after days of scanning and editing, it's all finally done
more for the family's benefit rather than anyone else
make sure you guys show Mak Nyayi when she comes around hokay!
enjoy them all here

with her husband still incarcerated
and her impending move
the sheikh will be taking the classes
only on alternate weeks though
going through tafseer using ibn kathir's
and a couple of other books as well
saturday's class was alhamdullillah
felt enlightened upon leaving
he singles us out and goes around the room
to answer his questions
making us be on our toes
and pay attention to the lesson
and, my oh my,
a number of them sisters are preggers
looks like makin ramai lah ummah kat sini

it's no joke having to be alone
raising two small kids by herself
thankfully, her mum is still around
so that eases her burden, if only a little
i don't reckon this will blow over soon
it's going to be a long road ahead of her
a test from Him no doubt
only He knows when it will be over
my du'a and thoughts are with her always
although sometimes i wish i could do more
than just make du'a

she accompanied her friend for an interview here
accompanied eh? alllll the way from Adelaide
lepas Tasmania, Melbourne...
haiz~ sungguh best kan?
so spent Thursday with her
and some of her friends
the city, city mosque and Docklands we went
and siapa tak nak, cik kak oii pergi Adelaide
tapi alangkah sedihnya
neither my parents nor myself 'cap' duit
kalau tak, memang dah pergi dah~

scanner sighted on campus
shall scan them pictures for back home vair soon
they could have turned out better of course
but it's true what she mentioned once
only with a videocamera
could you truly capture the beauty
of both Lake St. Clair and Cradle Mountain
what i have don't do justice at all, tsk tsk
however, Painted Cliffs turned out beautifully

i think i've left my mind in Tassie
not good i tell you

my barely two-months old flat, black shoes
is already a tad too weathered
wearing it up to Wineglass Bay lookout
was a mistake *heh*

doing this not for anyone else
but mine and only my own benefit
to look back, to reminisce

# day one 010205
10.50am departure. under 50mins flight. bumpy ride. style-o baggage claim @ Hobart. waited till one past pm. Airporter to Adelphi YHA. reception opens at four pm. Herb and Jenny from US,on a honeymoon (and staying at YHA?!?). David and wife, Taiwan couple. walked to Woolsworth. quite a distance. groceries. checked in and solat. planned Wed and Thur trips. receptionist been to Iran, beautiful place she says. fancied wearing the hijab over there. asked for direction for sunset, receptionist understood what it's for. interesting. bread with nutella, biscuits and maggie cup noodle.

# day two 020205
Cadbury Cruise tour by Greyline. picked by bus to pier. tea at pier. nice sights, lotsa free samples, vege lunch. Bro Sabri, imam of Hobart Mosque. dinner at his house. wifey cooked. sambal sotong, ayam goreng, sayur goreng, curry kambing, telur masin (from self-reared duck and self-made telur masin), ice-cream with blueberry, mango, apple pie. wahabis vs non-wahabis, riyadh vs al-azhar educated. judgement day, Aceh, East Timor oil sucked by Australia. visit to new Hobart Mosque. spanky design and architecture. modern kitchen facilities and shower facilities in mosque. prospective imam from IIUM aged 24. Muslims in Hobart approximately around only 100. most rear and slaughter own meat.

# day three 030205
rain. rain. rain. rain. rain. Huon Valley. BottomBitsBus.com. Tassie born and bred Richard, tour guide. endearing, large eyes. TAFE Hobart. Brit Steven, ex-chemical engineer. quit job to travel. Jun, University of Tasmania Commerce graduate, from China with mom. soon to be Monash MBA student. Hastings Cave. Tahune Air Walk. Mt. Nelson's. rain. rain. rain. rain. rain.

# day four 040205
checked out of Adelphi. Matt, Island Escape Tour guide. Tassie born and bred. cute, big eyes. wavy, thick, golden brown hair. long curly eyelashes. Sarah, Amy and Nicolla from England. Kathleen from Ireland. Simone from Hamburg, Germany. Jasmine from HK, Master of Communications graduate from Sydney. Hitomi and friend language students at Hobart. Japanese Masa and couple of girlfriens. pitt stop at New Norfolk. lunch at Mt. Fields National park,. pitt stop at Dusse. Lake St. Clair. Tarraleah chalet. dinner at Lake St. Clair restaurant. game of Uno with some of tour group peeps. beautiful place, great weather throughout, beautiful sights.

# day five 050205
Lake St. Clair walk. drive to Franklin River. Russell Falls. Nelson Falls. Tall Tree Walk. lunch at Lake Burry. stop at Iron Blow. 45mins at Queenstown. 20 mins at Strahan. drive to Ocean Beach. huge, thrilling waves. walk along Ocean Beach. beautiful. Strahan Backpackers. dinner by the beach.

# day six 060205
fun, fun, fun. walking, walking, walking. reached Cradle Mountain about 11.30pm. short walk or middle walk? Dove Lake walk. Marion's lookout that never was. gorgeous day, gorgeous weather. 27 shots taken. Devil's Playground luxurious. new and modern facilities. Internet connection. heavy-hearted to leave group. great company. could i not leave please?

# day seven 070205
morning walk after Fajr with Jasmine. pictures of Lauceston. rushed for 9a.m. shuttle to city. bumped into Hitomi and friend. walked to Cataract Gorge. pictures. took car at Hertz. Hyundai Elantra. got lost getting back to Devil's. got lost getting to A3 highway. stop at scenic lookout. long and easy drive to St. Helen's YHA. group happened to be there *grins* sunset walk at part of Bay of Fires with Jasmine. John and Kyle, father and son from Melbourne.

