Week 524 · Hobart · Mount Wellington · Wineglass Bay
Tasmania —
Taylor Swift coming to town provided us the "opportunity" to leave Melbourne — accommodation pricing went up about 500% — so we went to Tasmania, a short flight away. We did a loop starting in Hobart over three days. This post covers the south: Hobart and the East Coast.
Tasmania was originally discovered/invaded by the Dutch — it was originally called "Van Diemen's Land" and the English soon took over and renamed it Tasmania after Abel Tasman. Tasmania was a main place that the English used for "transportation" (code for shipping prisoners from England) until the practice stopped in the late 1800s. Hobart is the largest city and it reminded us of a 1960s city — a very nice and well-preserved 1960s city. We spent some time in the old city of Battery Point and Salamanca Square, which were first built in the early 1800s. We drove up to Mount Wellington — we had almost skipped the drive and that would have been a mistake. Pretty amazing views of Hobart and the coastline.
On the return south, we focused on getting to the East Coast and the Freycinet National Park area. Found a good moderate hike from the Coles Bay side up to an overlook of Wineglass Bay on the Tasman Sea. The bright turquoise blue colours don't come through in the pictures.
"The bright turquoise blue colours don't come through in the pictures — and the pictures are already pretty good."
We didn't see any Tasmanian Devils (or Tassie Devils) — but they were well represented in adverts and logos. Next post covers the north: Cradle Mountain and Launceston.
To answer the question that we hear Americans are asking regarding Taylor's visit — where is the parking for 96,000 people? There is none — you have to take a train, tram, or walk.