Sunday 8th

Eventually took off from Sydney and landed in Hobart 30 minutes late. Smooth uneventful flight of about an hour and a half. Very quickly off and straight through without any formalities. Baggage came through very quickly. As it was late by now we decided not to bother with the transfer bus and took a taxi – no waiting and straight to hotel. Taxi driver was young southeast Asian – Vietnamese? Very nice. Took a phone call during the drive and then explained to us that it had been his girlfriend telling him that someone had just driven into his car parked outside his house. The driver was being taken to hospital. As we passed an ambulance in town he said he wondered if that was for the offending driver.

Checked in very quickly. By now it was 10.30. Dumped our luggage in our room (in fact a suite with kitchen and lounge) and went down to the bar for a quick beer to refresh ourselves. We were the only people there despite the fact that the car park seemed absolutely full. Straight to bed. Took a nightcap from the bar. Had this with some biscuits as Anne was now feeling able to eat a little and we’d had hardly anything during the day. A king size bed – really comfortable.  Slept very soundly.

Monday 9th

Woke around 8am. Went out around 9.45am. Took us 30 mins to walk down to Avis depot. Realised that today is a holiday (Labour Day) and not very much was open. The road we were on had lots of car fronts, etc and a couple of cafes but not much else. Picked up our car – an old model X-trail. Drove a few yards into the shopping area and stopped for a coffee. Then drove down to the waterfront at Salamanca Square. Walked up to Battery Point and around the area. Headed towards Elizabeth Pier and as we were opposite the Parliament Building we noticed a cruise about to depart so we got on and had an interesting hour's tour around the harbour/bay. Learnt lots of things about the history of Hobart, the growth and decline of industry and the old buildings.

When we got off we had lunch in a harbourside restaurant and then walked back to the car. In the morning it had been overcast and the top of Mt Wellington had been covered in cloud. The Captain of the boat had predicted that it would clear and that the afternoon would be nice. As this seemed to be happening we decided to return to the hotel to pick up some coats and then go to Mt Wellington.

On the way back out we decided to look for an ATM. On the spur of the moment we went to the road parallel to our one to avoid the one-way system, and found that we were in an area full of restaurants. Having stopped for an ATM we walked up and down and looked at all the restaurants and picked FISH as the place to go.

The drive up to Mt Wellington (1270m) was long and full of twists and turns but well worth it. It was fairly cold and windy at the top but not too bad and the views are certainly extremely impressive. You can see all of Hobart laid out beneath you and the distant views were only limited by the slight haze. Were asked to take photo of two ladies who we chatted to briefly.

As we drove up and back we noticed a nasty noise from the car. Seems to be speed related rather than engine related. Not desperate but will be very annoying over the next couple of weeks. Probably not surprising as the x-trail is an old model with 67,000k on the clock. Decided to go back to Avis in the morning.

Returned to hotel, managing a perfect Pottinger on the way down the mountain. Downloaded photos and changed to go out by which time it was nearly 7pm. Went down to FISH349. Shortly after we’d ordered the two ladies who we’d spoken to on Mt Wellington came and sat at the next table. They recognised us as they walked in and said hello again. Excellent meal, even though they all add 15% to the menu price on a public holiday – but it would be the same at any restaurant and we have a vague memory of this happening before. We’ll probably return there when we come back.

Back to hotel and a quick drink in the bar before typing up diary and going to bed.