Our 115 day World Cruise, day 44 Hobart Tasmania

Here we are again, same ole, same ole.  Had breakfast with Jerry, Sandi and Irwin.  I did not feel well tho morning and had awaken in the night with a sick stomach.  After coffee and stopping at QT we went right  home and I spent the rest of the day, until 3:00, in my chair.  I slept most of the time!

Vicki went for a massage and ran a few errands.  She came home and fed me my lunch and then she went to see her mother.

I feel much better now.  I went into my sewing room and started cutting the squares for the quilt.
The cutting is just about finished.

Tomorrow is a busy day and we will take lots of pictures.

                                                     
                                               

These pictures were taken on our Canada New England in 2006.  This is when we met Roger and Mary.  I can't find a picture of the four of us but I want to tell you that it was one of the best cruises we have ever been on.  Roger hiked around every town carrying all of his camera equipment.  Mary ran right behind him!  lol!  This is why she got 3 desserts every night!  lol!

  These pictures were taken in 2011 when we joined Roger and Mary for another Canada cruise.  It was wonderful to see them again and it was hard to believe it had been 5 years.  It was like we see them all the time....we had a wonderful time and had a lot of laughs and good conversations!                                                      

This picture was taken on the 2006 trip when we stopped at Maple Factory.  My  favorite picture was taken  here, Thank you Roger.

Thank you Roger for letting me pirate the wonderful pictures that you took!  The theme from the cruises was "I don't need to take pictures....I'll steal them from Roger!  lol! 

                        

                                      

                            WHERE WE DID NOT GO TODAY,,,but the AMSTERDAM did!
Hobart, Tasmania
                                                   

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia February 18, 2013 Monday
Postcards from Paradise

Hobart is the capital of Tasmania and the second oldest city after Sydney as well. Situated on the Derwent River at the foot of 4000 foot tall Mount Wellington, Hobart is filled with convict-built 19th century buildings. The downtown streets are full of neat buildings with ornamental facades. Originally this city was a colorful sailor's village with an equally colorful history tied to colonial prisons. As in much of the history of Australia, convicts were shipped here from England, as far away from their civilization as they could be located. Nearby Richmond and Port Arthur are among the most famous prisons in Tasmania.

Today, Hobart is a friendly, accessible, people-sized city, far less sophisticated than Sydney, but equally appealing to tourists and locals. The wharfs have the oldest cottages and warehouses actually built by the convicts. Popular Salamanca Place near the pier is home to boutiques, cafes, bars, restaurants, and artist studios and galleries. Two nearby docks house Antarctic supply ships, deepsea trawlers, abalone ships, and fishing vessels of all types. Hobart also offers mountains, forests, beaches, biking, rock climbing, surfing, sailing, canoeing, and kayaking. There is something for everyone.

So, we have been to Hobart several times, but have never really seen this lovely city. Nice tours, usually involving wineries or prisons, have taken us out of the city all day. Since access to downtown was so easy, we knew we would delight in spending the day here. What a nice day it turned out to be with temperatures nearing 90 degrees with a gentle warm wind blowing in the morning. We set off on a walk to the visitors center a couple of blocks away from Macquarie Wharf. The center was filled with brochures and maps with kind locals to help us navigate the nearby sites. Our main concern was where do we find the best pizza for lunch? Salamanca Place was recommended, so that would be our final stop.

Downtown was filled with beautiful old sandstone colonial buildings and churches. Many if not most of these buildings are shops and stores now. We happened to walk up one of the main streets and ran into a mall with a Target and McDonalds. Dozens of shops lined this mall, but one in particular drew us inside........ the Reject Store. How funny. However, it was not really rejected items but more like a five and dime variety store with lots of bargains. Among other things, we bought three bouquets of silk flowers to brighten up our room. In Sydney, we could have purchased three flowers for $15, instead of three bunches that will last forever or as long as this cruise lasts. We continued on walking through parks, churches, and the one closed off street mall. There we relaxed on one of the many benches while listening to a local three man band playing pub rock and Irish jigs. They sounded every bit as good as the entertainers on the ship.

Since the ship was leaving around 4pm, we knew we had to find a cafe for lunch soon. The info guide had recommended a place at Salamanca Place, a 15 minute walk from downtown. We headed that way to check out the menus at each pub and cafe. Most all the places offered 10 different types of fish entrees of course. But one by the name of Cargo had wood-fired pizzas and lots of brands of beer. Yep, that was the place for us, and since it was well after noontime, the place was not overly busy. We ordered two Pale Blonde beers with two margharita pizzas, paid for them at the bar, and got our food delivered to our table in about 15 or 20 minutes. It was delicious, and so was the beer, which always hits the spot on such a warm day.

On our way back to the ship, we detoured back up Elizabeth Street to buy two small cups of ice cream. We had run into Barb, Judi, Joan, Fran, and Aussie Pat, who joined the ship in Sydney. They had just finished the 90 minute Hop On Hop Off bus tour in town, and were on their way to find beer or wine, and fish and chips.

The sailaway party was at 4pm, and we almost blew off the back of the ship due to very high winds. Captain Jonathon mentioned that once the ship left the river and entered the ocean, it would get really rough and extremely windy. He was so right, because one man lost his shirt overboard in 2 seconds. Ellen tried to save it, and almost fell over the chair that hit her as it went rolling across the deck. Lucky for the man, his shirt actually blew backwards and landed on deck seven or six. That was enough for us too. As we sailed around the bottom of Tasmania, the clouds came back threatening rain. And with this wind, we are sure to have some rocking and rolling tonight.

As we have done in a few other places in the world, we had to set our clocks back 1/2 hour this evening. We will surely do this half hour back again soon, but not sure where. Whatever, it's still better than going forward.

Also, forgot to mention that last night, we received two Moleskine journals, the ones that were missing in the beginning of the cruise. The most useful part of this logbook are the maps of the world in the back. And if you are fond of stickers, there was a pocketful of them in the back of the book.

Think we have one day at sea as we sail towards the next port of Adelaide.

Bill & Mary Ann

 Time sure flies!  We had a very, very hot but enjoyable day in Hobart….  It is a lovely town with a great harbo.  I love walking around this city, it has much to offer.  First thing I the morning I spent a lot of time around the harbor and in the shopping district.  Then it was off to the Royal Tasmania Botanical Gardens…..  great place!   I particularly like the Japanese gardens.  We walked there and back and because it was so hot we were pretty much out of gas when we got back to the edge of town.  We stopped at the Hog’s Breath Café for drinks and some wonderful food.  Then it was back to the ship for sail away…..  now it is on to Adelaide.