Hobart Airport is a comparative joy... welcoming and compact with a couple of baggage carousels servicing all flights from the mainland, as well as the occasional flight from Auckland.
Jet Star, our carrier from Melbourne arrived ahead of schedule, where we were offered an unexpected complimentary meal on board the short 1.15 hour flight, so as long as you add any extra baggage prior to boarding if needed, this budget arm of Qantas was great.
This would be our final car hire of the trip, but still no sav nav, so considering the complexity and number of roads in Tassie, we figured it should not be it too difficult to navigate around.. plus WAZE is always a back up.
Within 30 minutes of landing we were driving over the Tasman Bridge towards the centre of Hobart, a short hop of just 20 mins takes you into the "city".
Aboriginal Tasmanians (Pydarerme people) lived in on the island prior to the british arriving in the early 1800's, when it became a penal colony, (more of that later).
Nowadays, Tasmanians refer to Hobart as "the city" which is also home to half of the total Tasmanian population, around 250k residents live in Hobart, as 40% of the island is within UNESCO protected national park land, the impact gives the island a beautifully fresh, spacious and clean air environment.
Jo and I first came to Hobart in 2006, and it has remained a place we both think fondly of, since that thoroughly enjoyable visit first time, the scenery, the people, the climate and the vibe were all amazing, a place with a great history and a place we knew we'd love to come back to one day.
Our second impressions, the harbour and the hills still all magnificent views from the iconic Tasman Bridge, below the city appeared to have spread out a little with more housing reaching up into the hillside around and below the dominant Mount Wellington (1,271m). The city's waterfront seemed a little more gentrified, serenely sitting on reclaimed land in front of the world's second deepest natural harbour.
Accommodation was an Air BnB which we found quite easily, the street layout resembles a mix of Glasgow meets San Francisco, large square blocks of one way streets, and despite very very steep hills it is quite easy to navigate around, you are either up the hill or down by the water!!
We were meeting up with Val that evening for dinner, Val is Jo's relative, arriving in Oz as a £10 POM with her parents, completely brozzie (british with touch of oz!).
Turns our Val had moved house, we thought we were sitting outside her place promptly in anticipation of picking her up, to drive to the restaurant that evening, only realising when she messaged Jo saying she was still waiting outside her house, yet we could not see her.
Checking the address..... we were years too late, she had moved, despite telling Jo by email of her new address it had been overlooked. On the drive over to the newest house, Jo lamented that 7 years of christmas cards sent had probably never been received!
We last saw Val when she was over in the UK in 2019, with Jo and I both looking forward to a lovely catch up with her.
A rather quirky art deco restaurant on Hobart's water front, curried scallop pie being the pie of the day in the lovely venue for our catch up on all of the news.
Given some great place suggestions to visit by Val, the next morning we opted for a drive down through the Huon Valley towards the artsy town of Cygnet, the drive wonderfully scenic, with huge tall Huon trees lining the roadside and providing a gateway into a temperate rainforest, the road made more interesting with its numerous pretty orchards of apple, berry and cherry. Cider being a very popular tipple around there, as noted on the numerous enticing signage by the various fruit farms.
As we drove further on, towards the south west of Tassie, we were met with stretches of wild and rugged coast line, pristine beaches, towering sea cliffs, and a very spectacular view that we enjoyed at Peppermint Bay Hotel over a fabulous lunch.
Looking out from the chic Peppermint Bay across the bay, we saw the Bruny Ferry not too far away, a quick search of the ferry timetable hurried us up, and we set off to catch the next boat.
The ferry runs from Kettering to Roberts Point every 30 minutes, taking about 20 minutes to reach the island, our 15.00 ferry meant we had just over 3 hours on the island before the last ferry left for the day, so we opted to head south towards Adventure Bay... it sounded interesting!
Bruny Island is known for its wild nature, rare birds and gourmet produce, so just 10 minutes after arriving, one of the first places we came across was the Get Shucked Oyster Farm and Shop opposite The Great Bay.
Jo decided it would be the best location to consume her first ever oyster, the rationale being... "it must be fresh, I can see the bay where they come in from"!!
So that was it, we walked into the world's first oyster drive thru bar, inside a busy place with tables of visitors consuming bay to bar produce, the choices included Oyster Shooters (a shot glass with a squeeze of lemon or lime and a shot of ice cold vodka, topped up with tomato juice), or having them "Kilpatrick" baked with worcestershire sauce, bacon, lemon juice and some grated cheese on top!! or the old traditional - down the hatch in one = direct from the shell method.
