Hobart, Tasmania (or Tassie as they call it here)

This past week was far less eventful than the previous ones and I’m pretty happy about that.  Monday I picked up my bike from the “bike spa” and managed to avoid a torrential down pour by sheer minutes. Wednesday a card arrived in the mail telling me I had a package to pick up from the post office.  I figured it was the medication arriving from Canada (I don't know if I've written about that one or not) but to my surprise it was a care package from my good friend Tammy back at home.  What a real treat to get a box of "love" in the mail.  But I'm still waiting for the medication which will hopefully arrive early this week.

This weekend I went to Hobart, Tasmania and I can now say that I've visited every state and territory in Australia.  Not bad for someone who is also working full time.

Anyhow here's the sum up of my weekend.

I was up far too early for a Saturday morning but made my way to the airport for an 8 am flight to Hobart.  After a bit of a delay (that's pretty common here in Australia) I arrived safely in Hobart and was greeted with 4c and rain.  Brrr, it made Melbourne seem like the tropics.  But no worry, I knew this might happen so I was well prepared (yes, I'm LOVING my icebreaker wool clothing).  I was able to check into my hotel early which was a nice treat. After a quick chat at the reception I was pointed in the direction of the Salamanca Market.  With my Ballarat rain poncho on top of  my warm clothing I easily found the market ( and I stayed warm and dry).  The market wasn't too busy (I'm sure the rain and wind had something to do with it).  

Looking down at the market from the top of the street.

(It goes for about three blocks)

I managed to get out of  there with just one small purchase from this lady's stall.   I almost bought a wool toque too but the one I really liked was too big for my tiny head.

From the market I wandered around the waterfront wondering what I was going to do for the rest of the day.  I figured I could kill a day just walking and looking but if the weather was going to be lousy on Sunday too I really  needed a plan.   I spent some time talking with the tourist information people and while they helped me a bit they didn't help me enough.  I still didn't have a game plan for Sunday.  In the end I wandered around a bit more and found myself talking with the double decker bus and boat cruise guy.  He had some pretty good deals going and so I signed on for the double decker bus trip for Saturday afternoon, and the 2.5 hour boat cruise with lunch (including all the wine you could want) for Sunday.  At this point I was a bit sad that I wouldn't get up to Mt. Wellington but I was thankful I had a plan for a second wet cold day.

I boarded the bus around 3 pm and we toured Hobart and the area for about 90 minutes.  It was actually a really good tour and I saw a lot more than I figured I would.  We started in Battery Point the  oldest area of Hobart (Hobart is the second oldest city in Australia so this suburb was real real old) and made our way up towards the Cascade Brewery.  We then returned through the city and crossed the Tasman Bridge before heading back to the water front.  Since Hobart is such and old city there are many different types of architecture to see.  Here are a few pictures I took on my tour.

A famous pub where the sailors in the Sydney to Hobart cup go for a beverage.

A Battery Point home.

Another home in Battery Point

 Cascade Brewery (and me).

I don't remember the name of this building

The Tasman Bridge

Once the tour was over I walked around a bit before picking up something to eat and heading back to the hotel. I walked around one last time before getting cozy with my book and falling asleep.

On Sunday I was up early and I decided I would try to go for a run.  I can't say it was much of a run but did make it back to the brewery before returning to my hotel.  While out on the run I went past the Female Factory where Hobart's female convicts were incarcerated.

I headed back to the hotel and stopped in for a bit of juice  (breakfast was included).  While there I started talking with  a Tassie couple whose son was living in Canada.  I was asking them how much they thought it would cost to get up to the top of Mt. Wellington because to my surprise it was a beautiful sunny day.  Since I had already booked the boat trip I couldn't join anyone's scheduled trip up to the mountain  and make it back for my cruise.  Well, they offered to drive me to the top as a thank you for the people who have been so wonderful to their son in Canada.  I couldn't be happier.  After I had a quick shower I was  off to Mt. Wellington with Marcus and Colleen Taylor.

They were truly wonderful people and I can't thank them enough for getting me to the top of  Mt. Wellington.  At first we could only go part way up because the road was closed.  But while we wondered around we were told that the road was going to open in ten minutes.  It was my lucky day.  We got back into the car and headed right up to the top.  The top was super cold and windy and covered in SNOW!  Yes, SNOW!!!  The views were incredible too but while we were up there the clouds rolled in and took the views away.  We were so lucky to have been there before the clouds came.  Here are some photos from the top of Mt. Wellington looking down at Hobart and its surrounding area.

Me, at the top of Mt. Wellington

(Yes, that's SNOW!!)

View #1

View #2

View #3

View #4 

(on the way back down)

It was so nice to be up on the mountain, in the cold fresh air, and in snow.  It reminded me so much of HOME!

From the mountain Marcus and Colleen drove me back into town before heading back to their home some where else in Tasmania.  I felt so lucky to have met them in the morning as they were so good to me.  

Once dropped off I headed to harbour to meet my  boat for my 2.5 hour lunch cruise.  At this point the clouds had totally arrived and it was pretty cold.  Thankfully there was  heat on the boat and when the rain started I was able to stay dry and warm.  Lunch was great although the wine wasn't (but it didn't stop me from drinking it).  The boat ride was nice too and a great way to break up the day especially in the bad weather.  It was cool to see Hobart from the water.

Hobart from the water and Mt. Wellington in the background

Once the rain stopped a rainbow came out and I took several pictures of it.  Here are just a couple of them.  Again I felt like it was my lucky day to be able to take such great photos.

Incredible rainbow shot over the Tasman Bridge

The rainbow again.

From the boat cruise I wandered back to Salamanca Square and Battery Point before heading back to the hotel to catch up shuttle bus to the airport.

Salamanca without the market on.

Another building in Battery Point

So now I'm back in Melbourne with another week of work looming over my head.  But as I try to keep work out of my head  I'm totally thinking about my friends doing Ironman Canada.  It's just about 6 am on Sunday morning for them which means their race is about to start.  Although I'm about to head to bed for the night they still have hours of exercise in front of them.  The funny thing is when I get up in the morning they will STILL be doing Ironman.  Oh... I hope it goes well for everyone.

Until next time...

(Oh, I have a slightly different version of blogger and I must say while I like some of its features some other features are driving me nuts. Hopefully it will get better.)