Gotta love a spontaneous trip. We’ve been mm-ing and arr-ing about wether to make a weekend escape to Hobart as our post Anniversary getaway (because silly me booked jobs the weeks before and after our anniversary!) Airfares were cheaper than going to Melbourne at one stage, left it a little late and it sky rocketed so we scrapped the idea. Then just 2-3 weeks before our intended travel dates we got tempted again, caved in and book those tickets. No regrets during and after the trip because it was a great escape, a much needed holiday in the middle of busy times.

Friday night; I set my alarm for 3AM..so we could make it for our 6AM flight. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wake up THAT early for a wedding. The real struggle was getting to bed and falling asleep straight away.

Saturday; The both of us only managed a few hours of sleep, and sleeping during a 2 hour flight wasn’t that great (uncomfy seats!). We were wide awake the moment we stepped off the plane and was greeted by the chilly cool weather of Hobart at 8AM. Getting our hired car only took a few minutes and within 30minutes of arriving we were already in a neighbouring suburb of Hobart CBD, ready to start our day with a fulfilling breakfast!

The Pidgeon Hole.

Situated on the border of the CBD, Pidgeon Hole seems to be popular with the locals who drop by on a Sat morning just to get their coffee on the go (apparently their coffee is worth a try!.. sadly I’m no coffee drinker). It is a small space with a small communal table inside and out, all the furnishings had quite a homely feel to it, which made it all rather cozy. We were lucky to have just walked in at 8:30AM on a Sat morning and got a seat straight away, I had imagined with there being only so many cafes in Hobart, the good ones would be rather packed! So it turned out we had a fairly calm start to our trip.

Chai for me of course (quite a big mug of it too!)

Mocha for him to accompany his Croque Monsieur, which from the one bite I took tasted absolutely cheesey-delicious!

 

Soft baked eggs; Lemon, tallegio and parsley

The kind of baked eggs I’m used to having usually has a mixture of meats, vegetables and baked. This dish was a refreshing change, it looked and tasted so simple in a nice way. I loved the use of lemon in the dish which made it easier to eat, it was filling but not to the point where you feel like you’ve overeaten. As the name suggests, soft baked eggs… yup oozy yolks!

We didn’t get to spend much time in Battery Point this time round, I really love the historic setting in this tiny suburb. You’ll also find one of the best bakery cafes here too! (Jackman & McRoss)

The above building is my favourite in the whole Hobart CBD, perhaps its the pop of red and how I imagine buildings would look like in London or Paris.

If you’re in Hobart for the weekend, then Salamanca Markets is a must visit! I love the atmosphere of this market, perhaps because it is in a open space and the surroundings is just so nice (with a view of Mount Wellington at one end). Its a long walking from one end to the other of the market, stalls selling all kinds of stuff from clothing, gifts, fresh produce, old things etc.

This seed stall was oh so pretty! I wish I had a green thumb so I can grow flowers like these in our garden!

If it has my name on it – I’d buy it. Unlucky again.

My favourite plant shop! I wish I could’ve brought something home! How cute is the egg carton of succulents?!

It was still pretty early by the time we were done at Salamanca Markets, so we decided to take a drive to the country side.. to Huon Valley.

Willie Smiths is the first and largest organic cidery in Australia dating back to 1888. You could sample their ciders here or purchase some apple goodies such as schnapps. They also have an apple museum on site which just requires a gold coin donation to enter.

We picked up a bottle of cider to try later at night, when we lounged around watching DVDs provided in our rental apartment. 

What I love about Tassie is that, the towns aren’t very spread out… you could drive through a town in a few short minutes. We decided to continue driving along the route we came on and reached Franklin. This area is known for sailing, yachts and boats etc. There were crowds of people just taking part in a race.

Cute wooly butts spotted, so we had to stop for a photo

We turned back and I wanted to walk into an apple orchard! One that is easy for us to trespass into and take some photos. We drove around quite a bit until we came to an accessible apple orchard without apples.

It was still fairly early sooo we decide we’ll squeeze in another stop! One of the places I’ve been most excited to visit, finally after a dreadful attempt some Winters ago.

Hello Mt Wellington!

It was FREEZING COLD, and windy up there. Thank goodness we still had our luggage in the car so a quick change of clothes was needed (and I did not pack warm enough for this!)

“We’re on top of the world~!” shot

The views were breath taking, have not seen anything else like it.. where we could walk around and not observing from the top of a tower. Rocks everywhere which would’ve made a cool spot for photos of sorts.

The scenery is real, NOT a billboard behind me!

We only spent about an hour up there and it was not enough. Definitely would love to go back again, when its warmer! It was 3:30PM, way passed lunch time and our tummies were making a fuss at this point. A quick search on urbanspoon let us to this very cool hideout, where burgers are made. Down this alleyway, in what seemed more like a garage housed an American burger place called “The Standard”.

You’ll find a counter, which wasn’t manned and from there you’ll see the kitchen upstairs. Cowboy for him, Animal for me. Prices weren’t too bad considering how filling the burgers were.

We got take away so we can check into our accommodation.

Cute french shop which I wish was opened. Shops close early in Hobart, not many of them open 7 days either.

We found this cosy little 1 bedroom apartment on Stayz! Very reasonably priced and conveniently a few minutes walk to the heart of Hobart CBD.

We can finally EAT! I’ve never had an ‘American’ styled burger before, it sure looks unhealthy but that’s probably why it tasted awesome. Kind of started our craving for burgers these days that’s NOT from a fast food joint.

Above; Animal burger, Below; Cowboy burger.

6:30PM, it wasn’t too long after our burger meal until it was ‘Dinner time’. We were barely hungry, but knowing how choices of (decent) restaurants are limited in Hobart on weekends (especially if you don’t book) and the fact that places close early (hence supper isn’t an option), we figured we should go eat for the sake of it anyways. Just a 2min walk from our apartment was a cosy little restaurant/bar called “Small Fry”. Usually a cafe during the day, at night its mainly a place for people to chill out over a light meal and drinks. We all sat around a large island bench which took up a majority of the space and it just felt like we were part of a small dinner party where you can watch the chef cook up the meals and mingling with people at the same time.

The menu is on all corners of this block of wood. Their light meals consisted of sliders and other fried food. Pork, fish sliders and a bucket of fried things are good with our small appetite.

Night was still young so we decided to check out what Hobart has to offer in terms of desserts.

A little further down from Small Fry was a Froyo place called
Vita – nature + culture”. It is one of the very few froyo places there, so it must be a new thing for them.

From the outside, the interior easily caught my attention. White tiles paired with wood and blackboard signs. The process is similar to Yogurberry, where its self served and you are charged according to the weight of your froyo.

They had pretty nice and natural sounding flavours; such as banana, jasmine rice, vanilla, coconut etc. The more interesting flavour would be popcorn, which I would obviously get.. but to my surprise it tasted more like jasmine rice?! They mustv’e switched the labels around 🙁 We got Natural as well as the Mixed Berry flavour too.

Chose your own toppings

 

The froyo is more watery and light compared to what we’re used to (creamy). As interesting as the flavours sound its not easy to get used to the taste.

It was 8PM by now, and no way are we going to bed early despite being up since 3-4AM. Cider from Willie Smiths and a movie (Blitz) to end our first day in Hobart! 🙂

Watch this space for Day 2!

x Clarissa