Friday 23rd February
There was a change of plans for our schedule today. Originally, we were checking out early from Freycinet Lodge and heading to Orford to take a cruise out to Maria Island. We ended up cancelling that cruise though when it was modified and so we decided to skip staying the night at Orford, near the cruise terminal, and head straight to Hobart instead for an extra night there.
We checked out of the Lodge at 10 and, given we had a few more hours in the day to spare, we went and did a section of the Hazards Beach track walk. The track is 5 km out and 5 km back and it’s supposed to take about four hours. We did just 6 km of the 10 km total and it took us just under 2 hours. I had thought, given the map and path of the track, that we would be able to enjoy beautiful water views for much of the walk. This wasn’t the case though and there were only occasional water glimpses with most of the track passing through fairly dense bushland. I think this is one walk where the destination is meant to make the walk worthwhile. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to make it all the way to the destination.
It was midday by the time we got back to our car and started the journey towards Hobart. We made one stop on the way to Hobart and this was at the Craigie Knowe Vineyard where we did a wine tasting and had a piece of cheesecake. Luckily the cheesecake was nice because we didn’t like any of the wines. The rest of the journey on to Hobart was a little slower than we expected as the road isn’t really suited to high speed. Many locals are grumbling about the planned investment being made into a new footy stadium as they think some investment in the major roads is sorely needed and I tend to agree.
It was 3 pm by the time we made it to the Salamanca Inn in Hobart and we arrived to find that we had a lovely, large room (Room 109) that was going to be very comfortable for our one night stay. We noticed they had happy hour down in the bar area from 4 pm to 6 pm so that was our first port of call where Mark had a beer. After that we went and explored along Salamanca Place and found an interesting Millinery shop, stopped at Jack Greene for a cocktail and eventually landed at a the Ball and Chain Grill steak restaurant for dinner. The meal was fine but, actually, it was more like what I imagine The Black Stump chain, from all those years ago, would have been like. It was really just a notch up from Pizza Hut. The most interesting part of this evening however was that we encountered the ‘Dictator Dan’ group from Freycinet as we were leaving the restaurant. Kind of spooky. We made it back back to our room just before 8 pm and luckily we had a smart TV so we could sign into Netflix. Our plan for tomorrow as to visit the Salamanca Markets in the morning before checking in at our other apartment.
Saturday 24th February
It was a beautiful sunny morning but a bit cooler than what we’d experienced so far this trip. We headed out for an early walk and found ourselves on the street with loads of market stall owners setting up for the Salamanca Markets. Our accommodation was ideally suited for easy access to explore these markets and I intended to do this after breakfast.
We spent a couple of hours exploring the Markets and found them to be quite diverse and interesting and well worth adding to your itinerary if you are ever in Hobart on a Saturday morning (8.30 am – 3 pm). We spent about 1.5 ~ 2 hrs exploring all the stalls before heading back to pick up the car. We still had a couple of hours to kill before we could check into our next accommodation so we took a drive up to Mount Wellington. This is about a 30 minute trip out from the city Centre and we were very lucky to have such a beautiful sunny day, and one without a breath of wind, because the views from the top are quite spectacular; you can see all over Hobart and the surrounding area. There are a few little trails and lookouts at the summit so you could spend several hours on a visit but you probably need at least one hour to make the most of the journey. There was this cute little cafe, the Lost Freight Cafe, run out of a shipping container just a short way down from the peak of Mount Wellington and we stopped off there for some lunch. This is a cafe that punches well above its weight, considering how small it is and the fact it’s located in a shipping container, and I would definitely suggest visiting here as well.
It was near 1.30 pm by the time we descended Mount Wellington and made it back to the Hobart waterfront and we were notified we could check into our apartment. We were staying for the next two nights at Sullivan Cove Apartments, located right behind the old IXL factory, where we had a huge 2 bedroom executive apartment (Room 102). The space was enormous, with two bedroom and two bathrooms, and was a lovely, modern and clean space for us to stay over the next two nights. Brett will be pleased to know that our first task was to do some washing before we ventured out for a walk and to buy a few grocery items.
