Holiday run in Tasmania

January 12, 2016 by winsometahn 3 Comments

It is, I’m sure, obvious that  I’m not participating in Janathon this year, I have just returned from a three week holiday in Australia where I spent the first 9 days of the year sitting in the sun, swimming in the pool, eating apricots, strawberries, peaches and raspberries still warm from the garden and visiting friends and family. Not much time for exercise and definitely no time for blogging.

Most of the holiday was spent in my childhood home in Launceston, Tasmania with my parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews (only missing my London based sister and her family). It was wonderful, and when I had heard “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas” enough times I was able to escape to visit friends and cousins.
 

Tasmanian Devil at Tasmania Zoo

“Where’s my lunch? “

  

I have spent the last six months telling my colleagues here in Glasgow that hot weather is not guaranteed fo Christmas in Tasmania, but this year it most definitely delivered: Blue skies most days and lots of days in the high 20Cs and low 30Cs. Lovely weather for holidaying, not so enticing for running. Luckily my brother is hardier than me and he dragged me out for an early morning run on Christmas Eve. He sweetened it by offering to drive us somewhere flat so that we would not have to run back up the hill to our parents’ house.

After that it was easier to fit the runs in, and I braved leaving directly from the house. I got steadily stronger over the three weeks, managing a little bit further up each of the hills on each outing.  I even visited two parkruns, but will write about them separately.

I took my camera on my last run of the holiday, most of my runs involved a loop through the Cataract Gorge, just 10 minutes from my parents’ house to the start of the path. I was so fortunate to grow up here and it was lovely being home. 

   
  

A pademelon on the path

  

Proving I was really there!

    
  

There are 2 peacocks in the middle of the central tree!