Hobart - Tasmania

From Sydney we flew into Phuket and once again stayed in Patong. We stayed in a similar area as before and the hotel was quiet. This time round we didn't do many `tourist` things it was more of a beach/pool holiday but if you'd like to know more about different areas please read my sisters blog on Karon beach, Kata beach and Phuket Old Town. stylespeakslouder.com

While in Phuket we secured our 4th house sit through trusted house sitters and we flew from Phuket to Melbourne then to Hobart with Air Asia and Tiger Air and cost us 17,880 THB (today's exchange rate £352.07 for 2 people) but took near 24 hours to get there.

When we arrived in Hobart airport we were greeted by Gill and taken to her home which over looked Hobart city. Their home was on top of a hill in Tranmere and had beautiful views across the Derwent River. Their home was only 4 years old and after a freshen up from our flight they showed us round the area. We didn't have a car to use at this house sit so we relied on push bikes but we loved the bike ride out to the shops every 3 days along the water front. It was very peaceful and picturesque. The closest shops to us were Shoreline and took 40 minutes there and back on the bikes,  but there was a bigger shopping mall at Bellerive which took an hour there and back.

We cycled over to Hobart a few times which nearly killed me as it is very hilly in Hobart  and the bridge is only narrow but once we made it, it was so lovely to bike around the city. Its only small but lovely along the water front and the city its self is quiet. There is a main shopping area called Elizabeth street which is all cobbled and has malls coming off it. There is great architecture in Hobart and lots of things to look at. They have a huge market every Saturday morning called Salamanca Markets which is a street market and selling everything you can think of. We went to cinema at Bellerive and in Hobart city, we went on a Tuesday as its cheap Tuesdays and only cost $12 (today's exchange rate £5.88) instead of $18 (today's exchange rate £8.82) on other days.

We wanted to go to the Cadbury factory while we were there and I looked at the Hop on Hop off bus for $70 (today's exchange rate £34.30) but then realised it was only $4 (today's exchange rate £1.96) to get into the factory so we decided to look at public transport but that was going to work out the same price and take near 2 hours to get there so we decided to hire a car instead. We hired one from Bargain car rentals and just went for the cheapest one, which was cheap and felt like it was going to fall apart around us. One thing they didn't mention when I booked it over the phone was you have to pay a $1000 (today's exchange rate £490.05) deposit which they hold for 1 week in case you steal the car or damage it, which for us a $1000 is a lot of money not to have so be aware of this.

So we got in our hire car and went to find Cadbury world which turns out is only 10 minutes away. (god knows where the bus must have taken you?!) Anyway Cadbury world visitor centre was actually closing down on the Friday before Christmas and now we know why. It was just basically a shop selling cheap chocolate and a lady talking about the factory with a slide show, there was no tour of the factory or demonstrations on how it was made.




After Cadbury world we went up Mount Wellington, bit of a nail biting drive up there in our small car but we made it and the views were amazing. It was a little cloudy but we liked this as it was cool. We walked round the walk ways and took some pictures and had sandwiches while we looked across Hobart.

On our way back we to stopped at the oldest Brewery in Australia, we did want to do the tour but had just missed it by 10 minutes and there was another hour and a half wait for the next one, so if we go back to Hobart we'd definitely try to go there.






So we went off for lunch and I had seen this Burger place advertised on the TV all week so wanted to try that out in Sandy Bay. It was called Burger Got Soul and although the burger was tasty it was disappointing because the meat patty was frozen and not homemade. If all you sell is burgers I would have expected homemade burgers.

After this we took the car back to the rental shop. I thought things were a lot further apart in Hobart so had hired from 9am until 6pm but we finished up  by 3pm.

We didn't fancy the 5 hour drive there and back to Port Arthur so we never went and we are not really into nature reserves so we never went to Cradle Mountain but Gill said she enjoyed it so maybe if its your cup of tea you would too.

We spent 7 weeks in Hobart all together going out on our bikes most days and we loved it. We had Christmas there, which was a little strange having it in 33 degree heat and no decorations, even the neighbours didn't have decorations up in the windows and it was so quiet. We also celebrated the New Year with Gill and Harry watching the fireworks over the Derwent River.


This really was one of our favourite places we've been so far.