepared for the chilly day (it was quite cool, but not as cold as we were expecting).
With stomachs full of warm soup and crusty bread we headed to Elephant Property to meet Megan Hampton so she could show us around the property we thought would be perfect at Dilston. It is 20 minutes from Launceston on the Tamar River with enough room for all of us, a big kitchen, lots of land and an office for me. Perfect.
After seeing some other options (one property 5m from the main highway, one with 20 steep steps and another with no heating) we knew Dilston was the best option, put in our application with Elephant and crossed our fingers. It worked, and we were able to sign the lease before we left Tasmania on Wednesday!
I also spent some time making new contacts by attending the Accelerate Women Get Real event. I walked into the room knowing three of the women and walked out at the end of the day having met 20 and with a dinner invitation! It was like being welcomed into a group hug. Enjo consultant Vicki Hancock also invited me to BNI York’s meeting the following morning, and as it was only two floors down in the Mecure Launceston where Harvey and I were staying, how could I say no? Again I was warmly welcomed by the business owners at BNI and made some great contacts.
Lillian Wong cooked us a lovely dinner on Tuesday night with fresh produce from her garden and made us feel right at home, introducing us to her gorgeous cat Baby Indigo and telling us about her friends who owned a walnut farm, a nearby nursery and vineyards, her truffle contact and her plans to dine at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck for her 60th birthday next year. What a plan! The three of us talked and talked for hours and then met up again the next morning to talk to Lilllian about our telecommunications needs because she works for local telco Launtel (www.launtel.net.au).
By the time we dropped off the hire car at the airport on Wednesday and checked in for our flight home we knew our future in Tasmania would be bright.
