2^nd May 2022 – Hobart Day 3 and Bruny Island

I opted not to go for a walk today, I wanted to catch some extra sleep after our big day yesterday and another big day planned for today.

However, this morning I discover exactly how thin the walls from our converted 1930s building are. It turns out our neighbours did not want to have any extra sleep this morning. Nope, nope, nope, they wanted to start the day with some cardio. Special cuddles if you like. AND BOY OH BOY, did they start the day with a bang. At one point I felt obliged to knock on the wall, mainly to let them know they were not alone, I don’t think they realised how much we could hear. It got a little quieter after that.

It was quite amusing. Luckily, they must have checked out that day and we never ran into them. I would have felt obliged to buy them a drink, I mean we have shared some intimate moments – intentionally or not.

Anyway, after our morning’s entertainment we meet up with Krys and David. Today we have a driver who will be chauffeuring us out to the Bruny Island ferry, coming with us to Bruny Island, and then driving us around to the different locations we have selected. An easier way to see what we wanted without one of us having to focus and drive.

Our man, Peter, picks us up promptly at 830am, we hit the road and join the morning traffic. Luckily, we are heading out of town against the flow. We drive through some lovely little towns to get to the ferry which is around 45 minutes away.

One of the little towns we drive through is called Snug. Yes really, Snug. We spent a fair bit of time talking about Snug and how it got its name. I personally liked the idea it was named after a returning solder. Captain Snug! Snug? Over here sir! Get Snug for me now, I need Snugs here NOW! Oh how I amuse myself. But turns out it was called Snug because it has a nice little bay to dock your boat, the bay is nice and, well, snug. Meh, my story is better, and I think I am going to stick with it – should I ever become a tour guide in Tasmania.

We arrive at the ferry and take the 25-minute trip to Bruny Island. I know nothing about this island other than its beautiful and we should go. They have oysters ☹, cheese 😊, wine 😊 and whiskey ☹ so a very well-balanced island indeed. It is also the location to jump on the Bruny Island Wilderness Cruise, again with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys (https://www.pennicottjourneys.com.au/)

We are running ahead of time so stop off at ‘The Neck‘, the extremely narrow sandy isthmus connecting north and south Bruny. There are 279 steps to get to the lookout at the top, but the views are worth it! It is a lovely spot and this is where all the penguins hang out. We are not here at the right time of day but you can see their prints everywhere, I cannot fathom why they want to climb to the top of this hill, they obviously do not use the steps (actually I don’t know that, I am assuming they cant reach the hand rails?), but their prints are all the way to the top.

As well as stunning views there is a small memorial for the last full-blooded aboriginal Tasmanian, Truganini, who died in 1876. This is an awful story, labelled the Aboriginal Tasmanian genocide. When the British settled in 1803 there as estimated to be four to seven thousand Indigenous Tasmanians, by 1847 there were just 147. While some mixed-race communities endured, the last full-blooded Tasmanian, Truganini, died in Hobart in 1876 you can read more details here, but it is openly spoken about The Australian Holocaust: Extinction of the Aboriginal Tasmanians | The World Unreported.

After our very small hike we head on to Pennicott tours. Krys and David had been on this tour before, but they did it in June and were so cold they never got off their seats. Hopefully this time is not quite as bad. We are adorned with the lovely red, waterproof robes that we had for our Tasman Island tour, but Jason and I opt not to put them on just yet. May as well wait until it actually gets cold. Krys has so many layers on we can barely make out her face! Add the red coat and David could have accidentally left with the wrong person.

We are all bundled onto our boats and get ready to set sail, but without sails, only engines. Big engines, but engines, not sails, in case I wasn’t clear. 750 horsepower of engines, fun times 😊

The cruise takes us alongside some of Australia’s highest sea cliffs, we have already seen the highest during our last cruise, but these are only 30 metres shorter. And what is 30 metres between friends.

We are nearing the southernmost part of Tasmania, which means it is less than warm, I mean if you just keep going eventually you will get to the ice! But I don’t think we have enough fuel on board for that 😊 essentially, I just wanted you to know, it was a bit chilly, but not raining.

The guides are, as always, extremely amusing, the usual jokes and banter that makes the tour most enjoyable. We are cruising past towering crags, so many photos of the cliffs, and they just don’t do it justice. We see lots of seals, and these guys still refer to them as New Zealand fur seals, not brown fur seals. Maybe they did not get the memo? These seals have a small thumb like characteristic on their front flippers, useful for preening and apparently help with climbing up rocks. They are pretty awesome at climbing up, using the waves and their flippers to get quite high. But they are clumsy at absealing down. BOOM BOOM. Another amazing dad joke from the captain.