We both rested up for a bit in the afternoon before we headed out to explore the local area. We had spotted a brewery, The Hobart Brewing Co, just behind our hotel so that was our first port of call and a good one it was at that. The was a great atmosphere at this large converted warehouse space with families and people of all ages enjoying the beer, the live music and beautiful weather. The 80s music was a blast and even the Gen Ys were dancing and enjoying the soundtrack. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and is a place I would highly recommend.
It was a pity to leave the brewery but we didn’t have a dinner reservation and so we headed off to try and sneak an early dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. We couldn’t get in at The Drunken Admiral but that was kind of fortunate as we then wandered across the pier with the MACq 01 Hotel where we could get a table at their corner restaurant and bar, The Lounge by Frogmore Creek, and this turned out to be much better as we had a lovely view over the harbor and an excellent table for people watching, which is one of my favorite past times. The service, food and wine were excellent here as well so this is a place I would reference to visit if you’re ever in this part of Hobart and on this side of the harbor. There are a number of other bars and restaurants under this hotel complex along this Pier that looked nice as well. Just FYI: we could have booked a waterfront room at this hotel for around the same price as our apartment but we opted for the apartment due to having a washing machine, more space and a balcony with a BBQ.
Sunday 25th February
It was a cool and overcast morning that Mark started with a ride, his first in three days, and I started with a walk. The huge Virgin cruise ship had slipped in quietly during the early hours of the morning and was docked at the end of the MACq 01 pier. We’d seen this a few days ago in Devonport so it was clearly doing a Tasmanian circuit. It is absolutely mesmerizing to view as it is just so enormous and it dwarfs most of everything along the Hobart foreshore so apologies for the many photos. It’s hard to stop from staring at it and snapping photos. I expect Hobart will be quite busy today with the influx of all of the ship’s inhabitants.
It was after 10 by the time we ventured out for the day and the plan was to visit Richmond which was about a 25 minute drive north east of Hobart, but we detoured to the south first off for Mark to have a coffee down at Kingston Beach. He’d ridden here earlier in the morning and thought the area looked nice and was worth a visit. It was rather reminiscent of home in Bondi given Nippers was on and there were three sets of beach volleyball in play. The main difference being the chilly 17 degree weather here compared to home.
We’d had a nice wine last week, with our friends Gordon and Jude, and the Pooley vineyard that produced the Pinot Noir was located at Richmond so we had booked a table there for lunch with the intention of also tasting some wine. There was a bit of time to kill in Richmond before our lunch so we drove in to the town and inspected the famous stone bridge that was built in 1823 when the area was first settled by Europeans. It is a charming country town with a pretty Georgian buildings along the high street and loads of clothing boutiques, gift and antique shops. The Sunday Markets were on so we checked these out too but they were only very small, just a few stalls inside a Church hall, and I noted that I had seen most of the stalls at the Salamanca markets the previous day. We then went on to Pooley vineyard and I am glad we had booked for lunch as the wine tasting was only ok with none of the wines being a stand out to bother with purchasing. The lunch options are a choice of pizza cooked in an open air pizza oven just outside the tasting room and you can sit under cover and take in the views of the surrounding countryside. It is a lovely setting and the pizza were only small but very good so this is a worthwhile activity to make a visit to Richmond more interesting.
It was around 3 pm by the time we got back to the apartment so we had time to rest a bit before heading back out for another visit to the Brewery and then on to Landscape Restaurant and Grill, located in the Henry Jones Art Hotel, for dinner. Our meal was delicious and made more so by the excellent wine suggestion from the sommelier. This was another dining option I would suggest if you’re ever in Hobart.
We had enjoyed our short stay in Hobart and three nights was definitely plenty of time to allocate to this visit. Two would have been enough actually if the Salamanca Markets had not been on. We head to Bruny Island tomorrow for one night and then we head back home.
