12 Tasmania: Hobart Free & Easy

"Do one thing every day that scares you..." - Eleanor Roosevelt

(Experiencing the Subantartic climate)

Day 12: 31 August 23 (Thursday)
Hobart Free and Easy
Hotel: Waterfront Lodge Motel, Lutana

Today we celebrated Malaysian Independence Day free and easy in Hobart.

 

(Celebrating Hari Merdeka  in Tasmania)

We drove to town center and parked at Argyle Street Parking. From the car park we walked a short distance to MONA Ferry Terminal to take the Hop-on Hop-off Red Decker bus tour.

(Many tours to choose from)

(A 90-minutes Red Bus tour)

The bus tour enabled us to see the best of the capital city at our leisure. The bus stops at 20 of Hobart's top attractions. Although we were able to board and disembark and get around as we wish, we chose to stay on the bus throughout the 90 minutes journey. The sightseeing loop includes stops at historic Battery Point, Salamanca Place, St. George's Church, the Cascade Brewery and others. We had passed these places before while driving around town. 

(Spending time at Hobart Water Front)

(One of the finest deepwater ports in the world)

(Boat tours and water sports)

After the sightseeing tour, we had Nasi Lemak and Nasi Goreng for lunch at Sawak cafè on Collins Street. The Sarawakian restaurant serves some of the best Asian food in town.

(Quite busy during lunch hour)

(Sawak cafe Malaysian dishes)

(Tasty Nasi Lemak and Nasi Goreng)

Back at the hotel we performed our prayers then drove to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. We took a relaxing leisure walk exploring the 14 hectares cool climate gardens, with a number of unique collections including Australia’s only Subantarctic Plant House.

(A self-guided tour in the garden)

(Celebrating our 44th anniversary)

(The Subantarctic Plant House)

(Roaming around the garden)

(Beautiful Japanese garden)

From the botanical garden, we drove across Derwent River on the Tasman Bridge to Rosny Hill Lookout Point. The hill sits on its own peninsular in Kangaroo Bay. We had a sweeping view of Derwent River, the Tasman Bridge and Hobart city. Rosny Hill Lookout is the easiest place to see the southern lights in Tasmania. The only downside of this location is that the bright lights of Hobart city can easily drown out the light of the weaker auroras.

(Rosny Hill Lookout Point)

(Tasman Bridge viewed from the summit)

As we were not very hungry, tonight dinner was a shared bowl of instant mee in the hotel room.

👈👈13 Tasmania: Hobart - Melbourne

11 Tasmania: Devonport -Hobart 👉👉

11 Tasmania: Devonport - Hobart

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

(Feeding the skippies at Bonorong)

Day 11: 30 August 23 (Wednesday)
Route: Devonport - Sheffield - Bonorong - Lutana
Distance: 265 km
Hotel: Waterfront Lodge Motel, Lutana

We had egg sandwiches for breakfast. This morning we checked out early as it was going to be a long journey to Hobart. We will be making a few stops on the way.

(Beautiful country road with Cradle Mt in the background)

Our first stop was at Sheffield, the Town of Murals located about 26 km from Devonport. Sheffield has rightly earned the reputation as Tasmania's Outdoor Art Gallery. Murals adorn the buildings on the main streets in town and have spread into the neighbouring areas. Over 200 murals are now available to view. The murals in town tell the history of the area; people that have lived here, events that have happened and some of the natural attractions in the municipality.

(Sheffield outdoor Art Gallery)

(A peaceful quaint town)

(Collections of Arts on display)

(Some murals on the walls of Sheffield buildings)

(Each painting tells its own story)

After our self guided mural tour we visited a local store and bought some souvenirs. Later we went to the Post Office and paid our long outstanding traffic summons.

(The town General Store and the Post Office)

 
From Sheffield we drove on Highway 01 bypassing the towns of Campbell and Oatlands. We made a brief comfort stop at Saint Peter Pass before we headed to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. We had light lunch at Bonorong cafè before we started our self tour of the sanctuary.

(Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary)

(Tasmania's largest 24-hour wildlife rescue)

(The statue of three little Tassie Devils)

(All about the Tasmanian Devils)

(Tasmania is where Tassie Devils are found in the wild)

(Adult Tassie Devils can be as big as a dog)

Bonorong is home to a rescue service, a wildlife hospital and a seabird rehabilitation program among other efforts like breeding programs for endangered species.

