The Golden Princess arrived in Hobart this morning before we’d even left the cabin, so we missed our arrival, but when we went up to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast, we were quite happy to see it was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and pleasant, though a little windy. Captain D had told us that the winds were expected to increase considerably after noon (he was oh so right), but this morning was calmer. G, naturally, immediately noticed the snow cat and two red blade-less helicopters parked in the port between the Golden Princess and the Aurora Australius. G surmised it was a ship bound for Antarctica, and Googling it proved him right. Hobart is the launching point for a lot of the boats carrying supplies for Antarctica. We also saw stacks and stacks of timber, sorted by length and girth.
I promise you, Hobart (and Ushuaia, Argentina) will NOT be as close as I get!An expedition cruise to Antarctica still tops my bucket list.
We dawdled a little over breakfast, texting and checking in on things at home using Vodafone internet we were getting from shore. We really felt no time pressure; the ship doesn’t sail until 6am tomorrow morning and sunset is getting later each day. It was close to 9:30am when we finally walked off the ship. We dressed for our intended destination, the top of Mount Wellington, the 4000+ foot mountain overlooking the city of Hobart, but felt overdressed walking through town to get to the tourist information (TI) center.
An important point about Hobart: at least this Sunday morning, there were no tours for offer near the port terminal. This is quite different than what we’ve come to expect, but, now that I think about it, it was that way in Melbourne also. We were kindly pointed in the direction of the TI, which was a 10 or so minute walk from the ship. We arrived there to discover it was packed, and I waited in line at least 30 minutes to find a way to get to the top of Mount Wellington. It was hot in there, and I was re-thinking the wool hat and lightweight scarf I was wearing. We were told that the usual shuttles to the top of Mount Wellington were full, but then the clerk made a phone call and said that, if we could be ready in 30 minutes, we could get a ride with Paul’s Tassie Tours. We didn’t know then how lucky we were.
Paul showed up with his 11-passenger van right on time. He had already started a tour for two other passengers, Veronica and Jerry, but was coming by the TI on his way up to the top of Mount Wellington. We were joined by four other passengers and the van started the climb. Hobart is a pretty little town with Victorian architecture, and the spring blooming trees were beautiful. We were soon out of the city and on the heavily forested road to the top of the mountain. Paul said it had been dry in Hobart, and things did look a bit brown, but there was still a lot of greenery. On our way to the top of Mount Wellington we passed a couple of waterfalls and several runners and cyclists getting a workout by going to the top. That they are starting at nearly sea level makes this feat even more remarkable. G has done this sort of thing for years, and was quite impressed.
I wish I could recall exactly how long it took to reach the top, but I’m guessing it was 30-45 minutes, with our ears popping the entire way. Once we reached the summit, Paul dropped us off near a viewing center. He opened the van door and warned us about the wind, but nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered. It was so windy that, every time I lifted a foot to take a step, the wind nearly blew me over. I felt like Jim Cantore from TheWeather Channel reporting from a hurricane. After seeing the expansive views of the harbor and surrounding hills from the enclosed viewing center, we braved the wind to walk out to the end of two platforms via wooden walkways built over the large boulders at the top. Honestly, we had to keep a solid hold on the handrail to keep from being blown over.
The Tasman Bridge. Notice the spacing of the pillars on the right side. The Lake Illawarra still lies on the bottom between them. 
The Golden Princess in Hobart
The views made it all worthwhile though. It was mostly sunny though a bit hazy, and, from a visibility perspective it was a good day to do this. We could see the long expanse of the Tasman Bridge, which had been constructed in the 1960s to connect the two sides of Hobart. In January 1975, a bulk-ore carrying ship called the Lake Illawarra struck the bridge, collapsing two pillars and 400 feet of the bridge and killing seven of the ship’s crew and five occupants of cars that dropped into the river below. To this day, the uneven spacing of the pillars on one side of the bridge serve as a constant reminder of the accident.
We are well familiar with the beautiful rocky areas on top of tall mountains, but not with those sea views in the distance. 
These rocks reminded me of the American Southwest. 