# day eight 080205
left for Coles Bay at around 10a.m. stopped at NatureWorl. met them again. Bicheno Blowhole not happening. lunch at Oyster Farm. lunched on fresh oysters, mussels and oysters baked in chilli and cheese. entrance ticket to Freycinet National Park given by kind soul. Wineglass Bay lookout. Great Oyster Bay. seashells. bumped into them again. Coles Bay YHA lovely during sunset.

# day nine 090205
early, morning drive to Triabunna. departed around 7.45am. reached 45mins before ferry for Maria's Island leaves. met them again. breathtaking view. relaxing walk. Silence of the Lambs like scene. unique Fossil Cliffs. gorgeous Painted Cliffs. beautiful bare-foot walk along Darlington Bay. warm, friendly Triabunna's YHA hosts, Fran and Don. Hannah, Vincent and friend from Nice, France. on working holiday, picking fruits. Casey and Greg, retired Canadians. has Indian SG son-in-law working in Canadian army. rustic, farmlike place. i loike.

# day ten 100205
departed around 7.40am. Tessellated Pavement. Pirates Bay. Port Arthur 15mins to 11. 1pm cruise. informative soon turned boring. them again. frayed nerves, tension, decisions. Richmond 3.30pm. gift shop. peanuts. sweet shop. Old Hobart Town. Hobart Tower Motel 6.30pm. expensive dinner at Elizabeth St. Pier.

# day eleven 110205
slept in. 8am. packed stuffs, food. checked out 10am. left for airport 20 past 10. arrived at airport around 11am. returned car, checked in bag. surfed net while waiting for boarding time. goodbyes and apologies.

Hastings Cave was interesting. Russell Falls was breathtaking. Nelson Falls was a sight to the eyes. Lake St. Clair was peaceful and tranquil. Queenstown was quiet and quaint. the view from Iron Blow was a tad like Blue Mountains. Ocean Beach's huge waves were thrilling. Bay of Fires was awesome. Wineglass Bay was captivating. the seashells at Great Oyster Bay were pretty. Maria's Island was like a scene from Silence of the Lambs. Fossil Cliffs and Painted Cliffs were unique, making you go 'subhanallah' at His work. getting to know them backpackers was quite an experience. listening to Amy, Sarah and Nicolla talk in their strong Brit accents was a change. bumping into them very frequently was a twist of fate. Triabunna's YHA was homely, rustic and farmlike, with warm and friendly hosts. finally, the beautiful weather on that day made Cradle Mountain absolutely, positively gorgeous.

in short, i loved it
every single minute, every single day, every single thing that we did
not bad, considering the last minute invite and planning

they called me up on a Friday afternoon with the offer
first thing to be done was to get pass 'immigration', i.e. the parents
when they gave the green light, pleasantly surprised i was
still apprehensive, told them to count me in anyway
and so i flew into Hobart on the first of Feb

what made me go for it was firstly, travelling with them
we would be in the same situation of having to source for halal food
we would understand each others needs in performing our obligations
because we were planning to drive on our own during part of the trip
it would make a whole difference in travelling
what sealed the deal was, bila lagi ako nak dapat chance macam gini?
i'm already here, and even if i wanted to do it in future
i may not be able to find company to do it with

now i am glad that when presented with the opportunity, i went for it
coz i truly, absolutely enjoyed the whole experience
thanks to them for asking me along
and thanks to the parents for giving the green light

staying at YHAs wasn't too bad ya know, a cheap way of travelling
besides, we're only there for the night and leave again the next day
and it's a great way of meeting people, backpackers especially
there was Hannah and Vincent at Triabunna's YHA
coming from Nice, France, they were on a working holiday
they pick fruits to earn moolah to travel! how cool is that!

the 3day/2night package tour up to Lauceston was the best part
Tassie born and bred, Matt was an easygoing and friendly guide
the people in the group were easy to get along with, even if we did notice
that them angmohs would rather stick together with each other than us Asians
some of them backpackers have been away from home for so long
Simone from Germany has been travelling for a year
with plans to only head for home in June
Sarah from England has been away for 2 months
a HR consultant, Kathleen from Ireland has plans to go all the way to Thailand
compared to them, hidup ako nie macam sungguh dull and boring i tell ya!
it made me realise how much of a rat-race society we were living in

i was personally heavy-hearted to be parting with the tour group
if we had not booked the rented car already
we would have continued with the tour on the trip down to Hobart
but with a twist of fate, the group and us had pretty similar itinerary
the four days drive down from Lauceston to Hobart
involved stops at St. Helens, Coles Bay and Triabunna
because we found out about them through YHA
and booked our accommodation with YHA as well
we happened to stay at St. Helen's YHA
bumped into each other at Natureworld, Freycinet National Park and Port Arthur
and took the same ferry to Maria's Island!
the coincidences made us a tad worried though
that they may think we're doing it on purpose

Tasmania has a lot of national parks, with beautiful sights and beaches
if you're one for nature and does not mind lots of walking
then it is one place that you should head for

peek-tures will have to KIV for now
found out my digital conked out on me the night before i left *eeks*
resorted to using disposables all the way, 6 in all with one more to be finished
so until i get around to having them scanned
the searchable ones online will have to do for now