Tassie!!!

and we did explore.....

Panarama Vineyard

Hobart house in the CBD

We arrived in Hobart, the capital city of Tassie (Tasmania) on Thursday afternoon.  A harbour side city, founded in the 1800's as a penal colony of England, Hobart is very Victorian and feels more like New Zealand than an Aussie state.  We had three days in Hobart, and so on Friday we hired a car and drove around the Huon Valley.  Yes, Jer drove on the wrong side of the road the entire day!!! The Huon Valley is famous for the Huon Pine trees (they can grow to an age of 3000 or more). It's also a wine growing region, and we stopped at a winery for a tasting, and bought a bottle of their Riesling for supper.  Something we had never done before was a cheese tasting.  Very interesting sheep cheeses to taste.  We bought a small sampling of a mild cheese for our bread, cheese and olive lunch.  They even made a liquer, which is made from the sheep milk whey.  Think I prefer Bailies!!!



Jer's fish frenzy

Saturday morning we hit the Salamanca market, toured the Tassie Royal Botanical Gardens in the afternoon, and went to Fish Frenzy on the harbor for supper, where we had the best fish and chips we've EVER had!! I had a local fish called the Blue Eye Trevalla, which is caught only around Tassie at this time of year! Jer had their specialty - the fish frenzy.  Cod, scallops and calamari!


Salamanaca market

Sunday, a cloudy rainy morning we went on a tour of Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, about a 95 km scenic drive south east of Hobart. Very interesting to hear about these poor people from England and Ireland, who were often sent to Van Dieman's (now known as Tasmania) land as punishment - often for only stealing a loaf of bread or some other item they needed for survival. Some of those boys were as young as nine years old.  They were treated very harshly once in Van Dieman's land.  About 75% of the people living on Tassie, are actual descendants of these convicts.  Until just a few years ago, people would not admit to having this ancestory.  After lunch at the Felon's Bistro, the sun cleared and we had warmth and beautiful blue skies to do the actual tour. So we wandered among the ruins and read about life as it was experienced there for all the convicts.

Sunday evening it was time for us to pack our bags, and get ready for a 7:30 AM Monday morning pick up by the Maria Island Walk people!!!