We travelled to Hobart with our 8-year-old Kidsetter in tow. Hobart, capital of Australia’s island state of Tasmania, sits on the River Derwent. Staying on the harbour was a perfect location to be at the heart of the city’s identity. Although Tasmania has a breadth of industries supporting the local economy, shipping remains significant to Tasmania’s economy.
Hobart is an Antarctic gateway city, with geographical proximity to East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean and is the home port for the Antartic activities of Australia and France. The port loads around 2,000 tonnes of Antarctic cargo a year for the Australian research vessel Aurora Auslralis.
Naturally being close to the water there are fish n’ chip eateries abound. We made a beeline for Mure’s as it has a gorgeous outside area to sit and enjoy observing the flurry of surrounding ship activity. Little did we realise we’d be outnumbered by dozens of friendly seagulls all determined to munch on our food. Thankfully Mure’s are very well accustomed to this and have placed water spray bottles on each of the tables to give a spray here and there when required to deter the them. You can imagine how much fun an eight-year-old Kidsetter had with this. He was doing such a great job of preventing the seagulls from stealing our food that guests from other tables recruited him to do the same for them.
We enjoyed roaming the streets of Hobart including the infamous Salamanca Market. Located on Hobart’s picturesque waterfront, Salamanca Market is one of Australia’s largest and most vibrant outdoor markets. The markets showcase arts, crafts, jewellery, fresh food and produce, collectables and homewares.
Whilst at Salamanca Place we stumbled on ‘The Faerie Shop’ which was tucked away in an alley. The shop is reached by walking through a beautifully decorated tunnel covered with fairy motifs. The tunnel opens into a shop filled with delightful magical items. Even our 8-year-old Kidsetter whom doesn’t believe in such things anymore was intrigued by the imaginative display of enchantment. Well worth a visit even if you’re not travelling with your Kidsetters.
Next we visited Nutpatch – a specialty chocolate shop located opposite to Parliament Gardens. Unbeknownst to us, the head chocolatier named Giovanni is a former schoolteacher and as the shop wasn’t busy, Giovanni decided to teach our Kidsetter about the chocolate making process. Of course, we managed to sample some delicious chocolates.
We came across a tourist attraction that our Kidsetter was desperate to do. A trike ride around the streets of Hobart. As much as I’m not into motorcycles, our Kidsetter is ! Our host named David was hilarious. We enjoyed the ride very much (admittedly I’m just thankful we made it off the thing in one piece), however we did not expect David to be a Comedian as well !
Wandering the streets of Hobart, we discovered a delightful patisserie named ‘Daci & Daci Bakers’ in Murray Street. We ordered a coffee and a cake to sit down and immerse ourselves in the atmosphere. It’s quite a cosy set up and felt like we were imposing on another couple’s space. Luckily for us they were very talkative, and we had a lovely conversation which only added to the beautiful ambiance.
Alas, it was time to head home and leave this beautiful town until next time.
