griffin
28th November 2009, 05:46 AM
This month, we (Dispensor and I) were planning a multi-state tour, but circumstances meant a change of plans. We would still be able to
travel to four states in four weeks (the original plan), but one was now just an hour-long stopover.
My last remaining resolution for this year was to visit the last two State/Territory Capitals, which was Hobart and Darwin.
With the Parramatta Collectors Fair on this month as well, I had the idea of being a bit of a jet-setter in my Birthday month and travel
interstate for four weekends in a row, as a present to myself.
Timing was a bit off though, and I ended up with one week in the middle with no interstate adventure.
Scheduling for the 'birthday' tour:
Sat Nov 14 - Hobart (returning through Melbourne)
Sat Nov 21 - Sydney
Sat Nov 28 - (staying home in Brisbane)
Sat Dec 5 - Darwin
This posting of the tour will just cover the first two weeks, with the remaining being posted later.
The tour began with a trip to Hobart, a place people recommended visiting, mostly for the scenery.
These interstate hops would only be a day or two, making it more of a recon mission, than seeing too much while there.
The only thing I had definite plans for in Hobart was to visit the Cadbury Factory.
I found out just before I went that they stopped doing factory tours a couple years ago, and just have a small visitor's center (with displays
and demonstrations). A bit disappointing, but still gave us something to do.
QANTAS didn't appear to do direct flights to Hobart from Brisbane, so I flew down on Virginblue. The flight left Brisbane, Friday 13th, at
8.30am, arriving at Hobart at almost 12.30 (daylight saving time), making it a 3 hour flight. Working the night before, and having a lot to do
before the early start, I didn't end up sleeping the night before.
I had booked accomodation just a day before I left, from the lastminute.com.au website, and found a reasonbly priced place
right in city centre of Hobart (and was a bed and breakfast too).
I didn't pre-book a rental car though, which I would regret later when I arrived. (I was thinking about just getting taxis, but later changed my mind)
Of the four car rental agencies at the airport, only one still had any available vehicles, and the price wasn't too good.
And I made a mistake with a fuel pre-payment option, and ended up being stuck with a full tank of pre-paid petrol. (it ended up being an
incentive to drive more while there, but I only had time to use half the tank)
As soon as I paid for the car, I drove straight to the Cadbury Factory, to get in before it closed to the public at 3pm.
Outside the Cadbury Factory.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas01.jpg
After watching the demonstration, getting the freebies, and buying some cheap chocolate (stuff that doesn't make the grade), I was driving
into Hobart itself to find my hotel.
It was a place called 'Harringtons 102', and I found that I had to park about 8 minute walk away, just to avoid having to pay for
parking (heaps of parking meters in Hobart).
The hotel looked very nice from the outside, as if it were new (the grey one with the balcony at the front).
http://www.otca.com.au/tas02.jpg
When I went inside, it felt more like a regular unit complex that had been turned into a hotel. And only recently too, judging by how a lot
of renovations were not finished yet (fixtures, unpainted plasterboard, etc).
And the best thing, which I was totally surprised about - the room I ended up getting (from that cheap, last-minute website source), was the
front room with the balcony!
It was like getting the penthouse apartment at a discount rate because it was empty on that day.
The room had all the usual trimmings of a hotel room, which made my master happy...
http://www.otca.com.au/tas03.jpg
And the view from the balcony (not spectacular, but better than no view or window at all) which faced right over the centre of Hobart.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas04.jpg
After freshening up, I went for a walk around the city area, checking out a Toyworld, Target, Myer and a JayJays.
Found a couple of Movie Arcee toys at Target (on sale), which was the first time I had found them anywhere, and really needed one for
someone else. Also got a Battlecharger Optimus, and a deck of TF2 Movie playing cards.
When it reached 6pm, I had changed and headed for a nearby restaurant that had an interesting dish I wanted to try. I was told that the
seafood in Hobart is supposed to be really good, and tried to find something on the net that was buffet or boasted something special. I
ended up finding two rival classy hotels having a similarly priced Seafood Feast Platter in their on-site restaurants. The one I went to was
closest to where I was staying, and their 'dish' was priced at $49.
It was served on 3 plates on a layered plate holder, and had oysters, crab, prawns, calamari, fish, scollaps, chips and a side salad.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas05.jpg
Yes, it took a while to eat, and was filling, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. Especially at that price.
Returning to the room, it was already getting dark, and I was too tired to stay away for much longer (no sleep the night before). Besides, I
was planning to leave early to get in as much driving before needing to be at the airport by 4pm.
Saturday morning, I got up around 6ish, and found that my master had gorged himself on my cheap chocolates during the night...
http://www.otca.com.au/tas06.jpg
Okay, maybe that was really me who couldn't leave them alone.
