The path of self discovery

After our failed attempt to conquer wineglass bay, we then departed for hobart.  This time we only had roughly 1.5 and 2 nights in hobart as we need to leave early on the 3rd morning to do a 500 km drives to strahan - the west point of the tasmania.

The drive from swansea to hobart was pleasant and reasonably short.  We then checked into our hotel, which was really lovely and clean.  The price is slightly more expensive than other accommodations but I think after some roughly nights it was nice to move back to a civilised and modern studio apartment.

This is the pic of the studio apartment we stayed in hobart, it is right next to the famous Salamanca Market, but unfortunately we didn't spend a Satursday there, so we didn't have the chance to visit the famous market.

Neat, clean, comfy room with simple kitchen facilities, good enough to make simple meals (with infra red cooktop). Oh also their internet is very cheap...I think it isn't supposed to be but their internet quota recording system is quite screwed up haha so I only ended up paying 50 cents for the two nights of internet.

We didn't have much time in Hobart, so not many pictures were taken while we were here.  There are several main attractions we would like to visit, but it would take up to at least 4-5 days if we want to visit them all. They are listed as follow:

1. Bruny island national park + eco-cruise - I really want to go to this national park, but again, no time, no chance.

2. Port Arthur - ch really wants to show me this place, perhaps it is because he has been there once and spent half a day there, so he highly recommended this place.  After visiting this place, I also highly recommend this place, some people might find it boring, but it is a place with a depressing history while the place is full of the peacefulness/tranquility, not to mention that the historical sites are so well maintained here.

3. Hobart Winery tours - probably will just take up to 4-5 hours to go around and taste every single one.

4. Mount Wellington - I really wanted to go to this place too and my colleague also highly recommended but...no time, next time!

5. Hobart itself - I think we could have spend 2-3 days in hobart itself and enjoying strolling along the streets and harbour, and visiting neighbouring surburbs. Again, no time this time, must do next time.

So where did I go at the end?  I spent half 2-3 hours going around hobart, and went to the fisherman's deck, salamanca market (night time and no shops) and the next day I went to port arthur and visited tasmanian devils and some hobart wineries on the way back.  We then had an early night, and left hobart around 5 am in the morning to continue our trips towards Strahan.

hobart附近的一個小酒莊，看起來像family owned，有點french style

domaine A - 跟Victoria的Domaine Chandon沒有關係，這家的酒有幾瓶不錯，但是價格高的驚人，我們一瓶都沒買。

這是Barilla Bay 的一家oyster farm, 在機場附近，若是從東邊走A3進hobart就會看到，他是靠右邊喔!

我們吃了一打，品質不錯，比hobart city的constitution dock賣的品質還好，但還是沒有st. helen的oyster甜美啊!!

我們是帶去winery吃的，吃完後進去品白酒，好吃的oyster呢，在吃的那煞會在口中嘗到海的味道，之後會有綿綿不斷的creamy

flavour in the mouth, 這時如果配杯好的香檳...天啊， it is definitely to die for!  大家如果有機會去hobart, 可以去這品嚐生蠔。

當晚我們就跑去Constitution Dock 買seafood回hotel食用，在那邊有好幾家並列的攤販，有買ready to eat and fresh seafood,

depending on your preference. 那邊也有2-3家看起來還不錯的餐廳，有一家生魚片店我們很想去品嚐一下，不過他太晚開門了，飢餓的我們等不到那麼晚。中間有一家很大的seafood restaurant，走進去感覺有點像food court 有各式各樣的seafood及其他搭配食品可以選購，然後餐廳內外都有桌子可以坐下來食用。如果天氣溫暖，能在這邊吃個seafood platter, 應該蠻爽的~ 不過價格也蠻"高檔"的哩。 我在這採買了oyster (again!! yeah), lobster(pre-cooked)還有一個salmon做的pate. Oyster我覺得ok，lobster我習慣吃現殺的，所以這種pre-cooked其實蠻讓人失望，但那salmon pate卻是好吃到極點，ch超愛，連隔天拿那當早餐他都很開心的把它吃光光。 可惜在melb都找不到類似產品，我想我以後應該會找recipe來自己做看看!

如上所述，隔天我們去參觀port arthur's. 距離hobart約96.4公里之遠。這就是tas的好處跟缺點吧，很空曠不擁擠，但想去哪都得開個1-2小時最少~ 實在是driving-intensive的state，不過當然也有不同的day tour and cruise tour可以參考，不過個個收費都有個標準，加上我們早就報名了Strahan's golden river cruise, 所以也沒有考慮其他的tour option.

Port Arthur is one of the oldest convict site in Australia, it is quite well-maintained and worth taking a look.  My colleague didn't visit this place when he visited Hobart, because the air hostess told him that it is a sad spot.  I totally disagree, although the history and the stories heard can be heartbreaking, this site is so peaceful and beautiful.  好像是個沉睡的美麗景點，等著每個人來他身上留下影蹤，不管怎樣的不公平/不講理/惡行/控制，也都會成為過去，成為歷史~ 這裡還有一個很shocking的故事就是199x年的massacre. 極力推薦大家去這裡走一遭，要不是我趕時間，我會購買他的radio tour然後自己慢慢繞一圈，他的entry ticket還有包一小段cruise呢(我們沒坐)，那豬頭ch一直想要去看tasmanian devil餵食，還跟我鬧了一頓脾氣，害我頭先半小時沒有好好欣賞到，不過後面還是繞完了一圈。 下面就是Port Arthur的照片。

This is a place called eaglehawk neck, it took me a while to figure out why.  It is because it is as thin as an eaglehawk neck, 兩邊都是水，可走的距離約30步吧，以前為了防止Convict逃出，所以在這裡設立了dog watch point.

從port arthur回hobart的路上順便停一下Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, 這家廣告打超大的，本來還以為會弄得很好，沒想到進去就幾隻devils，還有袋鼠鳥老鷹等動物可看，我們大概只停留了20分鐘就走人了。 在買票時，我順口問了park keeper(兼賣票員) Tasmanian devil到底是什麼種動物，因為看到照片長的很像老鼠，順口提了rat, 沒想到那員工超級offended，說才不是哩，是跟袋鼠同一家族，這誰看得出來啊!?

因為沒有很精采，所以懶得貼照片了，放一小段影片讓大家看看這跟袋鼠同家族的小動物到底是哪模樣。

Hobart的一天半之旅報告完畢! 下一集則是長途跋涉之Strahan&Golden River 1日半遊

補: Hobart旅遊感想，我會想要再回hobart一趟，想去Bruny national park 及搭乘cruise, 想去Mt. Wellington看日出，想去知名的Salamanca Market，然後想去附近的surburb逛逛(忘了提，ch有特地帶我去看richmond那有名的橋跟旁邊的綠地，我一看到就抿嘴一笑，我說"你忘記我是倫敦來的喔...倫敦古老建築物到處都是啊，連我家都有90年以上的歷史了)，不過大家還是可以去看下那橋啦....。至於海鮮呢，我倒覺得，除非願意付出比較高的價格，不然買不到活的海鮮哩(hobart也沒看到人家在賣)~但Oyster則是可以嚐嚐!