Blogs from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 13

After staying at Neal's father's house in Seatoun Heights overnight, we were up at 4am for a taxi to the airport and an early morning flight out of Wellington. Unfortunately, overnight a huge storm (weather bomb) had brewed up over the middle of the country bringing heavy rain and high gale force winds. We boarded the plane on time but sat on the tarmac bouncing about for about an hour waiting to leave. Eventually, they towed the plane to a more sheltered location so that the bags could be loaded. Surprisingly enough once the bags were loaded we were able to leave despite the high winds. We flew out directly into the wind and with a bit of turbulence eventually cleared the clouds into calmer weather. Air New Zealand endeavours to make sure you have the ... read more

It's been a few days since I last published an update, mostly because we've been traveling around quite a bit and it's been difficult to find time to concentrate on writing. It's good timing that I'm able to post an update tonight...I'll be able to capture the entire Tasmania leg in one big post! Last time I posted we were getting ready to fly over to Tassie. We braved the Melbourne public transit system with flying colors on Wednesday morning and made it to the airport with time to spare. Our flight was super early -- we had to be at the airport by 7am. Needless to say both Ali and I were mightly tuckered out and it was quite a chore dragging our collective asses through the public trans. I give us both "Two Fosters ... read more

We woke up to a chilly, overcast and drizzly morning. Luckily, the weather cleared swiftly and we were slapping on the SPF30! Hobart weather is almost as unpredictable as Melbourne’s. We started the day with a visit to the Sunday Market at the Hobart Showground. Dean managed to find us an awesome folding camping table. Yay, we needed one of those! After that, we drove into central Hobart to check out the city. We started off at the famous Salamanca Place, a lovely terrace with Australian colonial architecture that houses a number of restaurants, bars, art galleries and beautiful craft shops. It’s definitely the art hub of the city and has a lovely vibe. Just a stone’s throw from there is the marina, from where we took a cruise around the bay. Back on land, we ... read more

The weather on the morning of Wednesday 11th January was very mixed and we had to dodge the showers while loading up the car for our departure towards Hobart. We hadn’t fully appreciated just how close to Hobart we were and it might have been feasible to stay in New Norfolk and just travel into the city. But we wanted to explore an area towards Bruny Island which we didn’t visit last time and that is some way beyond Hobart. So we travelled the 40 kilometers or so into the city and found the Information Centre in the hope of finding a cheap and cheerful motel. With the weather as changeable as it was, we didn’t fancy using our tent so we went for a motel I had seen an advert for. At the same time ... read more

Islington is a very special, small, luxe hotel in Hobart with a long history and a large and delightful garden, affording unique and stunning views of Mount Wellington. Decorated with fine art and furnished with antiques, Islington appeals to those who desire the very best in life, surrounded by personalised service, presented in an atmosphere of serenity, luxury and tranquillity. Built in 1847, Islington is an outstanding example of Regency architecture recently restored to showcase the property’s original glory and up-dated to include the little necessities and amenities our forebears over-looked, such as a glass enclosed mountain-view pavilion and a cellar stocked with the finest Tasmanian wine. Islington, built in Regency style in 1847, was one of the first houses built in the dress circle of Hobart and earned its current name around 1899. Davey Street ... read more