4^th May 2022 – Hobart Day 5 – RAIN

The rain started last night and it has not stopped. It is cold, wet, and miserable. I decide not to go out for a walk this morning.

Krys and David made the wise decision to decamp early and have moved to an earlier flight. I think they were worried that if they met up with us again, they may not make it out of Hobart 😊 seriously though what a fabulous time we had. Thanks again for including us!

The weather being less than welcoming we decide it is the perfect day to get on the Red Decker bus. It is one of the hop-on / hop-off tours that you see everywhere. A big double decker buss that tours the city and points out all the interesting stuff. Needless to say, we did not sit up stairs, though some people opted to and were provided with a lovely poncho!

From the warm, comfortable indoor seat we had selected we spent the next 90 minutes being driven around Hobart, and hearing interesting facts. Did you know Hobart had the first casino in Australia. Must be tied back to the convicts 😛

Many of the parts of the tour I had already seen when I had been out on my walks, but it was nice to get some context. If you are in Hobart do this tour, it will help give you an idea of the layout of the town. Also, the driver comes with a full set of dad jokes to brighten up your day.

We finish our tour and it is getting close to lunch time, Jason is strongly hinting for another Guinness Pie but I think we should do a little more sightseeing. Kimmy had Richmond on the recommended list, the gaol and the oldest operating bridge in Australia. Its not a long way from Hobart and we can stop at a vineyard for lunch on the way.

We kick start our trusty Toyota, who has sat unmoved for the last four days, and head out to Puddleduck Vineyard. It sounds super cute, and they have a restaurant that is open. Only 15 minutes out of Hobart, very close to Frogmore Creek, we arrive at Puddleduck. Wineries are wising up to their audience and most of them have beer on the menu for those heathens that do not like wine.

I opt for the wine tasting and Jason goes for a local beer. He is very happy with the range of Tasmanian craft beers and is thoroughly enjoying working his way through the selection. He has been dedicated to the cause; I am impressed. Puddleduck is a very small, boutique vineyard and none of their wine is available bottle stores. Unfortunately for me, most of my normal go to wines have already sold out for the year! Damn it. But, not one to quit, I purchase a lovely bottle of Puddleduck Pinot Noir 2019. Highly recommend.

Richmond is another 15 minutes down the road, and we head straight to the gaol (do not pass go and do not collect 200$). According to the pamphlet this is the oldest intact gaol in Australia. Building of the gaol started in 1825 and was around before the penal colony at Port Arthur in 1833.

The gaol was originally 19sqm and became overcrowded very quickly. Both male and female inmates were held in the gaol.

Convicts incarcerated here were used for construction around Richmond, including the Richmond Bridge. We do a self-guided tour around the gaol, and it must have been fucking miserable. It is small, and cold, and the bugs and rats must have been EVERYWHERE! Initially the gaoler’s living conditions were not much better than the prisoners, but this improved slightly when they built the gaoler’s residence in 1833.

After that depressing little tour we go to find the bridge, walking through Richmond (tiny little place that it is) the bridge is very easy to find. It was completed in 1825, taking two years to build. It is a really cute, stone arch bridge that spans the Coal River. Now here is some information for you:

It consists of four main arches, of span 4.3, 8.1, 8.3, 8.5, 8.3 and 4.1 metres (14.1, 26.6, 27.2, 27.9, 27.2, and 13.5 ft) respectively, which spring from sloping fins with angular leading edges aligned with the flow of to the lake

Wow, thanks Wikipedia! Mind! BLOWN!

Since we have come all this way, we make sure we drive over the bridge and back again, yep, I can confirm it is in fact still operational.

Well, that was Richmond, we stop in at the Gingerbread Shop, stockpile on some miniature gingerbread biscuits, and start our trip back to Hobart. With a little side track to Every Man and His Dog vineyard.

You can drive past a place with that kind of name.  We nip inside for a tasting in between the rain – which had decided to make a comeback. Despite the name there was not any dogs to be patted. Apparently, they have a Labrador, Archie, who has several bottles of wine named after him, but he old and has now retired from public appearances. They are looking to get a new front of house dog, but so far have not had much luck.

I have to settle for sampling the wine and investing in the local economy once again. I buy a nice bottle of Every Woman & Her Dog Sauvignon Blanc. Not bad.

Back to Hobart, the rain is settling in for the long haul. There are threats of flooding and deluge, joy! Oh well what can you do. We wander around Hobart a little, grab some burgers for dinner and settle in for our last night here. Tomorrow we head to Geeveston, down the Huon River, our last stop before we head home. We are hoping that the weather is not too bad so we can get in a couple of hikes.

