The day started early, the alarm clock went off at 4.05am, I heard rustling from the next bedroom as Karen's alarm clock went off.. "Are you awake" she called. "5 minutes & we're out of here." I had slept the night at her place, to make sure that we left on time. A 7am Jetstar flight left no room for error. Luckily the Freeway entrance was only a few blocks from Karen's home, and we were on our way. What a dark cold morning we had chosen to set off on our weekend adventure to Hobart.
Barely hitting 4 degrees, the cars outside thermometer seemed to head south when he hit the freeway and were away form the city buildings. Melbourne's forcast for the weekend had been cold, rain, snow and ice in all the outer suburbs..heading further south to Tasmania that morning seemed almost a crazy idea, but we had bought the tickets and booked the accommodation. We were going , regardless !
The flight over was uneventful and short, both of us nodding off less than 5 minutes into the flight.
A few extra ZZZ's wouldn't go astray as our plans for the weekend did not include having much sleep.
Our plane landed on time, barely an hour in the air from point to point, and by the time we had walked through the airport we heard the landing call for the flight from Sydney, and the arrival of Karen's Oldest sister Sue, who was joining us on this weekend away. If the truth be known, it was I who was the interloper, having muscled in on a sisters trip away for the weekend. I was almost a sister.. so I figured I should be invited too!
I wish I could say our taxi ride into the city from the airport was uneventful, but I had the feeling our Somali taxi driver had been a Formulae One Ace in another lifetime. As soon as he had our bags loaded into the cab, he took off with a screech of tires and a lead foot, heading for the short freeway ride into Hobart proper. As I looked over the shoulder of the driver from the back seat, my anxiety level rose as did his speedometer. When I saw the dial nudging 120 kms per hour in a 90 zone, I politely tapped him on the shoulder and suggested that it would be better to get to our destination alive, a little later than sooner than not at all. Hey gave us a big white toothed grin, and dropped the velocity slightly.. for a few minutes only, before pressing his foot to the metal again. Thank god the city of Hobart came into view, and as we crossed the wide expanse of a once notorious bridge, that had collapsed on Sunday 5 January 1975 when the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra, had slammed into one of the bridge pylons, leaving cars dangling over the side of the bridge, and unaccounted for deaths .
I breathed a sigh of relief, when he finally pulled up outside our Hotel, the Welcome Stranger Hotel. For $35 per night per person, our accommodation included an en-suite, extra blankets, (which would come in handy after our late night meanderings around town) , a small fridge, TV, Tea & coffee facilities etc, including a small fruit bowl and a plentiful supply of packet biscuits! What more could a girl wish for !
Although supposedly a Pokies Pub, the Welcome Stranger also doubled as a budget hotel/ backpackers.
The other guests appeared to be a motley crew of Seniors, Frustrated and rumpled parents of young children, and some rather dodgy looking middle aged men, that were either finishing off their night at this early opening establishment, or were starting very early for what could be a Big Day out !
The three off us dumped our bags in the baggage lockup ( which was a switchboard cupboard ) and headed off across the park to Salamanca Market . As we arrived the market was still setting up. It was barely 8:30 am, and our day already seemed to be long one. Coffee was our mission, and as Melbourne- ites , Coffee is an important morning ritual. We all have our secret Baristas, and coffee joint hangouts, and pickups locations for a take away.Would Hobart reveal a coffee making culture as good as what we were used to? Fortunately we were not disappointed but finding the right snack for breakfast though proved a little harder.
Fortunately I was soon distracted by two crazy guys making honey roasted nuts.!
They handed a small plate of "FREE" samples, which we were happy to oblige by polishing them off very quickly. The market occupied our attention for several hours, with Sister Sue making a purchase of some beautiful green stone beads, which I promised to turn into a work of Jewelry for her some time in the future. There were many stalls of unusual merchandise to investigate, plus live music on several fronts,,... yes I had found some Buskers, but not the promised tunes of one of my favorite Hobart World music bands, Arauco Libre who are famous for having performed at Salamanca market since 1985. That day, was their day off ... I could not believe my disappointment, and Karen had to stop me from making a fool of myself and phoning them to ask them WHY?
This pic was taken from their Facebook page.. Not by me...
Both Karen & her sister were fascinated with the Bamboo socks, and ended up buying several pairs. I kept to the more Esoteric purchases , having come across an Author who was selling his self published books. I coudn't resist, anyone that knows me, knows that books are my weakness, ( 3 walls of my living room being covered in floor to ceiling book shelves ! )
I met and chatted to the Author, Jamie Maslin of the book of my Purchase. A well known travel and adventure writer, I chatted to him for awhile before making my purchase, and getting him to sign the book. I might have to write a review in another blog !
