the hobart trip - april 2008

Went to Hobart for four days and went to a few places. I finally made it there.
Photos live at my Flickr.

10th April
Day 1, Melbourne to Hobart, Mt Wellington
After checking in the hotel, had a half hour rest, we (me and the girlfriend) went straight to Mt Wellington, which isn't that far from the CBD. It was only around a half hour drive and already we were at the pinacle (1240m above sea level... or was it 1270m). It was cold. I expected it to be cold but not that cold. The clouds were a bit below us and the only decent pic I could get was of the observation deck and not the city view. Bummer.



After descending Mt Wellington, went to Salamanca Place afterwards. It wasn't too crowded as it was Thursday. Walked around there for a while then went back to the hotel.


Later that evening, we searched for food along Elizabeth St, which wasn't too bad. I thought prices were quite overpriced compared to Melbourne and didn't taste as nice either. Maybe I just ended up at the wrong place to eat.

That wrapped up day one.

11th April
Day 2, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Elizabeth St Mall
It's day two and Nelson Falls was the destination. It was quite a long drive there, I think around 250km, which took us three and a half hour drive one way not to mention road hurdles (lots of dead animals on the roads and I'm assuming they were possums). But it was well worth it.




The falls was part of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park which is just one huge national parks consisting of a few rivers, mountains and waterfalls.

Went past this incredible scenery on the way back to Hobart. It was in New Norfolk. I just had to get off and take a photo of it.


We got back at Hobart around 5PM and after a half hour rest (my legs were killing me after that long drive) we walked around the CBD to Elizabeth St Mall. By the time we got there, it was about closing time so most of the shops were closed.



Dinner at Hog's Breath cafe. Starting with the Boss Hog Mushies, then the Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib for me and Calamari Prime Rib for her.



Look how happy (and hungry) she (we) was. Yumm, should've ordered the regular cut instead.

Went back and had a well deserved rest for that day.

12th April
Day 3, Salamanca Market, Richmond, Port Arthur
It's Saturday which means the only time of the week when Salamanca Market is open. I'd say it was like an open air Victoria Market. A lot of food was sold, artworks too, clothing etc etc. Bought a bratwurst. It was the highlight food of this trip. It Tasted so wonderful even the bratwurst in Victoria Market doesn't come close (but again, I'm no expert on these things and I was actually quite hungry). We also put the Hot English Mustard on our bratwursts (how hot could it be huh?). That turned out to be a huge mistake. It was like wasabi... only yellow in colour. I was coughing uncontrollably and had tears coming out of my eyes. It was that hot.

Here's how crowded the market was. Check out the middle part of the photo.


Richmond was a city not far from Hobart. It was less than 30km from Hobart so it was a short drive. Didn't spend too much time here, but took some photos of the Richmond Bridge.


Port Arthur was next and it was unreal. I didn't expect it to be that big of a complex. Went on the cruise around the Isle of the dead.


Then spent the rest of that afternoon walking around the complex.




Visited the parking lot of the Wrest Point casino after dinner and decided to just go straight back as we were both so tired.

End of day three.

13th April
Day 4, Mt Wellington revisited, Tasmanian Royal Botanical Gardens
Revisited Mt Wellington in hopes of a better weather and view. That hope didn't come true. This time it's worse. It was colder and the cloud was so thick that you couldn't see a thing from the observatory deck. Didn't bother waiting any longer so we left.

The Tasmanian Royal Batonical Gardens, now that's another story. It was beautiful. Went straight to the Japanese garden and took some photos.



Here's some more photos from the Botanic Gardens.



After walking around, we finally returned our hired car (a silver Hyundai Getz, rego FN0878 - photo coming soon) and checked-in for our flight back to Melbourne.

I want to go back to Tassie again to explore more. I'm sure we've only scratched the surface as there must be a lot more places to go to. Anyway, it was good, but I was beat for those four days.

Ciao.