A quaint city - Hobart, Tasmania

We arrived in Hobart quite late, having found and made the hotel booking through Hubby's iPhone on the 3-hour drive from Launceston the night before. It was a new day so we set out to explore this city fully charged and refreshed.

Driving into Hobart at night meant we couldn't see much of the city in the dark but it didn't take us long to realise that Hobart is gorgeous. It reminded us very much of a 'little Sydney' - especially around Salamanca Markets, Battery Point, and the Harbour overlooking the Derwent River.

The actual Salamanca Markets every Saturday was something I was looking forward to. Whenever I visit a new place there are 2 things that I think give you an immediate sense of the place - the grocery and the markets. I love visiting markets to check out the local craft. I'm not sure whether the popularity of Salamanca Markets in Hobart means it's a bit touristy like The Rocks markets in Sydney but it would have been good to see nonetheless. Due to our delay and detour via Melbourne, it meant we arrived in Hobart on Sunday and had missed the Markets which was a real let down. Oh well... maybe next time.





We had breakfast and took a leisurely stroll around the Salamanca Markets and harbour foreshore. While the street market wasn't on, there were still a lot of shops and things to see. It's a bit like wandering around The Rocks in Sydney. The girls even met an alpaca, after which we visited a store selling alpaca wool and knitwear so they could see how the alpaca fleece is used.

We decided to do a lunchtime cruise of the Derwent River to kill two birds with one stone. The Cruise was a great way to get a quick overview and history of Hobart and have lunch at the same time! The most interesting part, I thought, was about the Tasman Bridge collapse in the 1970s when a ship crashed into one of the pylons. Imagine if the Sydney Harbour Bridge collapsed... that would be total traffic chaos!

Incidentally, as we were making our way back on the cruise, Hubby received an email on his iPhone from Qantas announcing a Kids Fly Free deal to New York. Well... he just couldn't get it out of his head, could he? So the rest of the return trip on our Derwent River Cruise was spent discussing whether we should go to New York. I couldn't believe that we were still in the middle of a trip (one that was supposed to be the 'last family holiday for a while') and he was already planning the next one. We never even dreamed of going to New York, not to mention my 7-and-a-half month pregnant belly! Anyway, I eventually convinced him to put his thoughts on hold so we could make the most of the trip we were currently in.

Where to next? The Cascade Brewery (what can I say? Tasmania has some great beer!) and Mount Wellington.





Similar to the Boag Brewery in Launceston, the Cascade Brewery is quite historic and still fully operational but again, being a Sunday, no tours were running. So we just did a quick stop and had a look around on the way up to Mount Wellington. The facade of the old Brewery is an icon in Hobart and with Mount Wellington as a backdrop it's easy to see why.

Aahhh... Mount Wellington. The view of Hobart from Mount Wellington is breathtaking. You could see the entire landscape of the city with the Derwent River snaking through it. It was a bit of a challenge to make sense of what was what looking down at the city below, but using the Tasman Bridge as a landmark helped us get our bearings. Seeing the Bridge from up above, it's easy to see how its collapse in the 1970s accident would have been absolute mayhem. It's the only thing that connects one side of the city to the other!



We also learned how the earlier explorers hiked their way up the mountain for days in snow and blizzard-like conditions. The trip today takes 30 minutes by car and is home to a telecommunications tower.





It was summer so we were naturally in summer gear. But up in Mount Wellington, only a 30-minute drive out of Hobart, it was absolutely FREEZING! It had started to shower again while we were there so the ice-like wind cut through our clothes. It was a stark contrast to the city conditions below only 30 minutes away. So after a quick look around the Visitors Center and a few 'try to look warm' photographs out in the cold, we had to retreat to the warmth of our rental car with the heater on full-blast. Hubby, the mad photographer, continued to snap away while we waited.



The gorgeous streets of Battery Point were something else. The restored miner cottages were so... cute! Mount Wellington served as a beautiful backdrop to the city.

We finally made it! Launceston, Tasmania

We finally landed in Launceston, Tasmania almost 24 hours after we left our home in Sydney. It was just after 7am so we had a full day of exploration ahead of us. It was wet and showering but that didn't dampen our spirits. We were just happy to finally get this Babymoon underway.

