Hobart Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 10th June 2018

Well, here we are in beautiful Hobart. We left behind a cold, but sunny Daylesford, with Autumn leaves drifting with the wind & covering everywhere with their beautiful colours. Hobart is also beautiful, but the leaves have long gone, although the days have been sunny, with only a little rain.

Somehow we achieved all we had to before setting off – Wes had suggested lunch at Boathouse on the Wednesday before we left, but we couldn’t quite fit that in.

On our way to the airport, we dropped Bilbo off at Eureka Kennels, where he had elderly Labradors on either side of him for company. They were making friends as we left. I had booked a car park space at the Long Term area & we were able to park & get a bus to the Qantas terminal very easily. The Qantas Club is undergoing refurbishment, so we enjoyed the Coles Cafeteria-like atmosphere, with everyone crowded together & making conversation. Our nephew, Shaun Anderson, was on duty & we were pleased to find him & say hello.

We picked up our car on arrival & drove in the fast falling darkness to Glebe, where we were staying at an AirBnb former grocer’s shop called Glebe Emporium. It is very well provisioned & we are quite comfortable, perched up high over Hobart with lovely views.

Wes had booked us into MONA on Friday & what an adventure that was. We walked down to the harbour & found our pier. While waiting we enjoyed looking at a wonderful Art Show with some excellent modern & imaginative pieces. The ferry trip was enjoyable & the 99 steps up to the entrance were easy to negotiate (easier than all the trips up inside belfries that I have dragged Wes on).

We loved our time at MONA & are only sorry it has taken us so long to get there. Wes had booked us in for a special exhibition in Pharos, called Unseen Seen and Weight of Darkness, by James Turrell. Only two people can have the experience at a time, which was quite thrilling! I loved it & found I could breathe through my nose & relax very easily (not something I am often able to do). Wes wasn’t as thrilled, but pleased we had tried it.

Karen enjoying the beautiful view from outside MONA

We caught the 3pm ferry back & headed straight to Mures Upper Deck for lunner (the meal you have when you have missed lunch & can’t wait until dinner). The oysters were sublime as usual & I tucked into & failed to finish a generous seafood laksa, while Wes enjoyed lamb fillets perfectly cooked & presented. One of our favourite wineries, Cofield, was well-represented, so we ordered a bottle of their very enjoyable sparkling shiraz, which was perfect with our meals.

Yesterday, we had breakfast at Ginger Brown, before I headed off to the Salamanca Markets & Wes drove to Richmond to visit the family graves. He headed off to Broadmarsh after that, while I wandered around Hobart & felt I had my bearings when I finally found Hadley’s Hotel!

In the afternoon, we headed back into Hobart to look at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, where Betsy McShane married Owen Maloney, probably by the well-known priest, Fr Therry, who was the first Parish Priest there. Later we visited St Mary’s Cathedral, where we had to wait for a society wedding party to vacate the steps before entering!

We then caught up with other McShane descendents at the New Sydney Hotel, which is an Irish pub & was very welcoming of us all. We walked in to find Irish fiddlers playing around a large open fire. After a couple of hours of meeting rellos, we headed home with fish & chips for dinner & the footy for entertainment.