Australia, Oceania


Hobart: Graceful Nature and History

Australia Oceania

Tasmania is one of the six territories or regions in Australia, and it is an island located approximately 240 km south east of the main Australian continent. You can travel there by ferry, which takes about 11 hours and is the chosen option by travelers looking for a special experience. You can also fly there, which we did since we had a tight holiday plan for this particular trip. We arrived into Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. A lovely little airport gave us a warm welcome where we happened to stumble upon a Chilean lady living in Tasmania with her husband. They were kind enough to give us a ride into the city and right up to the house where we were couch surfing, which happened to be in their neighborhood, lucky us!

Some of the little surprises walking around Hobart. Nice and simple street art.
The most famous fish and chip shops are actually floating on the water.

We took a quick nap to get over our super early flight and then headed to town. We walked around the center and the harbor as much as we could, and we quickly fell in love with the simplicity of this southern Chile-looking town. There are a few fish and chips shops where you can eat really delicious fish for a very good price. We noticed a few galleries and museums as well, most of them dedicated to nature and species in Tasmania.

This first day, we picked up the car we rented for our Tasmania adventure, and since the car we had booked had not been returned in time, we got upgraded to an amazing SUV for the same price, luck had struck again! That same afternoon we headed up Mount Wellington, which is right next to Hobart at about 15 km and is an absolute must! Getting there took only about 15 minutes with the car. Once you reach the view point up on the top, you can park the car and take one of the many beautiful walks to explore the rest of this mountain and enjoy the breath-taking views of the town. Up doing one of the walks, we had the chance to see the first of many wallabies we would see the following days. This was something else that caught our attention right away, Tasmania has a great amount of wild life and it is easy to spot almost everywhere you go outside the towns. Up in mount Wellington we did not even realize how fast time went by, and our first day in Tasmania had gone incredibly fast and incredibly well.

Us on top of Mount Wellington. Stunning view of the city.

The following days we spent in Hobart had more surprises with them. We spent almost a whole day walking around the huge MONA (Museum of old and new art). This museum is probably one of the most visited ones in Australia since it has a great mixture of what might be the most bizarre works of arts we have seen together with the most creative and modern ones. This museum can be reached by bus or by ferry, and it is located about 12 km from the city. It is definitely not easy to get around the art in this museum, as it is not your typical museum, however it is still worth a visit if you appreciate arts in any of its forms.

Sara enjoying the colors of the Richmond bridge.
Sara enjoying the colors of the Richmond bridge.

If you find yourself in Hobart and you don’t feel like museums or fish and chips, our suggestion would be to head up to Mount Wellington first. If you have already done that but still want to see more nature and beautiful scenery, our tip is for you to visit the neighboring village of Richmond. This lovely country village is one of the oldest Australian colonies, and some of its architecture is still intact. You would be surprised to see that the main bridge in Richmond is the oldest one in Australia, and it is still being used everyday. Richmond is the perfect place for some peace and quiet. It is ideal for amateur photographers like myself, and it is also like a candy store for history lovers. It is located only 25 km away from Hobart and you can easily make an afternoon of it.

Richmond and its stunning combination of architecture and nature. The color mix is beautiful.

When we left Hobart for our trip around the island, our first stop was Port Arthur, only one hour and a half of driving at roughly 90 km from Hobart. It is typically a place people go to visit when in they are in Hobart, since there are many tours to this important Tasmanian historic site. Port Arthur is one of those places you need to take your time with, not because it is super big, but because there is quite a lot to see and understand in it. It used to be a convict settlement when the British empire first stepped onto Tasmania. When you visit Port Arthur, you are in for quite an experience. You can relive the life of an actual Port Arthur convict and find out why he got sent there in the first place. You are free to explore the ruins of the church or walk your way into the old cells, where you can almost feel what it was like to have been there in the past. Some of the pictures speak for themselves.

Main jail building at Port Arthur.
Port Arthur from above.

We spent a total of three days in this lovely little town called Hobart and around, and we absolutely loved every minute there. The Hobart area should get more attention when it comes to travel destinations in Australia. It is a region with an amazing history and beautiful nature. We would really like to come back some day and explore other areas around this magic town. We still would like to see some of its night life and more of the galleries that we liked so much. I sincerely hope you guys enjoy these pictures and find in them enough inspiration to visit Hobart!

Us enjoying this beautiful day and this beautiful place around us.