Yellow Fish cruises: Day 84: Hobart, Tasmania

We had the best day today in Hobart. Actually, we really didn’t spend much of the day in the city of Hobart, but the Ruby Princess was docked there. And, to be honest, it’s 9:30pm as I start this post, but we move clocks ahead an hour tonight, so it’s really 10:30pm, and I am sitting in the laundry room where I’ve just moved a huge load of laundry from a washer to a dryer, so this part of my evening isn’t anything too special, but the rest of the day more than made up for it.

I mentioned last night that we had booked an excursion for our port stop in Hobart just yesterday. We were keeping an eye on the weather because we know from personal experience that when it’s cold and wet in Hobart, it’s a miserable time. But today’s weather was shaping up to be spectacular, so we booked a 7-hour tour through a company called Cruise Ship Excursions Tours. We chose this particular tour because it did the one thing G most wanted to do (go to the summit of Mount Wellington), the one thing I most wanted to do (spend a couple of hours in historic Richmond), and the one thing we both wanted to do (Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary). All of our transportation and our entry to Bonorong was included for just under US $70pp. Sold!

We kept breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room to an hour and returned to the cabin to pack for the day (and we both took jackets, hats and gloves because we remember freezing on top of Mount Wellington two years ago). We met our group just outside the terminal at a sign post that said Meeting Place at 9am, and walked 5-7 minutes to the small bus that was being used for our tour. It was the kind that could seat around 18 people and we only had ten so we had plenty of room to spread out and the bus had huge windows which were great for viewing. Our driver, Keith, was also our guide, and he gave us a quick rundown of our day: Mount Wellington first, then Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, then some time in Richmond.

The route to Mount Wellington starts out through the city of Hobart, before it begins to climb on a twisty road. There are still homes toward the base of the mountain, and lots of trees, but the landscape becoms increasingly rocky and shrubby closer to the summit.

We could not have asked for a better weather day. On our only other visit to Mount Wellington, we faced winds upwards of 80mph and could only stay upright by holding onto the handrails along the viewing platforms and walkways. Today we didn’t even need a jacket, and the views were endless. However, with two cruise ships in port today (Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was with us), the summit of Mount Wellington was a popular place to be.

Mount Wellington looms 4170 feet above Hobart.

kunanyi is the palawa kani (Aboriginal) name for the mountain.

Panorama view from the summit looking toward the River Derwent

The Ruby Princess and Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth at the Port of Hobart

Hobart’s deepwater harbor on the River Derwent is well protected from the Tasman Sea by Storm Bay

Observation center and walkways on top of Mount Wellington

Panorama view toward Storm Bay

I love the rock formations at the top as much as the expansive views

Storm Bay and the Tasman Sea

After about a half hour we left Mount Wellington and drove back down and through Hobart. Hobart is the capital of the state of Tasmania, one of six states (and two mainland territories) in Australia, and is home to just over 200,000 people, but it seems larger and more sprawling than that number would indicate. We drove for nearly 45 minutes to get to Bonorong.

I love how a cake is called a Christmas “pudding”.

Taken from the bus.

Bonorong was the third Wildlife Sanctuary we’ve visited in Australia. The first was Featherdale Wildlife Park outside of Sydney in 2006, and then Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. Bonorong was more rural and rustic. Uneven dirt paths criss-crossed a small park, and there was a fair bit of walking up and down hills. I mention this because I don’t think it’s a good option for anyone with mobility difficulties.

There were plenty of free range kangaroos and even more free “roo food” to feed them, so G was in heaven. There were a few native Australian snakes that can kill you in a heartbeat (no pun intended), but I refuse to acknowledge their existence, so I have no photos of them. I loved the colorful native birds, especially the Rainbow Lorakeets and Eastern Rosellas. And there were a few koalas (we even heard the same loud mating sound from a male that we’d heard at Lone Pine) and wombats, but what we really wanted to see were the Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania. And we did.

An Eastern Rosella

This joey was trying to climb back in mama’s pouch, and she was having none of it, gently pushing him away with her powerful hind legs.

So sweet. Check out the single toe and nail common to all kangaroos.

The reason we went to Bonorong Sanctuary: to see a Tasmanian Devil in Tasmania.

This guy was pretty mellow, because he was in an enclosure by himself. We’ve seen them fight and hiss at other sanctuaries where they were kept together. There’s a reason they have the reputation they do!

Emus

That face...and talk about a bad hair day!

Talk about docile...a koala doing what they do best.

I stayed much cleaner than when I actually held one!

An echidna

We had seen one in the wild on a hike by Port Arthur two years ago.

An orphaned baby wombat

We only had a little over an hour at Bonorong, but that really was a good amount of time. If there had only been one cruise ship in port today, and with possibly another 30 minutes there, we could have covered it completely, but as it was we did a pretty good job. Luckily, our final stop in Richmond was only a short distance from the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Keith gave us the lay of the land once we arrived in Richmond, but G and I remembered it well from our visit two years ago. I loved browsing all the little shops that line the main street while G happily enjoyed a bag of potato chips he picked up in the same little grocery store we’d bought chips in before. The sun was hot by then, and he found a small park with lots of flowers and a waterfall and a bench in the shade. I eventually joined him there and happily ate an ice cream cone with a scoop of dairy free salted caramel ice cream.

We next walked down the short distance to the Richmond Bridge, the oldest bridge in Australia and the number one photo opportunity in Richmond. It was finished in 1825, and was built using convict labor. In fact, when convicts were first brought to Tasmania, they were jailed in Richmond until the penitentiary at Port Arthur was completed.

Beautiful steps built in along the Richmond Bridge

The Richmond Bridge, built by convict labor from 1823-1825.

It is the oldest bridge in Australia.

Marsh land along the Coal River, home to lots of wildlife

Mother and Father Goose (we think) and the family

The flowers are spectacular this time of year.

Huge hydrangeas

We sat in the shade on this bench in a park next to a waterfall and enjoyed the solitude

About 3:30pm we met at the bus and were back at the ship at 4pm. That gave us just enough time to get cleaned up to go to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers (the ship didn’t sail until 6pm, so we had great views from up there) and then to dinner. I had a special order tonight of coconut curry with veggies and garbanzo beans and it was delish.

Day 5 dinner menu, page 1

Day 5 dinner menu, page 2

Day 5 dessert menu

We were tired, but looking forward to tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment, a Carpenters tribute by vocalist Sharon Calabro. I didn’t realize how ubiquitous the music of the Carpenters was in the 1970s until I realized I knew nearly every word of every lyric of every song she sang. Most of the audience was definitely in the age range this remember that music.

It was still light when we left the Princess Theater. We’ve gotten into the habit of going up to Deck 15 for G to get ice cream on our way back to the cabin, and, although it was a little chilly outside by 8:30pm, we still had sunshine. Love this Southern Hemisphere cruising! While I was waiting for G to get his ice cream, a small group of teenagers on an obvious scavenger hunt came bounding up looking for a photo with a cook (Mr. Pizza gladly cooperated), and a photo of them shaking someone’s hand (I helped out with that one). It was fun to see them enjoying themselves so much.

Back at the cabin, I wasted no time gathering up all the clothes we had worn today when the kangaroos rubbed against us (and us them) and added a few of the tops I wear to dinner and filled a washer to the top. There were three of us still in the laundry room when I finished up at 11:15pm the new time. It’s now after midnight, and I’m ready to call it a (fantastic) day.