Hobart is a very pretty city that feels a bit like Halifax or a much smaller Sydney - and with a ton of history around every corner. We stayed at the Grand Chancellor hotel across from the main harbour and the view across the harbour and out toward the ocean was spectacular. In fact, while admiring said view, I happened to notice a big, black brutish looking boat and wondered...could it be? Sure enough the one, the only Sea Shepherd (aka Steve Irwin) was docked right in front of us, fresh from ramming Japanese whaling boats. It was great to get a look at this infamous boat in the somewhat rusted out flesh. Whether or not you agree with their tactics or politics, seeing the boat up close impressed upon me the courage and conviction of the people who would willingly drive their relatively small boat into another much larger one in the Antarctic sea. The gouges in the side of the boat told the violent tale. They were in Hobart to raise money for supplies and to find a shipyard to repair the hull. We really wanted to take a tour of the ship, but it didn't work out. Still, this was a great teachable moment with the kids.
When we arrived in Hobart, the only thing we really had on the agenda was a decent seafood meal and we found one at the Drunken Admiral right across the street from our hotel. The awesome decor is intended to feel like below decks on a 19th century schooner and the food was fantastic. As the boys checked out the great surroundings, Lint loved her hot rock salmon with a glass of Tasmanian pinot grigio and I managed to scarf down the biggest bucket of mussels I had ever seen with a local beer Boags, St. George. My only complaint was that there was not enough bread for dipping! We rolled out of there content to start the real touring in the morning.
Hobart is known for its Saturday morning market in an area known as Salamanca, and after a decent brunchy breakfast on the pier and a quick swim in the pool, we checked out and drove ourselves down to the market. Though it wasn't Saturday there was still lots to see and buy and while wandering around, we managed to load up on books, beer coolers and some killer coffee. A little more walking and we found oursleves in a place called Battery Park, where cannons used to defend the port. Today the cannons have been replaced by a lovely park with a really cool climber shaped like a sailboat. It reminded us, yet again, that a) Australia has the best parks and b) in the midst of all the great sightseeing, kids still need to have a good ol' play. We practically had to drag them off the thing.
With a couple more hours before we needed to get to the airport, we decided to head back to the car and then drive to the top of Mount Wellington which towers over Hobart offering unforgettable views. On the way up there were several hairpin turns and moments of playing chicken with the cars coming down the mountain - as no one wanted to go too close to their side of the road. I will admit to having a tighter than normal grip on the wheel as this was definitely as high as I have ever driven in a car. By the time we got to the top we were 1.3 kms above sea level!
Everywhere you looked you could see for miles and miles and vertigo, for some of us, was definitely on the menu. The kids frolicked like they were on the beach and not in the clouds and we marvelled at just how high we were. There were comparisons to the CN Tower or the top of Whistler but this was more like airplane height. The camera was firing everywhere as Linton and I wrestled it from each other trying to get the best shot. I'm not sure the pics do it justice but this might have been the single most impressive sight of our trip so far. After another white kuckle ride and few more games of chicken, we were safely back at the bottom and from there we whisked our way out to the airport to catch Virgin Blue, flight number 327 back "home" to Melbourne.
In just four and a bit days we had seen so much of a place that we never thought we would get to - and it had been incredible. Tasmania was yet another reminder of the powerful mantra that has been so much a part of our year - no regrets. Thus, my only regret about this trip is that we had not taken it sooner.
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