Tasmania

After spending most of July and a fair bit of August being sick - think bad head cold that never left- I finally recovered enough to have a holiday.

Sometime ago Jetstar had $30 each way fares Melbourne/Hobart (including luggage) and I persuaded TappingBetty to accompany me.

She had never been to Tassie.

I had been to Tassie once; ** years ago on a school trip.

We arrived in Hobart shortly after 8am, picked up our rental car - a (Hyundai Getz)

and headed for North Hobart and our Hobart base - Rydges North Hobart.

On the subject of rental cars - most (if not all) guidebooks recommend that you don't make it obvious to to would be thieves that you're driving a rental car. Kind of difficult with a large Hertz sticker on the back window, Hertz label on the number plate casing, smallish hertz sticker on windscreen, hertz sticker on dashboard.

Anyway back to Hobart - Day 1.

After checking in (and discovering that TappingBetty's camera had failed somewhere between dinner last night and Hobart this morning) we left the car to coffeehouse with another Hertz rental at Rydges and, for some crazy reason, walked into Hobart City Centre.

Our first stop, armed with tourist brochures, was a coffee shop for breakfast and a brochure perusal.

The weather was sunny (and windy) so we opted to start the day by exploring Hobart. Our first stop was a camera shop where the demise of TB's camera was confirmed and she replaced it with a bright pink 10 mp model.

Next up we meandered in the general direction of the Visitor Information Centre and after a stop there for more brochure perusal & maps we headed, mini cupcakes in hand, for the waterfront and a gentle stroll (more an amble really) in the direction of Salamanca Square and Battery Point.

After wandering around Battery Point we descended to sea level and bought fish n chips which we ate watching the docks.

Off to check out Parliament House then a lazy amble back to the hotel to check in. Our room was excellent - a twin suite overlooking North Hobart football ground which meant some good scenery watching the teams train.

We decided we'd done enought walking for the day so we picked up the car & drove to Rosny point lookout, then down to Sandy Bay to see the casino. Afternoon tea was at Smith Street cafe and then, eventually, dinner at a local restaurant.