(Emus live only in Australia)

(The tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tail quoll)

(The short-beaked echidna covered with spines)

(The laughing kookaburra is the kingfisher subfamily)

There were not many animals so we could get close to what were there, especially to the elusive Tasmanian Devils and the kangaroos. There was a big open kangaroo pen where we can hand feed them, which was probably the highlight of the tour.

(Visitors are given a complimentary bag of food)

(The land was originally owned by the Mumirimina people)

(Tame Kangaroos eating out of our hands)

From Bonorong we drove direct to Waterfront Lodge Motel located in Lutana, our lodging for the night. As we were too lazy to go out, we had a light dinner in the hotel room.

(Waterfront Lodge Motel)

👈👈12 Tasmania: Hobart Free and Easy

10 Tasmania: Stanley - Devonport 👉👉

10 Tasmania: Stanley - Devonport

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world..." - Mahatma Gandhi

(The Spirit of Tasmania in the background) 

Day 10: 29 August 23 (Tuesday)
Route: Stanley - Devonport
Distance: 130 km
Hotel: Formby Hotel, Devonport

It was raining slightly in the morning and the weather was chilly. We had toast and eggs for breakfast.

 

(Checking out of Stanley Seaview Inn)

Before leaving Stanley for Devonport, we visited the base of the Nut. It used to be called 'Circular Head' and it wasn't until the 1850s that it started to be called the Nut. Hikers can access the top of the Nut via a steep foot track from the town of ​​Stanley, or by riding the chairlift. Unfortunately the chairlift was not operational during winter.

(The chairlifts traverses a distance of 250 meters)

(The Nut has several viewing flatforms at the summit)

(It takes approximately an hour to hike to the summit)

From Stanley we drove direct to Devonport about 130 km away bypassing the towns of Wynyard and Burnie. Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay.

(Route scenes from Burnie to Devonport)

When we arrived in Devonport we detoured to visit the Devonport Don River Railway. The railway is operated by members and volunteers and was established at Don River in 1973 while the trains commenced operating in 1976. The train trip travels on the eastern bank of the the Don River to the junction in Coles Beach. There are museum and workshop on site. The heritage locomotives and carriages are on display throughout the grounds.

 

(A volunteer-run vintage railway and museum)

( It runs a passenger train from Don to Coles Beach)

(The railway is open from Saturday to Thursday)

(Carriage hauled by either steam or vintage diesel locomotive)

(Wondering among the old trains at the Wreck Yard)

Our next stop was Mersey Bluff Lighthouse. The lighthouse stands on top of the bluff to the western side of the mouth of the Mersey River in north of the Port of Devonport. The lighthouse has red vertical stripes and can be seen clearly from the sea. It is unusual for an Australian lighthouse to have red vertical stripes as it’s day mark.

(Red and white striped lighthouse)

(The lighthouse is overlooking the Bass Strait)

(A lookout point at Mersey Bluff)

(Seagulls at Mersey Bluff)

Near the lighthouse is Tiagarra, one of the oldest Aboriginal operated Museum and Keeping Places in Australia. The museum tells stories of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and their culture, past to present. It was temporarily closed.

(The road to the rocky coastal promontory)

(Campervan and RV Park)

(Officially opened 40 years ago)

(Exhibitions of rock engravings and Aboriginal artifacts)

We later visited the Devonport Ferry Terminal and took some photo shots of the Spirit of Tasmania from the Victoria Parade. Our lodging for tonight was at Formby Hotel Devonport, located along the Mersey River across the Devonport Ferry Terminal.

(The Spirit of Tasmania viewed from Victoria Parade)

(The Ferry Terminal is on the other side of the river)

(On days of single sailings, the voyage takes 11 hours)

(The ferry from mainland Australia to Tasmania)

As most of the restaurants were closed and would only be opened from 5.30 pm and required prior reservation, we had our early dinner of Lamb Wrap at Baba's Kebab Restaurant not far from our hotel.

(Baba's Kebab franchise in Devonport)

👈👈11 Tasmania: Devonport -Hobart

09 Tasmania: Strahan - Stanley 👉👉