After more than a year when we had to cut short our Tasmanian holiday due to Covid lockdowns, we finally got a chance to head back to complete the Hobart portion. This time without Kids 😉 !

It was an early start, we were booked on a 7:20 am flight from Brisbane direct to Hobart, the plan was to meet at the airport at 6am.
Early wakeup and finalised my bags, then a quick dash to the riverside at Colmslie for good luck (old habits!) – view at 5:15am was amazing from Colmslie reserve.

Our taxi arrived on-time at 5:45am, but, as usual we were running late with good byes to both Neha, Pooja and last minute checks. We finally got out just before 6am,
Arrived at the domestic airport without delays, here there are still some signs of the covid world we now live in, masks were mandatory within the Terminal. Caught up with Vikash, Meeta, Doc & Tina.
Checkin and baggage drop-off was smooth and then it was off to morning coffees and a quick bite.

Flight got slightly delayed by a further 20 mins, but finally after over a year we were boarding a plane!! It was weird having to wear the mask in planes but better to have that than Covid.

Flight landed in Hobart without incident, stepping out of the plane, we were greeted with the COLD, FRESH air of Tasmania. Love cold weather!
Into the terminal, Doc and Cheeky sorted out the rental, whilst I went with the ladies for baggage collection. As it had to be , our bags were the last to come out :(, but at least it did come.

We had a Kia Carnival, all bags loaded and it was time to head to our hotel @ Mantra on Collins.

Drive to Hotel was just under 20 mins,
Arriving at the Mantra on Collins, the place did look very small from the outside but turned out it was a high-rise – a lot of Hobart properties have maintained the historic front facade but have built modern interiors and high rises behind the colonial frontages – very cool indeed.

Checkin was quick, we all freshen’d up and were down back in the lobby by 1:15pm to head out for lunch. The receptionist suggested we go to Mures which was a short walk from our hotel. Out on the streets and greeted by the cool, fresh air of Hobart, time to take it in.
Turning the corner, it was a mere 5 mins walk or less before we were at the beautiful harbour (Constitution Dock).

In a word – WOW!! This place reminded us so much of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. It was lined on one side with colonial buildings, then colour yachts and floating food outlets.

Had a great seafood lunch at Mures cocktail bar (Pearl & Co), started off with Tasmanian whiskey and then onto Tasmanian Gin. For food we ordered the 3 oyster varieties – Kilpatrick, Mignonette and the Smoked Salmon varieties plus the famous Seafood Chowder and other main dishes which I cannot remember – as we were too busy eating it all and not taking enough pics :(.
Finished off with the obligatory dessert – ordered the Chocolate Love – an amazing chocolate dessert that did not last long at all – 6 spoons attacking the one sole slice of chocolate cake – it had no chance!!
It was a great lunch – highly recommend coming to Mures for lunch, three areas to choose from and you will not be disappointed – highly recommended!!

Fully recharged, it was time to hit the road and explore the Hobart CBD.

First impressions, this place was not like Launceston – it was actually a city with people and not empty streets. In fact the city scape was great with a mixture of colonial past and modern architecture.

A bit of roaming about and then we caught up with Doc and Tina for coffee at a nice boutique coffee shop “Beaujangles Cafe”. This place was on Elizabeth St Mall, had a great cosy ambience and do they make good coffees plus the best Almond Orange cakes I have had to date!! Totally recommended.

It was around 4:30pm, we all headed back to the hotel for a siesta, and then hitting the streets again at 6:15.

We all met down at the lobby at 6:15 and then headed out, next stop was drinks at “The Lounge by Frogmore Creek” – Doc had booked this for 6:30.

En route there, time for some pics…

Nice round of drinks done, then it was a 10 minute walk to Salamanca area for dinner that Doc had booked at Maldini Italian.

Turning into Salamanca area, it was lined with bars and restaurants – this place was buzzing. Just a short walk and we arrived at Maldini – is was packed – a sign of good food, we hoped and we were not disappointed :).

We arrived at the venue to a full house, lucky for the booking, our table of 6 was available – the place inside can feel a little crowded but more than makes up in the food area. We ordered a few dishes for sharing and all of them were great. For the wine, we went with an Italian red recommended by our waitress – ended up getting two bottles – it was that good!. Unfortunately for desserts they ran out of Tiramisu – disappointed as that looked so good on the other tables that were lucky enough to have ordered the last few :(. Settled for Affogato.
A great night of wine and dine. The food was super duper and highly recommended. The Italian wine was excellent , I will be looking for this back in Brisbane.

It was good to call it a night just after 10pm, had been a long day and tomorrow was an early start to visit the Salamanca market for the 8am open and then head out to our Wine tour at 9:30.
So far a great start to the Hobart visit.