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Published: January 9th 2023
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The Chicken (Tori) Karaage is spicy in Hobart. I ate it, but it got the better off me at 4am. Not the best night sleep for all as my pre-dawn poop disrupted our shared room. The Bury Me Standing breakfast bagels were great though and the sanctioned sleep-in was appreciated by all.
We collect our e-bikes just after 10 and pedal the scenic Hobart Rivulet up to Cascade Brewery. A really pleasant ride along a shaded rivulet (brook) through South Hobart. The brewery is opening for business/tours when we arrive, but with everyone feeling good, we opt to extend our ride south up to Strickland Falls. The enthusiastic mechanic at Hobart Bike Hire recommended it and he wasn’t wrong.
The small waterfall is about 300 metres above sea level in the foothills of Mt Wellington. The ride up would be extremely difficult without the e-bike assistance. The light rain and low temps are challenging enough but worth the extra effort. The ride down feels very Tour de France and we get up to speeds of close to 50km / hour even with the battery off and the brakes permanently applied.
The Hot Chocolates and Chai Latte at Retro
Cafe we well deserved and consumed enthusiastically. No time for shopping! We have 1pm MONA tickets and it’s 12.15.
After weaving through tourists on the harbour front, we hit the bike path behind the botanic gardens which transitions into a railway side track for the 13 kms out to MONA. We’ll need to average 26km/hr if we’re to make it by 1pm. Deaks and Jules set the pace and Milla does well to keep up. The e-bike battery boosts the speed and eases the leg pain. It does not cushion the tooshy!
Maybe 5 minutes late but there’s a queue anyway. Enough time to switch from hectic cycling maniacs to art appreciators.
MONA -Tasmania’s man made wonder. A cultural light bulb and we tourists are drawn to it like moths. And rightly so. The buildings and grounds themselves are a work of art, an architectural masterpiece and an engineering wonder. What’s inside is more impressive. Provocative and inspiring. Sublime and grotesque. It’s what good art should be.
The permanent pieces are little changed and no less interesting from the last time Jules and I visited (I wanna say 2017) but the newer/temporary exhibitions are the most
interesting to me.
The Argentinian artist (Tomas Saraceno) and his spiderweb inspired artworks and light displays are amazing - the visual and the audio perfectly combined.
Some of the adult content is a bit much for a 12 year old girl and Jules astutely guides Milla past the most confronting pieces. Some of these were Deaks favourites.
I’m very proud that our kids were so interested and engaged. Others may not have tolerated two and a half hours in a modern art gallery and could have acted out. Our little beauties looked to be loving it.
We all devoured our late lunch on the grassy area in front of the stage. The solo drummer was going for it like a hard rock drum solo for the half hour we sat there. Physically impressive, technically gifted and sonically aggressive. The food was delicious but after the hectic commute and the visual onslaught of MONA, a little string quartet would have been perfection. But that ain’t MONA’s thing.
The ride out didn’t allow for enjoying the scenery but the trip back in was a slower pace and allowed us to absorb the calm bays and coves and
the graceful slope of the Tasman bridge. The view across the Derwent to Bellerive and other hilly harbourside suburbs was delightful. Much more pleasant than the main highway to our right.
We drop off the bikes and stroll back to our hotel for a well earned spell. Late lunch calls for a small dinner and the New Sydney Hotel is putting its 200 year old hand up for consideration. It doesn’t disappoint. Surprisingly full of punters, a plethora or craft beers on tap and quality pub grub. 5 stars!
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