I checked out before 8am (skipped the free breakfast), and began driving around parts of the city that were beyond where I walked, including
the harbour area.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas08.jpg
And further out in the suburbs.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas09.jpg
I then headed towards some Department stores on the north side, and found a Kmart that was apparently open 24 hours.
Also stopped off at a couple BigW's, another Target and another Kmart, but found nothing else I wanted.
Took this photo of a JayJays store display though:
http://www.otca.com.au/tas07.jpg
Both Hobart stores I visited had heaps of TFs clothing in them, including girl's t-shirts and TFs giftcards.
This was on the way to a shopping centre, with the Bellerive Cricket ground in the distance.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas10.jpg
It was a bit after midday when I had checked out all the potential toy sources in the Hobart area. I decided to see how far I could go in
the car, before having to turn back to the airport for my flight that afternoon.
Looking on the map, I chose an easterly direction, heading first to the tourist site 'Port Arthur', and seeing how much time I had left when I
got there.
Some photos Dispensor took along the way (because I wouldn't do anything so irresponsible as using a camera while driving...).
This was the first of two land-bridges leading east out from Hobart - each being about half a kilometer long.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas11.jpg
The sign next to the blue one above, said something about where fatal accidents on the land-bridge are marked. And it is no surprise that
there are accidents, because the view while driving along it, is very distracting.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas12.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas13.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas14.jpg
Approaching the east coast.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas15.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas16.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas17.jpg
An hour and a half from Hobart, we arrived at Port Arthur. As a managed tourist site, I found that it was only accessable by purchasing one
of three passes. I didn't have time to make use of a pass, so just went to the lookout at the carpark, and took a few photos of what I could see.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas18.jpg
It was already about 2pm by this stage, and despite being told by the car rental person that it would only take about 2 hours to drive to
the northern coast from Hobart, it had taken me 90 minutes to drive to a place that was less than a quarter of that distance. As such, I
wasn't going to have time to travel further away from Hobart, and decided to head back.
I figured that I would have just enough time to get back to Hobart and grab some food from a HJs, before returning to the airport.
One of the land-bridges on the way back.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas21.jpg
And the other one.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas22.jpg
The main bridge over the Derwent River.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas19.jpg
And a bit to the left.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas20.jpg
I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare for my 4pm flight. I wasn't able to get a direct flight back, so had to change planes in Melbourne. I
was only in Melbourne for under an hour, but it still counts in our travels as four states in four weeks.
Back at Brisbane airport by 8pm (Brisbane time), and home within 40 minutes of that.
Next up - Sydney...
travel to four states in four weeks (the original plan), but one was now just an hour-long stopover.
My last remaining resolution for this year was to visit the last two State/Territory Capitals, which was Hobart and Darwin.
With the Parramatta Collectors Fair on this month as well, I had the idea of being a bit of a jet-setter in my Birthday month and travel
interstate for four weekends in a row, as a present to myself.
Timing was a bit off though, and I ended up with one week in the middle with no interstate adventure.
Scheduling for the 'birthday' tour:
Sat Nov 14 - Hobart (returning through Melbourne)
Sat Nov 21 - Sydney
Sat Nov 28 - (staying home in Brisbane)
Sat Dec 5 - Darwin
This posting of the tour will just cover the first two weeks, with the remaining being posted later.
The tour began with a trip to Hobart, a place people recommended visiting, mostly for the scenery.
These interstate hops would only be a day or two, making it more of a recon mission, than seeing too much while there.
The only thing I had definite plans for in Hobart was to visit the Cadbury Factory.
I found out just before I went that they stopped doing factory tours a couple years ago, and just have a small visitor's center (with displays
and demonstrations). A bit disappointing, but still gave us something to do.
QANTAS didn't appear to do direct flights to Hobart from Brisbane, so I flew down on Virginblue. The flight left Brisbane, Friday 13th, at
8.30am, arriving at Hobart at almost 12.30 (daylight saving time), making it a 3 hour flight. Working the night before, and having a lot to do
before the early start, I didn't end up sleeping the night before.
I had booked accomodation just a day before I left, from the lastminute.com.au website, and found a reasonbly priced place
right in city centre of Hobart (and was a bed and breakfast too).
I didn't pre-book a rental car though, which I would regret later when I arrived. (I was thinking about just getting taxis, but later changed my mind)
Of the four car rental agencies at the airport, only one still had any available vehicles, and the price wasn't too good.
And I made a mistake with a fuel pre-payment option, and ended up being stuck with a full tank of pre-paid petrol. (it ended up being an
incentive to drive more while there, but I only had time to use half the tank)
As soon as I paid for the car, I drove straight to the Cadbury Factory, to get in before it closed to the public at 3pm.
Outside the Cadbury Factory.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas01.jpg
After watching the demonstration, getting the freebies, and buying some cheap chocolate (stuff that doesn't make the grade), I was driving
into Hobart itself to find my hotel.
