Hobart

23/11/11-28/11/11

After a hard night’s sleep on a wooden bench I was finally able to check-in my pack and jump on my flight to Hobart. After just an hour we had touched down in Tasmania, I was now under down under. By the time I had got to the hostel it was only just 9 in the morning so while I waited for my room to be ready I popped down to the shops to gather some supplies. In the afternoon I explored around the town and visited the history museum which is in the middle of restoration works. With the day dragging along due to my early start I had an early night to recharge my batteries.

With the sun shining (while storms where occurring on the mainland) I followed the suggested walking tour in my lonely planet guide. This took me through the centre of town, down by the docks and along to the homes of Battery Point. In the afternoon I went to the penitentiary chapel which is owned by the local natural trust to take part in the tour through this former chapel, prison and law courts.

With the weather still holding I decided to jump on a local bus and make my way to Fern Tree to the starting point of the tracks that lead up Mount Wellington. After picking up a map from the local store I set out to tackle the steep climb to the top. It was not easy going, most of the paths where rocky tracks where the surface was very uneven, to your side the ground fell away. After several stops along the way and much puffing and panting I was relieved to reach the summit. It was worth the climb for the views which stretched on for miles, you could see all the way around. I had my lunch at the top before once again setting off to retrace my steps back down to where I started. Of course for those who want the easier route a road leads right up to the summit – but where’s the challenge it that? Not surprisingly I was certainly worn out that evening.

On a wet and cold day I had my first Oz tour to the convict settlement of Port Arthur to take part in the evening ghost tour. Along the way we stopped off at Richmond, a quiet little town which is home to the oldest continually used bridge in Australia. We also visited several sights of natural wonder, including sea caves and blowholes. On arriving at Port Arthur we had a few hours during the afternoon to do a quick tour of the site in the day light before we joined our ghost tour that evening. On the tour we were led by our story teller who lead us to varies sights in the grounds where ghosts had been spotted before telling us the experiences who those who have seen them. Our only light came from three lanterns that where held by varies members of our group. Each ghost he told us about had been reported seen by three different people in the same location three times. It was an engaging experience and you are certainly drawn in by the stories you are told, unfortunately though we didn’t experience anything that night but I really enjoyed myself, would definitely do something like that again.

After several days rushing round I decided to just take it easy so had a rest day, the only I did venture out for was to visit the Botanical Gardens to read my kindle in the sun for a few hours.

On my last full day in Hobart I spent the morning sorting out several issues such as transport for future trips. I had received the good news that I had been offered accommodation in Sydney for Christmas and New Year’s so I now know roughly where I was going to be for the rest of my time in Oz, this was especially useful with school holidays fast approaching, and I could now make sure I had everything sorted. In the afternoon I popped into town to visit the maritime museum and took a walk along to Sandy Bay where people have their yachts moored.