Hobart, Tasmania

As I write this blog, I recognize the privilege that we have to be on this great adventure while terrible things are happening in the US that have local, national and global impacts for so many people. Most of the terrible things are not new, but they are certainly amped up and very scary for people who find themselves targeted by this administration and those who care about them. It is interesting and troubling to be on the outside looking in and hearing the perspectives of New Zealand and Australian people about the mess back home. We will continue to share about our travels as it is a way to share positive and good things that are happening and we enjoy hearing about the good things that are happening with all of you too. We love you and you are in our hearts always.

Hobart

We spent seven days in Hobart which is a beautiful town on the Australian island state of Tasmania. We really took advantage of our lovely, quiet Airbnb in North Hobart to continue to recover from all of our fast paced adventuring in New Zealand. We decided to not rent a car and found this place to be very walkable, which is our favorite thing! There were lots of great restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk and we could get down to the waterfront in about 30 minutes. The picture up above was taken at the Royal Botanical Gardens and it was about a 30 minute walk to get there as well.

We have really enjoyed staying in Airbnbs and having the opportunity to cook our own meals, do our laundry and to enjoy a place that feels more like a home. We have not yet been disappointed with our Airbnb choices and as we are a month into our three month trip, it’s nice to have a homey feel.

We arrived in Hobart on a Friday and the next day headed to the Salamanca Market which is only open on Saturdays. It did not disappoint. It’s like the Saturday Market in Portland, but SO much bigger and is located close to the Waterfront. We started out waiting in line for some very delicious sandwiches. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to get the sandwiches it it was totally worth it. I also tried to get a bigger picture of the market, but struggled to capture it. You can check out the link above to see how it looks and learn more about it.

We spent a couple of hours wandering the market and enjoying ice cream and fresh fruit and I also bought some cute earrings and a necklace. The man shared that his wife is a nature photographer and he takes her photos and creates the images on the jewelry. It was a fun find and will fit in my luggage :-)

We wandered around the waterfront and there are lots of places to eat and to get fresh seafood. We walked back down a couple of days later and had some really amazing salmon and scallops with delicious fries and a salad. The food was great and reasonably priced, particularly with the current exchange rate. I really loved the presentation of the fries!

This place is called Fish Frenzy…delicious

Jellyfish by the docks

This is a sweet little dog park and the post has dog tags of dogs that have passed.

And all over town are refrigerators that have food that is available to those who need it and each one is uniquely painted.

Our big splurge on this stop was a trip to the MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. This is a privately owned museum and has a really grand design and extensive grounds where they host events and have many different restaurants. We spent the day there and it is was a really hot day, so great to be inside. The art is absolutely a mixture of old and new art and often placed together in rooms/spaces. I think that one of the purposes of art is to be provacative, to make you think and consider what you are seeing or experiencing and the MONA is definitely intended to provoke. Below are some pictures of some of the art that I found intriguing, though nothing explicit. I would highly recommend visiting the MONA if you are in Hobart and while you can drive, you are encouraged to take on of the MONA ferries as there is an intentionality to arriving at the dock and climbing the 99 steps to the top. Of course, they also make more money this way, but we found it to be fun and totally worth it. One of the people that we met in Rotorua encouraged us to pay the extra fair for the Posh Pit on the ferry and it was fun. You get to enjoy snacks and beverages on your trip to and from the museum. Everything was easy to book and very well run. Here are some pictures from that fun day.

The ferries that take you to MONA

The Posh Pit - on the way to MONA

This is outside the entrance to the museum - the views are stunning from here.

A view down the elevator

When you arrive you are encouraged to go down to level three and then to work your way up. The construction of this museum is an amazing feat of engineering and is also very beautiful. Below are pics of some of the works of art. We easily spent 4 hours at the museum and you could certainly stay longer.

Stairs between the two parts of level 2

The art installation on the wall is larger than what I captured and then there is this performance space that shares the space as well.

I loved this piece titled Waterlily Pond by Martina Shumacher from Berlin, Germany

Here is a look from the side

There were many of these small, hand sized globes - I failed to get the artist

This was the entrance to a fun room that you could walk into and sit down on silver cushioned stairs. It reminded us of Meow Wolf

An interesting tunnel connecting exhibits and an exhibit of its own

Playing around in the sound tunnel. This was a loud immersive space.

And we got dessert and more Mimosas on the way back.

The other place that we recommend visiting in Hobart are the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is free to visit and there are lots of lovely things to see, including wild Cockatoos! There were so many interesting plants and birds and there was also a local Garden where George had an opportunity to talk with a guy about the similarities with plants that grow in Australia and Lebanon.

I don’t know the name of this tree, but these flowers are everywhere and they are gorgeous!

Water lilies :-)

Such an interesting plant

A lovely view from a resting area

I believe this is a Tasmanian Nativehen

A giant oak - gorgeous

A wild Cockatoo! We also saw so many small parrots on the way there, but they refused to hold still for a photo. This guy sat there eating and posing for me for a long time.

A beautifully constructed fountain