Arriving in Hobart
Feb 25th, Hobart, Tasmania
Yesterday morning we woke up in Hobart Tasmania. Our storm window was still in place, but Greg went up to deck nine and got some gorgeous photos of the sunrise, pretty enough to get me out of bed. It had been bumpy across the Tasman, but never truly uncomfortable for us. We’re grateful for our sailor stomachs.
There was some stress about my crew visa impeding our ability to disembark in time for our planned excursion, but the ship’s docs officer came through for me and we set off with a group of 12 other passengers to go kayaking along the Hobart waterfront. We were with a company called Roaring 40’s. They had good boats and equipment, the water was flat and the day sunny but not too hot. Perfect. We put in at a place called Short Beach, fun fact, right in front of the house where Hollywood legend Errol Flynn was born. It’s still there well preserved and not really out of place with all the cute heritage houses from the 1850’s and forward. There’s a reserve there in his name as well, with a playground and a dog park. Greg took the back of the boat so he could steer and I could get lots of video. We’re pretty good at paddling together, not much chirping for a married couple. We spent most of the trip out in front of the pack, which was nice for getting footage. The houses along the waterfront are a jumble of eras from colonial to current day, all lovely and bohemian with rock gardens and boat sheds. It was a quick trip around Battery Park to the historic Franklin Wharf. We went under the bridge and rafted up in the marina. Our guides had arranged for someone to hand us down hot cardboard box orders of fish and chips right there in our big sunflower of rafted kayaks as they answered all the standard tourist questions. My question was will there be ketchup for our chips, at which point our guide Moran grinned and pulled squeeze bottles of that and tartar sauce out of her dry bag. It was so nice just bobbing in the center of the city eating by our lunch surrounded by sailboats, pubs, historic buildings and the hustle of tourists and regular life all around. On the paddle back we could see a sailboat regatta happening on the other side of this massive bay, so many sails gleaming in the sun, and we saw the finish line for the Annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Back on land we popped by the ship for a pit stop, pleased to see our storm shutter was gone and we had our waterview back. We toured the city on foot for a few hours, drank beer in a seaside pub, checked out the Salamanca Market and the University, earned a blister for wearing closed shoes for the first time in months, and cabbed back to the ship. Best $10 I’ve spent so far. We got dressed for dinner (open backed shoes, problem solved), ate with our friends on the boat and then all went together to the Symphony Hall. The ship had arranged a private concert with the strings section of the Hobart Symphony Orchestra. They started with Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, played some movements from Bach’s Air on G, and a bunch of lovely things I didn’t recognize. Then, for their encore, they of course played a full and robust rendition of Waltzing Matilda, which will be rolling around in my brain until something new replaces it.
Today I think the plan is that we’ll fjnd a way to visit the MONA, possibly by boat, and the Tasmanian Art Museum, maybe find our way up Mount Wellington, then this evening it’s back out to sea, heading for mainland Australia. Yesterday morning we woke up in Hobart Tasmania. Our storm window was still in place, but Greg went up to deck nine and got some gorgeous photos of the sunrise, pretty enough to get me out of bed. It had been bumpy across the Tasman, but never truly uncomfortable for us. We’re grateful for our sailor stomachs.
There was some stress about my crew visa impeding our ability to disembark in time for our planned excursion, but the ship’s docs officer came through for me and we set off with a group of 12 other passengers to go kayaking along the Hobart waterfront. We were with a company called Roaring 40’s. They had good boats and equipment, the water was flat and the day sunny but not too hot. Perfect. We put in at a place called Short Beach, fun fact, right in front of the house where Hollywood legend Errol Flynn was born. It’s still there well preserved and not really out of place with all the cute heritage houses from the 1850’s and forward. There’s a reserve there in his name as well, with a playground and a dog park. Greg took the back of the boat so he could steer and I could get lots of video. We’re pretty good at paddling together, not much chirping for a married couple. We spent most of the trip out in front of the pack, which was nice for getting footage. The houses along the waterfront are a jumble of eras from colonial to current day, all lovely and bohemian with rock gardens and boat sheds. It was a quick trip around Battery Park to the historic Franklin Wharf. We went under the bridge and rafted up in the marina. Our guides had arranged for someone to hand us down hot cardboard box orders of fish and chips right there in our big sunflower of rafted kayaks as they answered all the standard tourist questions. My question was will there be ketchup for our chips, at which point our guide Moran grinned and pulled squeeze bottles of that and tartar sauce out of her dry bag. It was so nice just bobbing in the center of the city eating by our lunch surrounded by sailboats, pubs, historic buildings and the hustle of tourists and regular life all around. On the paddle back we could see a sailboat regatta happening on the other side of this massive bay, so many sails gleaming in the sun, and we saw the finish line for the Annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Back on land we popped by the ship for a pit stop, pleased to see our storm shutter was gone and we had our waterview back. We toured the city on foot for a few hours, drank beer in a seaside pub, checked out the Salamanca Market and the University, earned a blister for wearing closed shoes for the first time in months, and cabbed back to the ship. Best $10 I’ve spent so far. We got dressed for dinner (open backed shoes, problem solved), ate with our friends on the boat and then all went together to the Symphony Hall. The ship had arranged a private concert with the strings section of the Hobart Symphony Orchestra. They started with Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, played some movements from Bach’s Air on G, and a bunch of lovely things I didn’t recognize. Then, for their encore, they of course played a full and robust rendition of Waltzing Matilda, which will be rolling around in my brain until something new replaces it.
Today I think the plan is that we’ll fjnd a way to visit the MONA, possibly by boat, and the Tasmanian Art Museum, maybe find our way up Mount Wellington, then this evening it’s back out to sea, heading for mainland Australia.
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