We see the very rare Australian long necked penguins, also known as black faced cormorants.

The blow hole! As the swell drops it creates a cavern and sucks the air in, as the swell rises it pushes the air out and creates a blow hole. It is super cool! Like giant billows. The kids on the boat really want to get up close when the blow hole spits water out – needless to say our captain obliged, and they got drenched 😊 mission accomplished.

The captain manoeuvres us in and out of deep-sea caves, bloody hell this guy knows how to work this boat. We zoom through the narrow gap between the coast and ‘The Monument’ – if you find it a little scary, just do what the captain does and close your eyes! I love this guy.

Tasmania is prone to fires, which is quite strange as they seem to set a lot of them intentionally! Whilst we were there, they were doing a major burn off to avoid a bad fire season next summer. The worse fire in Tasmanian history was in 1967, referred to as Black Tuesday. This fire was not intentionally set but a natural disaster where 110 separate fire fronts burn through 2600 square kms of land in 5 hours killing 62 people. What the actual fuck!

The worst was in Hobart, the fires made it into town with homes and businesses being destroyed. Including Cascade Brewery – which was the first structure to be rebuilt. Can’t argue with their priorities!

Anyway, back to the boat, the sea is mostly calm and flat, until we get further out from land at the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Southern Ocean – then shit got real. We have some decent swells, and you can really see the waves coming at you. Nothing too scary toady but I would not want to be out here on a rough day.

We start heading back and it is starting to get cold, time to put on the big red condom. We settle in our seats and prepare for the very cold, windy ride back. Then… dolphins! Not as many as the other day but enough to make you smile. We hang out with them for about 20 minutes and the crew continue to look for more sightings – I am pretty sure everyone on the boat was thinking “no more fucking dolphins, its cold”. I think if anyone had spoken up and pointed out a whale or dolphin, they would have been tossed overboard.

Peter is waiting for us back on land and joins us as we have a lovely meal accompanied by wine and beer. Ahh the hard life.

Next on the agenda is Bruny Island Cheese, where we have a little tasting and purchase some cheese, locally made French bread, and a couple of condiments. Onto Get Shucked! This is the highlight for Jason, this place is amazing. Get Shucked is a locally owned and operated oyster farm and bar. They also have smoked salmon so I am happy. Another bottle of wine and more food, that is what we need 😊 the others manage to demolish three dozen oysters.

On a normal day they will sell 400 dozen oysters! That is a shit ton of oysters. Especially considering they take around 3 years to grow. That is quite some planning.

We finish up and decide we are done for the day; the whiskey distillery feels unnecessary after the wine and oysters! Peter takes us back to the ferry for the drive home. It is already 400pm and it has been a long and busy day, arriving back at hotel around 500pm.

There are no plans for the evening other than sitting on the couch with fluffy slippers on.

Plus, its finally Krys’ birthday tomorrow. We need to be rested! We each require to our respective accommodation.

Definitely recommend a trip to Bruny Island, even stay there if you have the time.

Scallop pies – 1

Oysters – 1 million

3^rd May – Hobart Day 4 and Krys’s BIRTHDAY

It is finally THE birthday, the day we have been practicing for. Plus Krys and David leave tomorrow so we need to squish in anything else that is on the birthday to do list. It’s quite an amazing list, and we are very lucky to be part of it. We are seeing so much of Hobart and really enjoying sharing it with these two.

Another walk about the town for me, heading further afield and stretching my legs. Beautiful sunrise and a crisp chill in the air. This morning it is 2 degrees when I head out, so don a couple of layers, hat, and gloves, no long pants though. It’s not THAT cold. By the time I get back to the accommodation it has warmed up and I have defrosted.

Krys signed us up for the Historical walking tour of Hobart, after all it is her birthday and she can make us do whatever she likes 😊

It was so much fun and very informative. We start off from their hotel and we are all handed viewfinders, come on there – those of you over 40 should remember viewfinders. They were amazing technology when we were kids! You put the wheel of photos in and clicked the button to move onto the next photo – now you swipe left or right.

For the tour, the viewfinder is loaded with historical photos of each of the areas we are talking about. Bloody clever really, it allows you to see the contrast of then and now. It was interesting how many of the old buildings remain. Our tour guide, Ash, is imparting a great deal of knowledge.

One of the main buildings in Hobart, I think it is the Customs Building, is an interesting case. It once housed convicts and, like all things to do with the convicts, no one wanted to be associated with it. But there was no money for a new building so, to appease Customs, they simply built a new façade all around the old one. So, it has a beautiful sandstone exterior and the old brick building within. Very cool.

