We are staying with our incredibly generous hosts, Nella and Richard. They live in a house they built themeselves,which is about 30 minutes outside of Launceston in the north of Tazmania. Yesterday they took us to Cradle Mountain, where there is a wildlife preserve that has Tasmanian Devils. It's really the only place you can see them, as the species is nearly extinct due to a fast-spreading cancer. They are SO cute- I will download photos later today. We even got to pet one! We also saw an echidna on the way home. It quickly curled up in a ball, hiding it's head. But we got a close up look at its quills which was very exciting! We also stopped at famous chocolate place (to be extensivly reivewed on Shannon's blog, I'm sure) and had tea at a little place with live bagpipe music!

Jim, Shannon, and I are getting quite silly with all the travel, and I'm glad our workshop is today. I imagine Nella (the librarian who put her reputation on the line hiring us sight unseen- and seeling us to the others on our tour) might have been wondering if we were capable of giving a serious presentation after witnessing us in contant giggles the last two days!

We continue to be amazed by the incredible landscape, people, language, and sights of this incredible country, and look forward to two whole days of sightseeing in Melbourne following our presentations.

I'll try to post some photos later today.... Ta Ta for now!