Tasmania Part 2: Hobart

Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania. It's very, very hilly, and has a bay in the middle of it. There are lots of great bike paths which we used to explore the town, a gorgeous public garden that has an Antarctic plant exhibit, just to remind you how very far south you are, a nationally renown art museum, some great seafood, lovely hotels, and a fun market. It's a wee bit quirky and there's a large hipster population, which means good food and good coffee.  Also not too hot.  Yay!

The weirdness started at the airport where this guy was riding the baggage carousel, and Ruthie saw her first Tasmanian Devils. Kind of.

And a bunch of Buddhist monks were on our flight - the seal did not belong to them, apparently.

There's a really steep scary bridge that goes over the River Derwent that runs through Hobart and its suburbs. The views were incredible from the bridge, but it was disconcerting to ride over it. We didn't take our bikes because it was very windy during our visit, and yes, we were scared.

Hobart is a port city, and has a flourishing fishing trade. You can get really good, as fresh as it gets fish and chips at the harbour. A seal came around regularly to the fish and chips boats to see if he could get handouts.

Notice the hills!

Great Fish and Chips from Fishy Business 

Hello, Friend!

The Institute for Marine Science is located in Hobart. When we were visiting, the marine exploration ship Aurora Australis was docked near our hotel. It's the boat that researchers use to explore Antarctica and do important research on climate change, Antarctic wildlife, aquaculture, etc.  If you want to know more about it, there's a wikipedia link here. I didn't realise when we saw it at the time that it's due to be replaced soon with a more updated ship.

The Aurora Australis

Hobart has done a lovely job preserving colonial architecture around the city, as well as historic parts of the harbour. It was a pleasure just walking around the city and the waterfront.

An old ship crane!

This is the site of the Salamanca Markets, which happen every Saturday. Lots of food trucks, authentic Australian crafts from Tasmanian blackwood and Huon pine, wool socks, scarves and blankets. This entire paved area is packed with tents and people - it's quite a sight and worth a visit if you're in the area.  

The kids had a great time taking photos in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Below are my favourites:

Flowers from So Africa

Arch

These last two photos don't really fit into any of the other categories but they made me smile. The first is a rainbow drawn by letter boxes, because it was during the time Australia was doing a postal vote to approve same-sex marriage. Someone decided to encourage people to vote the right way.

This last one is a memorial to those Hobart men who served and died in wars. If you travel anywhere in Australia, you will see memorials like this, some big, some small, but every town remembers their war dead. The memorials are always very moving and respectful, and I find them beautiful.