2 Mar 10 – Hobart and surrounds

By Craig: Rain in the distance as we set up, we picked a place called Treasure Island Holiday Park, not a lot to say about that however our first night had us up and about at midnight with a burst water main at the front of our camper. I wasn’t sure if Hobart was the place to be however day trips to Richmond, Bruny Island, Tinderbox and Mt Wellington proved to be well worth our while.



I had a great day visiting the zoo (Zoo Doo in Richmond) with Sam but I’ll let Sam say more about that. What I will say is cheers to the bus driver tour guide as I haven’t laughed so much on a tour. We had tears coming out of our eyes as the one-liners came thick and fast (but you had to be there). This chap should do stand up at a comedy show.


When we arrived in Richmond, Louise and Sam were still completing school subjects in the car so I had the opportunity to walk around town. While doing so, I came across a lot of old architecture and an information centre. What intrigued me about the info centre was that it had an 1800s reconstruction of Old Hobart Town. After speaking to the gentleman, I planned to run a small school excursion for Sam. Later that day we returned to the centre and Sam completed a questionnaire about the display, along the lines of "Where's Wally?" we had to look for certain features either on display or written on texts. Not a bad way to incorporate fun and school.








Richmond provided an opportunity for me to explore some old architecture. My love for old buildings, in particular churches, takes me back to my geometrical drawing days at high school.












By Lou: We arrived in Hobart about an hour before the Saturday Salamanca Markets were due to finish so headed straight there. We were kidding ourselves that we’d find a park big enough for the trailer so we gave a wave and set about finding somewhere to stay the night. The days were cold and wet but we had lots of lovely day drives.


Late one afternoon we drove to Mt Wellington which looms over Hobart. We’d received a couple of phone calls from family and friends to check if we’d heard the Tsunami alert predicting the east coast of Australia may experience in the next 2 hours the effects of the Tsunami that hit Chile. We had heard, but tucked away in Hobart we knew we were safe and in any case could just run up Mt Wellington if need be (does it matter the last time I ran was for the 1998 Mildura Summer Comp Netball Semi Final?). In actual fact it’s quite the drive to get to the top but what an awesome view once you get there! Apparently very controversial at the time of construction for the eyesore the roads were expected to make, but it employed lots of men during the depression and of course there were lots of 'good news' photos showing people donning skis at the grand opening. Yes, very cold indeed and windy (hello Tasmania) but worth the view.




Geeveston was a very quaint town with a beautiful Forest and Heritage Centre showcasing local artists and a display of timber history, for which I have a great affection given my dad’s side of the family’s association with timber. Nearby was the Tahune Air walk, a walk in the tree canopies, and despite the weather looking dubious we decided to go for it. I found the tourist operators in Tasmania to be very positive and they seemed slightly startled if you mentioned the weather. “Cold? Do you think so? I’m sure the clouds will blow away once you’re up there.” Just like the Whitsunday tourism operators don’t mention stingers or cyclones. “Windy? Do you think so?” Anyways, it was great to see (yes, we could) the different species up close and up high, and look down on the Huon River.

Also in the area was the "Big Tree". Not necessarily the tallest or oldest but DEFINITELY the biggest tree in Australia.











By Sam: Dad and I went to ZooDoo (out of Richmond) and we saw this white tiger
and it was so cool to see a white tiger and it just blew my mind to see all the amazing animals. There were amazing monkeys, some were so tiny, like the size of an apple. When we were driving on the bus the driver gave us food to feed the animals. There were lots of people on the bus and it had no windows so you could feed the animals like emus, ostriches and camels. The man said “who wants to kiss the camel goodbye?” and I did and I kissed it 3 times and the last time on the lips! When we were trying to drive out this little chicken ran after us with little floppy legs and it was so funny.