Old Hobart Town
Friday brought with it many onshore activity options. I had woken at 5am and watched as we passed the rugged coastline of the Three Capes my girls and I had walked last year. I recognised the shape of Tasman Island as we rounded it and began to turn towards Hobart. A pilot came alongside and then, finally, a tugboat, guiding us into our berth at Macquarie Wharf and the International Passenger terminal.
Wallsy and I disembarked, raincoats at the ready and crossed Franklin Wharf in the direction of Salamanca Place, as we had a rendezvous to keep. We were only slightly distracted by some remarkable photo-worthy statues in the water, depicting seals and cormorants and another on the dock in recognition of the early Antarctic explorers.
Arriving slightly early, we were lured inside Kathmandu where I immediately found a couple of items I had been needing for future hiking trips. My selection made, we remembered that we had an extensive amount of credit available to us, due to Wallsy’s hiking boot disaster earlier in the year. This proved difficult to locate but the tenacious shop assistant fought her way through the system until she located our balance and I walked from the store with my two sale items and no exchange of money. A very satisfying shopping expedition.
We found cousin Rose loitering outside the store and we identified a café where we could enjoy a much needed coffee Her husband David joined us there and we settled in for a long chat. . Exchanging family news over coffee and cake was a gentle way to spend the morning in historic Hobart, but time was soon up, and following a short wander through the range of stores in the sandstone buildings of Salamanca Place, we said our goodbyes.
Wallsy and I walked back to the ship with our purchases and enjoyed a quick lunch in the Lido buffet, before again checking out for an afternoon tour. The 4-hour immersive tour ‘Novel Suspects: A Literary Pursuit with DI Mahoney’ promised an exploration of ‘the intricate layers of Hobart’s underworld guided by the mastermind behind it all: SJ Brown.’ What we actually got was a Hobart city sights tour with scattered mentions of places where some of the scenes in the series of books written by SJ Brown take place. There were also many opportunities for purchasing the books!
We did see parts of Hobart I hadn’t previously visited, such as Mt Nelson and it’s old semaphore station, and Mt Rosney, with spectacular river and city views. We drove through the now salubrious suburbs of Battery Point and Sandy Bay and heard stories of their history and development. We returned with plenty of time to spare and stood on the deck to farewell Hobart, as the ship made its departure.
Dinner saw us seated at a table with 4 other random ladies from Sydney and we enjoyed interesting conversation around travel and cruising, and also came away with some tips for things to do when back in the harbour city next week. We sat in on a discussion led by author Cassie Hamer who brought us her book recommendations from 2024. Then, exhausted, we turned in for the night as our ship took us back out to sea.
Wallsy and I disembarked, raincoats at the ready and crossed Franklin Wharf in the direction of Salamanca Place, as we had a rendezvous to keep. We were only slightly distracted by some remarkable photo-worthy statues in the water, depicting seals and cormorants and another on the dock in recognition of the early Antarctic explorers.
Arriving slightly early, we were lured inside Kathmandu where I immediately found a couple of items I had been needing for future hiking trips. My selection made, we remembered that we had an extensive amount of credit available to us, due to Wallsy’s hiking boot disaster earlier in the year. This proved difficult to locate but the tenacious shop assistant fought her way through the system until she located our balance and I walked from the store with my two sale items and no exchange of money. A very satisfying shopping expedition.
We found cousin Rose loitering outside the store and we identified a café where we could enjoy a much needed coffee Her husband David joined us there and we settled in for a long chat. . Exchanging family news over coffee and cake was a gentle way to spend the morning in historic Hobart, but time was soon up, and following a short wander through the range of stores in the sandstone buildings of Salamanca Place, we said our goodbyes.
Wallsy and I walked back to the ship with our purchases and enjoyed a quick lunch in the Lido buffet, before again checking out for an afternoon tour. The 4-hour immersive tour ‘Novel Suspects: A Literary Pursuit with DI Mahoney’ promised an exploration of ‘the intricate layers of Hobart’s underworld guided by the mastermind behind it all: SJ Brown.’ What we actually got was a Hobart city sights tour with scattered mentions of places where some of the scenes in the series of books written by SJ Brown take place. There were also many opportunities for purchasing the books!
We did see parts of Hobart I hadn’t previously visited, such as Mt Nelson and it’s old semaphore station, and Mt Rosney, with spectacular river and city views. We drove through the now salubrious suburbs of Battery Point and Sandy Bay and heard stories of their history and development. We returned with plenty of time to spare and stood on the deck to farewell Hobart, as the ship made its departure.
Dinner saw us seated at a table with 4 other random ladies from Sydney and we enjoyed interesting conversation around travel and cruising, and also came away with some tips for things to do when back in the harbour city next week. We sat in on a discussion led by author Cassie Hamer who brought us her book recommendations from 2024. Then, exhausted, we turned in for the night as our ship took us back out to sea.
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