It was a place called 'Harringtons 102', and I found that I had to park about 8 minute walk away, just to avoid having to pay for
parking (heaps of parking meters in Hobart).
The hotel looked very nice from the outside, as if it were new (the grey one with the balcony at the front).
http://www.otca.com.au/tas02.jpg
When I went inside, it felt more like a regular unit complex that had been turned into a hotel. And only recently too, judging by how a lot
of renovations were not finished yet (fixtures, unpainted plasterboard, etc).
And the best thing, which I was totally surprised about - the room I ended up getting (from that cheap, last-minute website source), was the
front room with the balcony!
It was like getting the penthouse apartment at a discount rate because it was empty on that day.
The room had all the usual trimmings of a hotel room, which made my master happy...
http://www.otca.com.au/tas03.jpg
And the view from the balcony (not spectacular, but better than no view or window at all) which faced right over the centre of Hobart.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas04.jpg
After freshening up, I went for a walk around the city area, checking out a Toyworld, Target, Myer and a JayJays.
Found a couple of Movie Arcee toys at Target (on sale), which was the first time I had found them anywhere, and really needed one for
someone else. Also got a Battlecharger Optimus, and a deck of TF2 Movie playing cards.
When it reached 6pm, I had changed and headed for a nearby restaurant that had an interesting dish I wanted to try. I was told that the
seafood in Hobart is supposed to be really good, and tried to find something on the net that was buffet or boasted something special. I
ended up finding two rival classy hotels having a similarly priced Seafood Feast Platter in their on-site restaurants. The one I went to was
closest to where I was staying, and their 'dish' was priced at $49.
It was served on 3 plates on a layered plate holder, and had oysters, crab, prawns, calamari, fish, scollaps, chips and a side salad.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas05.jpg
Yes, it took a while to eat, and was filling, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. Especially at that price.
Returning to the room, it was already getting dark, and I was too tired to stay away for much longer (no sleep the night before). Besides, I
was planning to leave early to get in as much driving before needing to be at the airport by 4pm.
Saturday morning, I got up around 6ish, and found that my master had gorged himself on my cheap chocolates during the night...
http://www.otca.com.au/tas06.jpg
Okay, maybe that was really me who couldn't leave them alone.
I checked out before 8am (skipped the free breakfast), and began driving around parts of the city that were beyond where I walked, including
the harbour area.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas08.jpg
And further out in the suburbs.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas09.jpg
I then headed towards some Department stores on the north side, and found a Kmart that was apparently open 24 hours.
Also stopped off at a couple BigW's, another Target and another Kmart, but found nothing else I wanted.
Took this photo of a JayJays store display though:
http://www.otca.com.au/tas07.jpg
Both Hobart stores I visited had heaps of TFs clothing in them, including girl's t-shirts and TFs giftcards.
This was on the way to a shopping centre, with the Bellerive Cricket ground in the distance.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas10.jpg
It was a bit after midday when I had checked out all the potential toy sources in the Hobart area. I decided to see how far I could go in
the car, before having to turn back to the airport for my flight that afternoon.
Looking on the map, I chose an easterly direction, heading first to the tourist site 'Port Arthur', and seeing how much time I had left when I
got there.
Some photos Dispensor took along the way (because I wouldn't do anything so irresponsible as using a camera while driving...).
This was the first of two land-bridges leading east out from Hobart - each being about half a kilometer long.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas11.jpg
The sign next to the blue one above, said something about where fatal accidents on the land-bridge are marked. And it is no surprise that
there are accidents, because the view while driving along it, is very distracting.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas12.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas13.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas14.jpg
Approaching the east coast.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas15.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas16.jpg
http://www.otca.com.au/tas17.jpg
An hour and a half from Hobart, we arrived at Port Arthur. As a managed tourist site, I found that it was only accessable by purchasing one
of three passes. I didn't have time to make use of a pass, so just went to the lookout at the carpark, and took a few photos of what I could see.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas18.jpg
It was already about 2pm by this stage, and despite being told by the car rental person that it would only take about 2 hours to drive to
the northern coast from Hobart, it had taken me 90 minutes to drive to a place that was less than a quarter of that distance. As such, I
wasn't going to have time to travel further away from Hobart, and decided to head back.
I figured that I would have just enough time to get back to Hobart and grab some food from a HJs, before returning to the airport.
One of the land-bridges on the way back.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas21.jpg
And the other one.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas22.jpg
The main bridge over the Derwent River.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas19.jpg
And a bit to the left.
http://www.otca.com.au/tas20.jpg
I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare for my 4pm flight. I wasn't able to get a direct flight back, so had to change planes in Melbourne. I
was only in Melbourne for under an hour, but it still counts in our travels as four states in four weeks.
Back at Brisbane airport by 8pm (Brisbane time), and home within 40 minutes of that.
Next up - Sydney...