Wombat Hill to Hobart

We’re driving to the airport today for a flight to Tasmania to meet our Aussie friends, Dave and Toni but we’ve got time to waste first. I’ve seen on the map the botanical gardens here in Daylesford are at Wombat Hill, I’m itching to see them. It is a beautiful area covered in trees but there are very few views, in fact you can’t see the town just tree tops. We even try climbing to the top of “The Tower” as it’s denoted on the map, still no joy, just trees. We do manage to find a begonia display in a locked glasshouse but after Ballarat, it’s a bit disappointing.

Honour Avenue

On we drive, through Glenlyon which has one of the oldest stores in Australia, but then they all say they have the oldest, tallest, longest etc. it’s hard to know who to believe. On through Macedon where there is an area called Honour Avenue. It’s a street lined with 154 oak trees planted to honour those men and women who enlisted for service in the WW 1 and at this time of year the leaves are just beginning to be tinged with the golden colours of autumn.

As we drive further, we’re both anxious to be near the airport ready to off hire the car by 4pm so we stop at Westfield Shopping centre only 5Km from the airport and surprisingly enjoy an excellent roast pork dinner, 4 laps of the centre are required to help settle the feast afterwards. Finally, we’re off hiring the car at Melbourne airport and into check-in and it’s here we realise there are 2 planes to Hobart today and we’re booked onto the second one. Cheekily we ask if we can transfer onto the first one which leaves in an hour, they agree but tell us to hurry as bag drop closes in 5 minutes! It’s now a speed test to check our bags in with the check in lady gabbling through the statutory precautions before tagging our bags and sending them off down the travellator. Now we’re running to get through security, stripping off belts, watches and coats as we go. Even our puffer jackets try to join in, exploding out of the case to gallop down the belt to be scanned. We arrive at gate 9 which is of course the furthest away, out of breath and red in the face, but we’ve made the flight. The flight to Hobart is so short no sooner have we taken off than the air stewards race down the cabin throwing drinks and a snack at us. Minutes later they’re retrieving the rubbish ready for landing!

View of Hobart from Avalon Apartment

Dave and Toni meet us from the plane and drive us to our city centre apartment, and wow, what a great job Dave has done finding this gem. The Avalon Apartment is at the top of an office block with great views, impressive artwork and even a bath on the deck overlooking the city. We cannot believe our luck in staying in such an amazing apartment. We elect to eat at the local “pub” tonight, The Astor Grill, and it turns out to be a very high-class restaurant, not at all pub like. Steak, salmon and asparagus risotto are all amazing and accompanied by a few glasses of wine and good chat make for an excellent first evening in Hobart.