G took things a bit further and went the to very tip top of the mountain, called The Pinnacle, which requires climbing on all fours over large rocks until he reached the highest one, holding onto a metal framework at the top to keep from blowing over. Because of course he did. ;-)
He scrsmbled up those rocks; that’s my guy. We climbed back into Paul’s van and made the drive back into Hobart. Four of the other passengers had bought tickets for the double decker red Hop On Hop Off bus but couldn’t even board it until 2pm (book it ahead of time!), so they left us at that point to do that. We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with Paul and his first two passengers Veronica and Jerry. They were on the way through the historic Coal Valley to a town called Richmond, and though we didn’t know a thing about it, it sounded fun. Paul has lived in Richmond most of this life, and filled us in on the area as we drove about 10-15 miles to his town. The terrain became beautifully hilly and we saw many agricultural fields and vineyards.
Paul suggested we stop to sample hard cider at Coal Valley Cider, and this place was right out of a storybook. I had just apple juice, but G got a sample of four different ciders- Berry, Mixed Berry, Black Currant and Apple- served on a board and we all sat down in a tasting shed that had been decoratedjust perfectly with rustic lanterns and wooden vases and tables and seats made from barrels.
A cider sampler boardWe continued on, then, to Richmond, where we had two hours to explore on our own after Paul had driven us around the small town and given us the lay of the land. Richmond is home to Australia’s oldest bridge, dating from 1823 and built using convict labor. It is still the longest arched stone bridge in Australia. Also in Richmond is St. John the Evangelist’s Church, built in 1859, the oldest Catholic Church in Australia.
The Richmond Bridge with the steeple of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the background. (I had to lie on the ground for this one.)
Now that I know the bird in Sydney was a Rainbow Lorakeet, can someone help me with this one? It looks like a chicken but it’s not like any we’ve ever seen. This was a holiday weekend in Hobart, and several families and tourists wandered the streets and browsed the many shops. It reminded us a great deal of some historic towns, like Waterville and Grand Rapids, along the Maumee River in Ohio. It was so peaceful and beautiful there, and I referred to it as the ‘anti-Rome’ and ‘anti-Athens’. It was much more our speed. We went to a tiny grocery store and bought potato chips (crisps here in Australia) for G and popcorn for me and duck food and walked on paths along the Coal River and fed the ducks, and then toured the Richmond Gaol and stopped into a lolly (candy) store that was just like an old time candy store with row of jars of every kind of candy imaginable, and ice cream too.
Our view as we walked along the Coal River. What a perfect day.
A blue tongue lizard sunning on the path. This one was about a foot long.
A blue tongue lizard sunning on the path. This one was about a foot long.
We all met up about 4pm and were driven back to the ship. It had been a totally unplanned but perfect day, and I strongly recommend anyone cruising to Hobart to contact Paul Stephenson of Paul’s Tassie Tours by emailing him at paulstephenson5@bigpond.com or call him using Vonage (For 2.2 cents per minute from the US! Get the app!!) at +6 0428 866 314. Remember the time difference before you call. A nicer guy doesn’t exist, and Paul has a comfortable new van and will customize a tour for you for any length of time and for up to 11 people.
We arrived back at the port about 4:45pm and rushed back on the ship, changed into clothes for dinner and then went to the Bernini Dining Room. We hadn’t been at dinner last night and didn’t want to miss being at our wonderful table again tonight (for fear we might lose it). We were starving. I had had just cereal and fruit and a few handfuls of popcorn all day. I hadn’t pre-ordered anything for dinner tonight, but was able to have a delicious smoked Tasmanian salmon starter, salad and then the vegetarian option made vegan for me, which was an assortment of vegetables. Oh, and sorbet for dessert. :-)
The entertainment tonight was a folkloric show with the Tasmanian Police Pipe Band and three Irish dancers. They were all fantastic and played a variety of Scottish songs and even Yankee Doodle (it occurred to me that I was in Australia listening to Yankee Doodle being played on bagpipes. Talk about international entertainment!), but, of course, finished up with Waltzing Matilda. The audience sang along and even G and I now know the chorus and the first verse (we’ve been practicing!). It had been a perfect day, start to finish.
But it had also been a busy and active day, start to finish. We were wiped out and immediately returned to the cabin. We have an alarm set for 5:30am to be up for sailaway from Hobart, but I’m not counting on it. It is 10:30am as I finish this post, and I suspect the snooze button will get a workout in the morning.
