The Apples of Tasmania

It's a cold day in Melbourne, grey and rainy. What makes me happier and fills up my mouth with a sweet, juicy potion? An apple. Most likely from the apple paradise that is Tasmania. This island South of Australia is famous in the entire world for its apples and pears. These kinds of fruit trees were first planted there in late 1700s, and they just prospered ever since. We visited Tasmania this fall, in April, and fell in love with it right away. Apples were close to the center of our feelings, because they were in season, the beginning of the season, and orchards on Huon Valley were full of fruit. We stopped to buy some at a farm where a lady was packing about 2 kg in plastic bags. We thought we could get them from her, but she sent us 100 meters away, where she had a "cold box". It was a stall with some glass cabinets filled with bags with Gala apples and Bosc pears. Next to it was a metal box with an opening at the top, through which people inserted the money for the produce they purchased. We got a bag of apples and one of pears and paid $4, $2 each. They call it "honesty box". These fruit were absolutely scrumptious. Ripe, tasty and firm. Neither waxed nor green. If I lived in Tasmania I'd eat pears and cheese at every meal! Below is a picture we took in Salamanca Market, in Hobart. It just shows the variety of apples they produce already at the beginning of the season. They had Gala, Lil' Roses, Granny Smith, Senshu, Red Fuji, Democrats, Red and Yellow Delicious and many more... YUM!