Get Shucked cultivates the Pacific Oyster, (Crassostrea Gigas) which is native to the Pacific coast of Asia, these oysters were first introduced to Tasmania in the 1940’s... so one fresh pacific oyster was requested at the counter by Jo, for AUS$3 (£1.50)
Jo went old school - down in one, and by all accounts it was rather tasty, well that's what her facial expression suggested, for me being a person with random allergies... the thought of an adverse reaction was not a preference I fancied at this time, so refrained from taking a gastronomical risk.
We drove on arriving at Adventure Bay, which was a little surprising as not much was happening, apart from lovely bay with an expanse of white soft sand, a small discreet plaque marking the first landing to Oz by Captain Cook which seemed more low key than expected.
This was our first encounter with two rather friendly wallabies, these little curious roos likely seeking snacks from willing visitors. We spent a while taking photos, and enjoying their company staying close, not knowing the protocol we opted to keep our snacks in the car.
Our drive back towards the ferry meant a return over Bruny Island Neck, at Isthmus Bay, a long strip of land connecting the top and bottom of the island by a road and a a strip of sandy beach on either side.
At the top end of the neck was the Truganini Lookout and Penguin Rookery, a small car park and 230 steps up to a lookout point giving a fabulous view of the neck. Below steps were many nests of penguins, it was pleasing to see that the penguin parade would come in from the sea on the other side of the beach avoiding the road.
Spending far too long taking in the views and strolling along the beach, we high tailed it back to the ferry, luckily we were just in time, the 2nd last vehicle to board the last ferry of the day, as options to stay on the island were limited, we were both relieved to have made it.
Our third day in Tassie took us on another drive, this time we were heading for the hisorical site of Port Arthur.
Port Arthur, claims to be a place of national and international significance, due to place of forced migration of convicts by the british empire in the 1800's.
On the way to Port Arthur we stopped for lunch at the Murdanna Roadhouse, a quirky local's place, half shop, half takeaway, serving everything you could imagine, the fishing tackle and bait between the vegetables and car batteries.
Their take away menu served as the assistant suggested "everything and anything", Jo opting for an interesting hot dog, my cheese toastie met with a unbelievable quizzical "no meat... no meat?" from the friendly assistant.
Whilst waiting, we loitered about perusing the shop, and treated to a locals exchange, where a chap came into the shop and approached the counter staff stating "Corey, I'm here for my sheep sheer money"
This led to a confused three way conversation with the couple of staff, and after lots of mutterings of "sheep sheer", "money" "who" backwards and forwards, one of the staff eventually twigged "oh Shannon left sheep sheering money under the counter" .....phew all was resolved and off went a rather flush Corey, we did wonder how many sheep he had given new haircuts to, particularly based on the large wad of notes he pocketed..... community rural life at its very best!
Further amusement was found a little further down the road, we arrived in Doo Town, a quirky seaside community that emerged in the 1930's when an architect named his holiday shack Doo.
This led to others re-naming their properties with "Doo" being incorporated, as most of the dwellings followed the trend, we came across Doo Little, Yabba Dabba Doo, Diggeri Doo and Doo Me, Doo-lishus the ice cream / fresh fish wagon also joined in the fun.
Whilst in Doo Town a film crew were packing up, being nosey I enquired what was being filmed, and will now be looking out for a new Netflix series called The Survivor based on the book by Alex Shulman.
Our final stop before Port Arthur was at the scenic Tasman Arch, a large sea cave who's roof had collapsed to create a huge bridged chasm. (I could not resist searching out a Tasmin Archer song to play in the car as we left the stunning rock formation.
Arriving at Port Arthur, we took a walk around, and both weirdly felt a little uneasy the waterside penitentiary (dating back to 1857) dominates the site containing more than 30 historical buildings as well as extensive ruins and beautiful grounds and gardens. It was a community with the convicts and staff living in close quarters with each other.
We took a boat trip around the bay, passing the eerie Island of the Dead, and the site of the Point Puer Boys Prison, the history narrated by the boat captain, giving us an insight into what life was like at Port Arthur in the mid 1800's. There was definitely a soulless to the place, and whilst we visited in summer, it would have been bleak when the weather changed, the waters of Port Arthur directly north of Antarctica.
On the way back to Hobart, we stopped at the very grandly named Tessellated Pavement State Reserve, an unusually large inter tidal rock platform formed around 265 million years ago, on the shoreline at aptly named Pirates Bay Beach, a place that seemed like a squashed Giants Causeway.
The following morning after a coffee with Val, we headed down to Salamanca Market, a crafty touristy market that takes over the quayside every Saturday, for a lovely wander about around the town and a little bit of shopping, purchasing a few gifts for home including the local Bancia seed pods smelling of eucalyptus.
Our evening took us back down to the Salamanca area for our final evening and dinner with Val, and another great evening had by the three of us.
Our final morning in Tassie was tinged with a little sadness at leaving this magical little island, we hope to return, but first our next destination is Sydney.
Comentarios