Thanks Hobart for a lovely time

Scallop pies – 1 (I really thought there would be more)

Oysters – 1 million

Guinness – lost count

5^th May 2022 – Hobart Day 5 – RAIN

We wake up to beautiful blue skies and a stunning day! The sun is shining and the temperatures are set to hit the low 20s. That is bullshit, it is raining, miserable, and cold. It’s official, we can’t outrun the weather any longer. The shit weather has found us and is settled in.

We pack up the car and start the drive to Hartz Mountains National Park. There are lots of walks you can do there. We are hoping that we will hit a clear patch and be able to do Hartz Pass, it is only 7km with a climb of 180 meters, compared to all our other hikes so far, literally a stroll. Unfortunately when we arrive at the top of Hartz Mountain the cloud is hovering, it is cold and the rain is threatening, not the kind of weather you want to be caught hiking in the mountains.

We make a very sensible decision to NOT go do the hike, my god, when did we become sensible people.

Instead we head back down the mountain a little and do a 10 minute walk to Arve Falls. Very pretty but not what we were hoping for. No critters, no climb, not much of a view. DAMN YOU WEATHER.

It is only 1130am, we have time before we can check into our accommodation and Tahune Adventures is only another 25 minutes further along, so we decide that we can have some fun there, even if it is raining.

Tahune Adventures has an airwalk, swinging bridges, hang gliding, rafting, trails, all sorts of stuff. We look at the map and decide we want to do the airwalk and the swinging bridges.

The AirWalk is an elevated walkway 30 metres above the ground and a stomach churning cantilever section sitting at a height of 50 metres above the Huon River. The views of the Huon and Picton river is lovely. We cannot see much beyond that, because of the weather. But the rain adds to the ambiance, making everything quiet and still. It is also a Thursday, with no school holidays and we have the place pretty much to ourselves.

We put on our warmest jackets, buy our tickets, and start the walk.

First we do the Huon Pine walk, just a little loop that teaches you all about the native trees and what they were used for. Huon Pine is great for boats, as it is resistant to damp and mould. Very handy!

To reach the start of the airwalk we climb up 104 steps and then you are on this massive walkway, up in the tops of the trees. There was a fire in this area a few years previously and much of the flora is still recovering, the flames of this fire reached 55 metres. We can see the scorch marks from the walkway which puts it all into perspective.

The cantilever viewing platform makes my stomach drop. It is 50 meters high and because of the design the whole structure seems to wobble with every step you take. Needless to say that I held onto the handles quite firmly and did not stay out on the platform for long. Just long enough to take a photo of us (me looking less than happy 😊).

The rain finds us again, so we move on and finish off the swing bridge walk. All in all it was a lovely experience, if the weather was nicer I think we would have taken longer and spent more time reading the informative posts and signs. Instead, we brace ourselves and truck on back to the information centre.

It is lunchtime now, and we have a lovely packed picnic to devour. The information centre is also a restaurant, but we are a bit cheeky, buy a couple of drinks (beer and wine obviously) sit outside, under cover, and eat our sandwiches. Whilst the rain pours down all around us. They have an outdoor heater so its quite a lovely setting.

With lunch all finished we need to get provisions for dinner and head to our accommodation in Geeveston. There is a little “town centre” with a supermarket and a butcher. Perfect. Lamb chops and broccoli, we have a good selection of cheese, wine, and beer so if the weather does keep this up we will not die of hunger or thirst.

Our accommodation is only 5 minutes out of town and it is fucking GORGEOUS. It is a little cottage set on the farm where the hosts live and take care of a vast array of rescue animals. Donkeys, sheep, miniature horse, ducks, geese, peacocks, dogs, chickens, and a goat. There is even rumoured to be platypus hopefully we will find them.

Our hosts meet us at the gate and show us around. There is freshly baked bread, eggs and honey from their farm, and rocky road. I don’t think I want to leave this place. They even have a selection of wine you can buy if you are crap at planning and didn’t bring enough

The cottage has everything you need including a fireplace. Jason is very, very happy about this.

We unpack the car and go on a platypus hunt! Walking along the stream looking for any indication of one of the weirdest creatures on the planet. But nothing ☹ Donkey and Trevor, the two donkeys, join us for the walk – in the hope of treats. Even Sparkles the sheep pops by for a head scratch. We also meet the two dogs who are very friendly.

It is dark, cold, and wet. We retire into the cottage, get the fire roaring, put on a movie and do nothing for the rest of the night. This is the perfect little wind down for the end of our busy trip. I do hope the weather clears though. We really want to see more of this part of Tasmania before we leave. Tomorrow we are hoping to get to Hastings Caves, fingers are crossed.

If you are in Geeveston and you are looking for accommodation I cannot recommend this place enough. Kymmik Cottage -Luxury S/C Accommodation – Cottages for Rent in Geeveston, Tasmania, Australia – Airbnb

Night all!

Scallop pies – 1 (I really thought there would be more)

Oysters – 1 million

Guinness – lost count

Rain – Endless