When I first moved to Australia, I imagined living in Sydney
for a few months, saving some money, and then spending a bit of time travelling
to all of the places I wanted to see: The Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Tasmania
and New Zealand. Obviously I haven’t done all
of that, but I was very happy to have the chance to spend four days last
week in Hobart. Tasmania reminds me a little bit of New Zealand – the air is
cool and crisp, the scenery is green, and there is water everywhere. We arrived
in Hobart in the morning, and had time to drive up to the top of Mt. Wellington
just outside of town. It’s about 4,000 feet above sea level, and while there
was no snow at the summit, there were a few clouds hanging around the mountain.
Luckily they would shift every now and then, and it was possible to get a
glimpse of the amazing view down into Hobart.
The Hobart airport is similar in size to the Yakima airport.
Top of Mt. Wellington
Top of Mt. Wellington
The main activity for Day 2 to was to see Port Arthur, a
former convict settlement located about an hour and a half outside of Hobart. In
spite of a few school groups who were visiting for the day, Port Arthur is
still very eerie and quiet after all of these years. We went on a river boat
tour past the former boys’ prison where children as young as nine served time,
as well as the Isle of the Dead, a cemetery where prisoners and officers are
buried. Port Arthur was also the site of a horrific mass shooting in the 1990s,
which prompted Australia to enact strict gun control laws. Despite its terrible
history, it is an incredible outdoor museum with very well-preserved buildings
and gardens, and it was one of the most interesting parts of the trip.
Port Arthur from the wharf
View from the hill behind the old penitentiary
Day 3 was uncharacteristically hot for Tasmania – 30 degrees
Celsius (86 F). It was a beautiful day to catch the ferry to Bruny Island,
where we drove to a narrow sand spit connecting the north and south parts of
the island. After climbing the stairs to the lookout, we went searching
for penguins, who use the beach as a nesting ground. I saw plenty of little
penguin footprints going to and from the water, but no birds – the weather was
a bit hot, and we were there at midday, which isn’t an ideal time to see them.
On the way back to the ferry I stopped in at Bruny Island Cheese Company and
consoled myself with a massive cheese plate.
Bruny Island
Penguin footprints at Bruny Island
The last day in Hobart, Hayden and I parted ways so that I
could go see MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), and he could go do something
that wasn’t complete torture for him. I took the fancy ferry out to the museum
first thing in the morning, and was absolutely blown away by the place. The
exhibitions range from ancient Egyptian sarcophaguses to a hallway decorated
with plaster moulds of 70 different women’s vaginas. After I got back into the
city, we enjoyed a few beers at the historic Salamanca Place district of Hobart
before an early flight back to Sydney.
Ferry to MONA - note the artsy sheep looking out over the water
