To Hobart

Hit The Road at about 9.30am, wanted to give the frost a chance to dry out before I headed to Hobart. Went out through Queenstown an old derelict looking place that had completely denuded hills from the copper mining that had gone on there for many years. I needed to fill up with petrol but this was just too depressing for words so I pushed on. The trip got far more entertaining after that.

Aweeeeeeeee Snow

As you can see it was a pretty drive with snow capped peaks doting the landscape. The tip the staff at the hotel in Strahan gave me was so long as it was more than 3 degrees you wont have any trouble with frost, ice and snow. Well the temperature gauge worked its way slowly from a positively balmy 7 degrees, upon leaving Strahan, to the slightly less tropical 0 degrees across the top of the mountains. The snow was six inches deep in places and thank god there was a snow plough in action.

I had to fill up with petrol and paid the heart racingly bargain basement price of $ 1.68.9 at a place called Derwent Bridge (for that price I would have thought they'd offer up their first born for a period of indentured servitude, they didn't). I put enough in to get me to Hobart where it was a much more reasonable $ 1.43.9 (the cheapest I have seen it since leaving). 

I called in at a place called "The Wall In The Wilderness" which is a work in progress featuring 100 metres of wood carving by one artist about the history of Tasmania. Impressive stuff except for the fact that the place was littered with abusive signs about not taking photographs, no unruly children allowed or you and they will be ejected, don't touch anything (except your wallet to buy the $10,000.00 art works). It was all a bit off putting and while I enjoyed what I saw the obvious skill and talent was easily offset by the nastiness of the signage. Luckily, in this case, I have no children, I didn't touch anything (including my wallet, $10.00 entry fee excluded) and I didn't take any photographs. Therefore you will just have no take my word for it that it was nice to look at, but you could drive on past without missing too much, in particular the bad attitude and arrogant signage.

Got to Hobart and checked in to this very funky apartment complex called the Zero Davey right on Constitution Dock.

Went straight to the Tourist Information Office where I upset the vegetarian attendant by asking about a nice steak restaurant. She did however recommend a fabulous wine tasting facility called the Gasworks Cellar Door featuring 60 wines from across Tassie. 

Where else was I going to go at 4.00pm in the afternoon? Had a very nice steak down at a restaurant on Salamanca Place. The plan for the next couple of days is to tour around Hobart checking out the history stuff, head out to Richmond to see "Old Hobart Town" (a minature replica of Hobart in the 1820's) and hopefully see the Museum of Old and New (MONA). Then head to Port Arthur and do the ghost tour (cue twilight zone music).