Hooray for Hobart

Last September, while visiting New Zealand, Garry and I offered to take my brother Matt and sister-in-law, Shelley, on a tour of our favourite haunts in Tasmania. A few wines that evening may have been a party to the proposal. However, we all agreed it was a sterling idea and made plans for an Easter vacation.

Getting to Tasmania has become much easier for Kiwis since Air New Zealand introduced direct flights to Hobart from Auckland last year. I recall almost two decades ago; the airline briefly operated a weekly service from Christchurch to Hobart. The route was ultimately short-lived and was discontinued in 1998.

I mapped out a week-long itinerary that delivered a full circuit of the island state with plenty of time to rest and relax along the way. Our schedule included two nights in Hobart, a night at Lake St Clair, and three nights at Cradle Mountain, before returning to Hobart for a final night.

 
As luck would have it, we were able to book flights that saw both couples arriving in Hobart within 40 minutes of each other. In the end, despite landing after them, Garry and I made it to baggage claim about ten minutes ahead of the international travellers. We then collected our rental car, went shopping for some decadent wines and cheese accompaniments, and made our way into town.

I decided we should kick off our vacation in style. Hence, I booked us into the MACq Hotel on Hobart’s waterfront. Our rooms featured a bank of windows, and a balcony, offering uninterrupted views of the harbour, central Hobart, and the surrounding hills. The weather also played its part. We enjoyed relatively clear skies for much of our stay.

We spent the final hours of daylight on our first day enjoying a late lunch on the waterfront, before making our way to the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery to see its Tasmanian Tiger exhibit. Dinner that night was at the hotel’s Frogmore Creek restaurant. 

We discovered that the hotel's restaurant was operated by a local winery. After enjoying a few of their finest bottles we decided to pay them a visit the following morning and load up on extra bottles for the week ahead. There's nothing quite like a quick wine tasting after breakfast?

Our first full day in Tasmania was devoted to a day exploring Tasmania’s infamous Port Arthur penal colony. Once again, the weather played its part. Showers were forecast. However, in the end, we enjoyed nothing more than grey skies, calm waters, and relatively mild temperatures  - with just the odd misty drizzle patch. 

Matt and Shelley loved the experience. Both said it was a highlight of their entire vacation. For Garry and I, this was a repeat visit. However, it was still wonderful to relive memories of our first visit a decade ago. We also squeezed in a quick visit to the Tasman Arch, the Dog Line, and the Tessellated Pavement rock platform. Dinner that night was a superb affair of boat-fresh seafood at Blue Eye Seafood overlooking Hobart harbour.