And finally the last pic of the morning, Salamanca market from The Hill !
Karen's Sister's friends. Heather & Arna came to meet us in the Salamanca Plaza just behind the market, ,down one of the many small winding lanes that lead away from the market behind the old Dock front shops.
We were greeted to the sound of Singing, as we had chosen the weekend of the Hobart Festival of voices. As we sat end chatted on the outside seating, we listened to several songs form a choir of women, who had also travelled from afar to be in Hobart that weekend.
The "friends" dragged sister Sue off with them, and Karen & I were left to our own devices !
A small walk around the historical area of the inner city seemed like a good idea, and we headed for the part of hobart known as Battery Point, not far from the place we had been all morning. This unusual apartment building located within an Old Grain Silo was fascinating.
Located to the South-East of the city towards the waterfront, visiting Battery Point is akin to stepping back in time , a truly historic area with many buildings which remain intact since their founding back in 1830. Dotted throughout with colonial-style and stone buildings and various charming little coffee shops and restaurants, it's easy to immerse yourself in the not so good, olden days of Hobart , and is best explored simply by taking a stroll through its streets, which we did, and took many pictures !
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| Cemetery views |
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| A beautiful view of the historical bridge. |
There were many fascinating old streets and lanes, who you could easily think were scenes of old England, the motherland of the convict settlement taking place here in tasmania in the early 1800's.
We saw this CSIRO Antarctic explorer ship tied up at dock being restocked and fueled.
After our stroll we headed back to the hotel for a short siesta... well siesta on my part, Karen went off for a run, tracing her way back around the spit, the dock area, and finally the large Botanical style gardens across the road from the hotel. She was gone for over an hour, and when she returned she found me snoring in my bed, with all my clothes still on, just as she had left me.
It was a cold and bitter night in Hobart, but we were determined that it would not be wasted huddling up in the hotel room trying to keep warm. We had other plans.
Sue's friends had suggested one of the floating Fish and Ship stalls along the Docks that had an excellent reputation . We walked down there to the Dock front, across the park, with its mists rising from the ground, and along the wide empty street that earlier in the day had been one of the busiest and bustling markets I had seen in awhile. It was totally deserted, and quiet, the night time activities in the many bars and restaurants that now could be seen clearly once the market had gone were starting to stir into activity. We had our hearts set on fish and chips, and were not disappointed. We headed to the recommended location. YUm YUm is all I can manage to say. The fish was beautifully cooked,more like 4 star dining than a takeaway on the docks, the chips crisp and crunchy, and the Calamari rings, not out of some pre frozen package but rather fresh and recently caught! From their we headed to the Lark whiskey bar, and the warmth of a roaring open fire and some great live music. Life is good!
The musician was an older gent, well experienced and a master of his instrument. I cant recall his name , but he had been around since the 60's playing up a storm of blues and jazz standards, with a voice sounding like gravel over whiskey. We chatted to him for a bit and he invited us along the next night to see him in another Pub, and we obliged.!
Next morning we awoke bight and early as we had to meet Sue & the friends on the Docks to take our "Ferry" to MONA , Museum of Old and New ART a short 30 minute boat trip across the harbour and the morning mists to the gallery.
The large catamaran was duly detailed with some "Bizarre" & Interesting " articles, including a row of fiberglass sheep which could be used as seats, a large sculpture of a full sized cow,
Once arriving at MONA, we had a short sharp step climb, ( leaving some of the faint hearted crying out for an elevator). We arrived at the front door, a large door surrounded by a mirrored building, reflecting back the sunlight, trees and views.
The surrounding gardens contained a multitude of different sculptural pieces, some seemed more like play ground toys than works of art, others had the feel of ancient & exotic buildings.
The details of this peice were just amazing
The snake wall
Karen posing !
Karen & Sue waiting for me to hurry up and take the picture so we could head out of the cold !
What else to do on a short sojourn to Hobart you may ask? .. Quick road trip to , Richmond one of the most historical and scenic town in Tassie, better still only a short half hour drive from Hobart.
After the trip, all there was left to do was head back to the hotel, collect our bags that we had again stashed into the storage room, and head to the airport.
What a great weekend it had been, cold but mostly fine.. Our Plane flight back to OZ, was uneventful, flying high above the impending storm that was Melbourne.! We landed in the rain, heavy and oppressing, We were back home. HELLO MElbourne !