We grabbed a handful of brochures from the airport lounge and planned our day's activities over breakfast. We decided that we wanted to see the James Boag Brewery and the Bristowe Lavender Farm. I don't know what it is but I've always been interested in seeing how things are made. Plus, I thought it would be good for the girls to learn how things are made (even if it is beer!). Neither Hubby nor I are beer drinkers but a visit to the brewery of this famous Tasmanian beer was a natural choice. Unfortunately, since we now arrived in town on a Saturday, the Brewery was closed but that didn't stop us from taking some photos of the beautiful brick buildings that clearly reflected the company's heritage.



After speaking to a few locals, they suggested we visit Cataract Gorge. We walked from the Southern side of the Gorge across the suspension bridge over to the Northern end. It was an interesting walk that had the girls watching a family of ducks and their ducklings as well as a resident peacock.




It was a beautiful spot and if the weather was warmer the girls could have jumped into the pool for an impromptu swim.



I also once dreamed of owning a lavender farm so the thought of seeing rows and rows of those purple flowers was quite enticing. So the Bristowe Estate Lavender Farm 45 minutes North-East of Launceston made it onto the agenda.

Admittedly, this farm was a lot bigger than the one in my dream. 'My farm' was a little cottage farm with just a few fields of lavander.

It was off-season when we were there so tours weren't running but we were still able to do a self-tour around the farm and learn about the whole process of distilling lavender oil. It was also the first time we had ever heard of lavender ice cream so we had to try that at the cafe! It was purple, of course and tasted a bit like... perfume?

The drive out to the lavender farm took a lot longer than expected but it was great to see the lush Tasmanian countryside. The pine trees and rolling hills were beautiful and a refreshing change from the countless eucalyptus trees that dot the mainland countryside.

Since we were already in the middle of 'nowhere', we decided to stop by one of the boutique wineries along the way to sample some Tasmanian wine. My pick at the Brook Eden Vineyard was the 2008 Pinot Rose (ros-ey) - a pinkish wine that's a bit like a mix between red and white wine (ooohhh...I'm sure wine connoisseurs will cringe at that description!)




The great thing about Launceston is that it's so small. You can virtually go from city to countryside and back to the city all in a day as we did.

By the time we got back into Launceston, it was time for dinner so we found a little Chinese restaurant in the centre of town. Actually, it was the only one we could find on a Saturday night! As soon as we entered we knew we were in for something. The lady at the counter running the entire front dining area (and I suspect the owner) was a character. She was almost 'barking' at the customers in line before us. When it was our turn, we placed our order and sat down as instructed. Hubby had ordered an 'eat-all-you-can' type of deal so when she handed him his plate, she quite sternly told him that if he shared his food with any of the kids he would be charged for two. Later on , she came over to check on us and told the girls they had to eat their brocolli. She also informed Hubby that he shouldn't get more food than he could eat and that he needed to finish the food on his plate because it was wasteful to leave it. We all finished our dinner and left the restaurant with a slight chuckle. Maybe this is just the way they are in Launceston?

We had seen what we wanted to in Launceston and decided to drive down to Hobart that night instead of the next day as planned to save time. The kids had been fed and slept while we made the 3-hour drive to Hobart.

Change of Plans

Once we missed our flight, there were no other flights to Tasmania that day so we were faced with a few choices.

• Pick another destination altogether,


• Go home and come back the next day, or


• Get on the next flight to Melbourne, stay overnight, and fly out from Melbourne first thing the next morning to Launceston.
  
  

Since our tickets were an 'el cheapo' fare there was no other destination that we could go to without having to fork out extra dosh. Going home seemed like a bit of an anti-climax. Not to mention the cab fare to go back home and return the next day would have cost more than an airline ticket! So we decided to fly to Melbourne. This was the quickest way we would get to Tasmania. The flight was leaving in an hour and we were getting on it.

TASMANIA via...MELBOURNE?

By the time we landed in Melbourne it was close to 5pm. Luckily, being summer, sunset wasn't due for another couple of hours. So we thought we'd make the most of our unexpected 'detour' and take the kids to see the Fairy Penguins on Phillip Island. So we packed into our rental car and hit the road... and the traffic.

