An early rise with an early ride. Uber picked us up at 04:15 and straight to the airport for a trip across the Tasmanian Sea. Arrived at the airport and it was fleeces on for the first time since leaving London.

With a bus trip to Hobart and a small walk we arrived at our digs. We were blown away both by our room and the hospitality of our host Kevin. He let us put out luggage in the room early and made us breakfast ready for our day of exploration. Kevin has an infectious personality and was a civil engineer by trade who moved from China 20 years ago whilst working on a big local project. He has definitely found his calling with his warm, friendly manner and his bubbly sense of humour.

Time to explore. A walk into town and a trip to the tourist office made us quickly realise that basically you have two options in Hobart. You have very expensive tours or limited public transport with only a handful of free activities. We will do a mixture of both. 

Trip up the mountain

Unfortunately,  there are only two options to get up the mountain, hire a car or take a tour.  We chose the latter and went with a coach load of people who were on the Carnival Splendour, a ship we’d seen in Sydney days earlier.

When we set off you couldn’t see the top of Kunanyi (Mt Wellington) through the clouds.  Our driver, Dave from Manchester, explained how this could change in minutes and how Tasmania is famous for having all four seasons in a day.

Dave also gave everyone a practical buff to wear. These were similar to what the convicts wore when working outside. Dave explained they were for the cold but we reckoned they were so he could easily identify anyone running late and haul them back on the bus.

As we approached the top, the clouds were clearing.  With a small walk down to a view point we were lucky enough to get a break in the clouds and see the splendour of Tasmania rolled out in front of us like a landscape model with all the lush forestry and the tiny town some 3000ft below us.  The river Derwent meandering from the deep green hills, under the Tasman bridge and through the model town and out via the harbour to the ocean. 

Back in town we had a wander and found the perfect ice-cream spot. Docked in the harbour a little floating shack. I had pear & cinnamon mixed with cherry & raspberry whilst Sarah opted for the pear & cinnamon with lemon curd. Both were delicious.

After food shopping and the walk home it was time for dinner followed by a relaxing game of cards.