Day 1:
The flight from Sydney to Hobart was 1 hour and 45 minutes and by the time we touched down at Hobart Airport it was about twelve noon. We took a shuttle bus to Nook Backpackers which is situated in Hobart city centre. We only booked to stay in a 4-bed mixed dormitory which is only AUD 37 per bed. The airport bus shuttle had to sent every passenger to their destination and that took almost one hour and the half for us to be dropped off at our hostel. With AUD 20 a person we were taken round the city to have a first glimpse of the Hobart city is not a bad deal after all.
We had our late lunch at a Pizza restaurant near our hostel before we proceeded to explore the city. It was cold even though it was afternoon in summer but a jacket is sufficient. There are quite a number of parks we visited like St David Park and Frankin Square which are all very small. We walked to Salamanca place where there are some art galleries and the seaside beyond. There are a lot of tourists and locals at Salamanca place because an annual event called " Taste of Tasmania " was being held there. We were lucky to encounter this event which was only held from 28th Dec to 3rd Jan every year which is free to enter except New year eve. Taste of Tasmania is a food festival where restaurants and producers in Tasmania set up stalls at Prince Pier to sell the likes of fresh seafood, berries, cheese , craft beer, wine and cider. Most of the visitors were seen trying the wine and cider which prompted us to try out the red and white wine at the clover hill producer stall. It was AUD 22 for 2 cup of half-filled wine but I really did not know whether it was of high quality or not as I seldom drink wine. We found ourselves a place to sit at the dock and it is enjoyable sipping wine while enjoying the harbour view of Horbart. The wind was strong and chilly as it was from the South Pole. We came back again at night to have our dinner but we ended up eating fish and chips which was the cheapest but I really enjoyed it especially the fish. After our dinner we walked along the waterfront toward Elizabeth Pier where there were more food stalls and another live band performing. Some revellers were seen dancing below the stage and I too joined in just for the camera.
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| Wine tasting at Taste of Tasmania |
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| Taste of Tasmania Festival at Prince Pier, Hobart |
As we were staying in a 4-bed mixed dormitory with shared bath room, I woke up very early, 5 am local time for my morning routine. I did not really had a good sleep because one of our room-mates was snoring and perhaps I was not so used to sleeping with stranger in the same room. After taking our breakfast consisting of coffee, buns and the famous Tasmania cherry, we were ready to start our 7-day Tasmania tour with 'under down under". The 24-seater minibus arrived on time at 7:30am to pick us up. Our driver cum tourist guide , Adeline is a swiss who so loved Tasmania that she had made Tasmania her new home. There was an alteration of our 7-day tour itinerary. Instead of going to Russel falls and Mt field National Park and stayed at Strahan , we would be visiting Mt Wellington and Mona Museum in Hobart. In fact we were joining the group who were following a one day tour in Hobart. Only of two us had booked the 7-day tour and we would be joining the 6-day tour's group which only started the next day. It is a very flexible travel plan where a traveller can choose either 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, or 8 day tour. Actually the Mt Wellington and Mona trip should be on the last day of our trip which ended in Hobart city which meant we had to find our own transport to the airport for our flight back to Sydney. The change in itinerary meant our last day trip would be going to Port Arthur and on our way back we would be dropped off at the airport which is located between Hobart and port Arthur.
The trip to the Summit of Mt wellington which is 1250m from sea level was about half an hour. We were very lucky to encounter clear sky as was told by our tour guide but we immediately felt the piercing cold temperature caused by the strong wind once we stepped out from the bus. We were not well prepared for such coldness and we had to take shelter at the enclosed look-out point. From the lookout point we could have a clear view of Hobart city and its coastline. Even though the cold temperature was unbearable we still ventured out to snap some photographs of the summit especially the Pinnacle. We did not stay long at the summit and on our way down we were dropped off at the middle station of the hill for us to hike down until the car park or cafeteria. The walk down hill was not too difficult but we had to walk on narrow stony path. The coastline of Hobart was very much clearer as we hiked down the hill. Only six of us took up the challenge to hike down the hill, and among us were three young Chinese girls who chit-chatted with us all the way down which made our otherwise monotonous journey more lively. They are working in Melbourne and two of them are Malaysians while the third is a Taiwanese. One of them is from Kuala Gula near my hometown Kuala Kurau and her father was my classmate in secondary school. Miraculous coincidence still happens when we least expect it. She was quite surprised and envious to see a father and his adult daughter going for overseas vacation together.
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| wind was very strong and cold at Mt Wellington |
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| The coastline of Hobart |
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| The pinnacle at Mount Wellington |
Mona Museum of new and old art was situated within the Moorilla winery on the Berriedale peninsula. It is really a crowd puller and a must-visit destination in Hobart. The museum presents antiquities, modern and contemporary art from David Walsh collection. Most of the exhibits are quite articulate and abstract while some are very offensive. It is different from the usual art gallery and really worth a visit. We did not go for wine tasting in the winery as we had already taken wine at Taste of Tasmania the day before. We walked around outside the museum and visited the vineyard nearby before we settled down for a cup latte at a coffee stall. We took the 4:30 pm ferry back to Elizabeth pier. The wind was very strong and while Xin Yi was standing near the edge of the ferry enjoying the scenery, the cap she was wearing was suddenly blown away and dropped into the sea below. A pity that she lost the beautiful cap which was bought by her brother Kai Yang while he travelled to the sunshine coast in Queensland.
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| The vineyard near Mona museum |
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| On the ferry back to Elizabelt Pier from Mona |
We stayed at YHA backpacker booked by the tour operator which is very near to Elizabeth Pier. As it was a Friday and New Year Eve, we visited the food fair at Franklin Square hoping to grab some western food for our dinner but there were too many people and we ended up having our dinner at the only Chinese restaurant still open during New year Eve. After our dinner we went to Taste of Tasmania venue again to see the live band but we had to skipped it as we needed ticket to enter and it was not cheap. We instead walked along the waterfront where a big crowd was gathering. Yachts which had completed the annual Sydney-Hobart yacht race were seen berthed at the marina with their occupants inside having their New Year Eve dinner and drink. The big crowd lined up along the waterfront as if waiting for something to happen. In fact they were waiting for the fireworks display fired from the yachts to usher in New Year 2018. This was in fact my first time celebrating New Year outside Malaysia and it was really an extraordinary experience.
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| Participants from Sydney-Hobart Yacht race waitng for New Year countdown |
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| Hobart New Year revellers waiting at the waterfront for fireworks |
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