After spending close to an hour driving and getting nowhere, we called the trip off and decided to just stay in the city. Lygon Street. Dinner at Lygon Street. That sounded like a plan. So we were going to find a hotel, settle in, then head out to Lygon Street for dinner and an early night. After all, our flight to Launceston was at 6am the next morning and we didn't want to miss that!

So here we are driving around Melbourne in our rental car while I look up hotels on Hubby's iPhone, call them up for vacancies/prices and navigate. Anyone familiar with Melbourne will know about the hook turns. Those bloody hook turns! We tried to drive around the city avoiding right-hand turns just so Hubby didn't have to perform one but of course, that was impossible. So he finally attempted one. Phew! We made it without getting rail-roaded by a tram! But...

Hubby kept nervously glancing in his rear-view mirror so I asked him what was wrong. A cop car had made a u-turn and was now following us. A few seconds later, flashing lights and a siren to pull over. GREAT! That was all we needed, I thought to myself. I just had to laugh... if not I could have cried. Even Hubby had to see the humour in the situation and was chuckling as the police officer came to his window. He pulled out his Driver's License as instructed and, since it was an interstate license, he quickly started half-rambling, half-whinging to the officer.

He apologised for the bad hook turn, explaining how we weren't even supposed to be in Melbourne that night, that we had missed our flight to Tasmania and were only in Melbourne for the night to leave for Tasmania the following morning. He didn't know how to do a hook turn and we were trying to drive around avoiding hook turns but the hotel we were trying to get to was just down the road so he was really sorry if he did it wrong.

I'm not sure what the police officer thought of all that but he seemed to soften. He explained how to do a proper hook turn and asked where we were headed. After we told him where we planned to stay, he looked into the back of the car, saw the kids and advised us against staying there since it was a 'rough-ish' part of the city. Instead he suggested another motel further down the road in a quieter part of town.

Feeling like kids who had just been let off with a warning, we thanked him profusely and made our way to the recommended motel. By this stage, we were all starving. We checked-in, quickly freshened up and headed off to Lygon Street to end one crazy day with a relaxing dinner in a city we didn't even plan to be in.

Trouble in Paradise... already?!

We arrived at Sydney Airport check-in counter ready for our 4-day Tasmanian adventure and everything was going smoothly. Then, somewhere during the check-in process, I casually mentioned to the lady that I was carrying an EpiPen (adrenalin injection) for my daughter's nut allergy.

There was a momentary pause...then a Supervisor was called. We were asked for a medical clearance or some proof that she had a medical condition requiring an EpiPen. Having travelled a number of times before, with the same airline at that, we had never been asked for this. So I had been pretty complacent about carrying the EpiPen with me. None of our paperwork mentioned anything about it either. In fact, on a trip less than a year before, a staff member - of the same airline - simply noted it on the system when I mentioned it to her at the counter. I told them all this and asked them to check their records but they wouldn't budge and insisted on a Doctor's letter. So I called our GP, explained the situation, and asked him to kindly fill in and return the form we were about the fax to him - which he did. In the meantime, the Supervisor was telling Hubby that it was too late. We had missed our flight. That was it. Easy as that. Our flight to Tasmania, gone!

Here I was, 7-and-a-half months pregnant, travelling with an 8-year old, a 5-year old and my husband. How much of a security threat could we seriously be? On a flight to Tasmania! Hello?!

I don't usually like causing 'scenes' but let's just say the few minutes that followed were not one of my proudest moments.

A Family Babymoon - Tasmania

We wanted to go somewhere before Baby # 3 was born. We had such great memories of our previous family trips so we wanted to hang on to it just a little bit longer. One last family holiday, just the 4 of us, before we became 'home-bound' for a few years with the new addition.

We had never been to Tasmania, knew very little about it and the airline credit we had from a previous booking would only take us that far. So Tasmania it was going to be. We decided to fly into Launceston, spend a night, then drive all the way down to Hobart and spend the rest of our stay (3 days) there.

That was it for our itinerary. No hotel bookings. Just a hire car booking from Launceston airport to be returned to Hobart airport. We figured it would be one of those we'll-find-a-motel-when-we-feel-like-it kind of trips. No plans. No expectations. Little did we know, this total lack of planning would somehow serve us well.