Ash mentioned it was all business at the front and party at the back. Like a mullet. Or, and I love this, all fur coat and no knickers. Bloody gold, if Ash had nothing else worthwhile to say, I would have called this tour a win based on that single insight. However, he did have a lot more to share.

My favourite has to be about the original burial ground established in 1804. Now called St David’s Park. They had been trying to relocate as many of the bodies as possible over a period of time, but many people opted to leave their relations there. Many of the gravestones had been damaged and, in some cases, lost and slowly but steadily they started to lose track of who was buried where. Including Tasmania’s first Lieutenant-Governor David Collins he has a wonderful mausoleum in the park, but Collins himself is somewhere else, they just don’t know where.

Apparently, every so often, depending on the conditions, you see the undulations in the park, in the grass, where the coffins have collapsed. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that, imagine having a picnic and suddenly you sink a foot or so into the earth because a brick vault or coffin has collapsed. Apparently these are the best seats when watching movies or shows in the part. Gross, but comfortable.

We spoke to some construction workers who were spray painting lines on the grass. Being nosy we asked what they were doing – planning on digging someone up maybe? They need to bring in some heavy machinery and because of the number of coffins in the ground, and the issue mentioned above, it is renowned for being soft and unsteady.

They had x-rayed the ground to try and identify the best, sturdy ground to place the machinery without, you know, squishing the dead, and were marking these areas. Gross.

All the remaining headstones have been mounted on the fence around the park. They make for interesting reading. Mathematics was not their strong point, birth and death dates not matching their age. You can also tell when they let the apprentice loose with the engraving, with the occasional backwards S and misspelling.

The tour wraps up and we head to Daci and Daci bakery, recommend by our tour guide, for a little bit of morning tea. The food was AMAZING, so much sugar and butter, but it is Krys’s birthday so calories do not count.

Next stop, Mount Wellington (kunanyi). Slight digression – normally we see dual names for tourist spots both English and aboriginal. This is not so common in Tasmania, maybe because there are no full-blooded aboriginals left on the island? Not sure, but it is something that really stood out to me.

We have been meaning to head up to Mount Wellington, it hovers over Hobart and it looks bloody miserable. Clouds and rain constantly whipping past the peak, one moment blue skies the next rain and the peak disappears. The peak is 1270m above sea level and it is renowned for being cold. Apparently if it is 18 degrees in Hobart it will be 8 degrees at the top of Mount Wellington, and they were not fucking lying.

We head up there and it is blowing a gale, I mean I am not sissy! Wellington wind is nothing to sneeze at, but I could barely stand at times, and it was FREEZING! I am so glad I brought a very warm coat with me, still refusing to wear long pants, my legs were numb within minutes. But at least the rest of me was warm – mostly.

The views were amazing, not that you wanted to spend much time admiring them. Because you would turn into an icicle. Whilst Jason and I head out to all the different viewpoints, Krys and David hide in the enclosed lookout – smart people.

We came, we saw, we took photos, we froze, and now its time for lunch, a late lunch, at the Irish pub. When we were there the other day Jason saw Guinness pie on the menu and it has been haunting him ever since.

We manage to get our order in just before the kitchen closed, order wine and beer and settle in for the afternoon. The wine seems to be flowing very well, the pie was amazing apparently, and the Guinness glass keeps refilling itself. You have to love a good Irish pub and I would highly recommend this one for great food and booze. Hobart | Irish Murphy’s Hobart (irishmurphys.com.au)

Somehow the conversation got onto shots, dear god are we teenagers??? Krys and David telling us about Cock Sucking Cowboys. Now, before you ask, this is the name of a particular shot , and it turns out that Irish Murphy’s has this on their menu. So of course, we had to try it. Shots are ordered and downed in suitable fashion, except for the birthday girl who demurely sipped hers 😊 ah well, its your birthday, you can get away with mature behaviour.

After a couple of hours we leave the comfort of Irish Murphy’s and do a little walking tour of Salamanca Square and the little laneways around it. Wouldn’t you know, we find another bar, and it feels necessary to visit it – Salamanca Whisky and Cocktail Bar, where the boys enjoy some whisky and Krys and I a few more glasses of wine!

Just a small night cap to round out the birthday. Even though it is only 530pm! We may drink shots like we are young, but we head home like we are not! Back at our accommodation by 600pm. IT WILL be an early night tonight. I hope we don’t have any new neighbours with high libidos – I need a sleep in!

Krys and David leave tomorrow – I think their livers will be very pleased to be heading home.

Jason and I are here until Thursday, another day and night.

The weather is changing, I think the rain has finally found us.

Scallop pies – 1

Oysters – 1 million

Guinness – lost count