Tours of Hobart

The forecast was for 20-40mm of rain today but up until about 4pm when I was walking back to the hotel it was mostly just drizzle.

I started the day at the Salamanca Markets. Visiting the markets was the reason I arrived on a Friday. There was lots of Tasmanian produce but a large proportion was alcohol (gin and whisky) and honey. I did make some purchases - flavoured salts and some goats cheese.

The markets were followed by the hop on hop off bus. Fortunately there weren’t many people on the bus as it was too wet to sit upstairs in the open. I got off at the Cascades Brewery and walked down to the Cascades Female Factory. The walk was very pretty. I made it just in time for a tour. It was fascinating and sobering at the same time. Women, and poor women in particular as well as their children were not treated well in Van Diemen’s land. There isn’t much left of the actual buildings but they’ve done a great job with recreating the atmosphere of the site.

I was back in the city about 1:40pm and had looked at several options for what to do next. My first two choices weren’t running (perhaps due to the weather) but a boat tour of the harbour had availability. I had some time so went around the corner to the replica of Mawson’s hut. The 1911-14 expedition left from across the road of the replica hut. This was also quite a sobering experience but did justice to the men who took part in the expedition.

The harbour cruise was interesting, we went north under the Tasman bridge and around a few bays. I may have seen a fur seal. The tour leader pointed it out on some rocks however he was at the front of the boat and we were at the back so it took a little while for us to go past it. He did say it was blending into the rock so I’m still not sure whether what I saw was a seal or a rock.

On our return I headed back to Salamanca Place and took a look at the Tassel Salmon shop but didn’t find anything interesting enough to purchase. I went around the corner to pick up something for dinner. Going out for dinner was originally in the plan but I was tired and the rain is expected to get worse so eating in seemed the better option. I did purchase some smoked wallaby. Tasmania is the only place you can legally prepare Wally for human consumption. It was nice, very similar to other smoked meats. I definitely recommend it.Read more