Fire, Flood, Pestilence

Arrivederci Melbourne 

Our final evening in Melbourne was as perfect as any evening could be.

We had spent a delightful afternoon in Melbourne's spectacular botanical gardens with our Melbourne based friend who we accompanied back to Flinders Street Station then we decided to go and watch the sunset over an evening drink at Docklands which was close to where we were staying.

We returned to Renzo's which we had adopted as our bar of choice due to its optimal location overlooking the marina and its very reasonable prices. 

The sunset on this evening was perfect. No rain and no cloud cover obscuring our view and the sky's changing colours reflected on Melbourne's iconic glass towers were mesmerising.

It was the perfect way to say arrivederci to this beautiful jewel of a city. 

We will be back Melbourne - in spite of Covid and lockdown. We will be back

Monday 10 February

Ya Tasmania 

Our trip to Tasmania was absolutely wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute we were there but our departure for the airport on that overcast February morning signalled for us the start of a period of travel fraught with difficulties which proved extremely challenging and led to several of the most disheartening moments of our entire trip.

Our taxi arrived punctually at 8:00 am to take us to the airport. We had packed our bags meticulously including two bottles of prime Barossa which we had not yet managed to consume and an extra bag of food which we would eat at various times during the day. 

As our time in Tasmania would be comparatively short, we decided to stock up with delicacies from the market, warm crusty rolls and a good selection of fresh fruit. We would then consume it in stages throughout that first day so as to avoid lengthy food stops which would cut into our brief yet intense Tasmania road trip.

It was also a National holiday in Tasmania that day so we had been told that many eateries would be closed.

After a rather hectic check-in at Melbourne's busy domestic terminal, we decided to reward ourselves with a coffee and a well deserved breakfast. 

It was at this point that we realised that we had forgotten our food bag in the taxi or at our accommodation.

As we risked losing our deposit if we left refuse bags in the apartment, I called the agent to check and she confirmed that a bag of food had indeed been found on one of the kitchen worktops in the apartment but she assured us that we would not lose our deposit as the cleaner had realised that it had clearly been left behind in error. 

It was of some comfort to us that we wouldn't lose our cleaning deposit though we were disappointed to have left our wonderful picnic food behind.

I explained that we would not be going back for it and that all the food was fresh so we would be keen for it not to go to waste.

Our flight was called a few minutes later so we soon forgot about our food bag and started looking forward to our next adventure. 

The flight only took 1 hour 20 minutes so before we knew it we were in our new hire car en route to Coles Bay in the beautiful Freycinet National Park.

We noticed in Melbourne prior to departure that the weather had changed. It was no longer sunny and warm but overcast and grey.

On arrival in Tasmania it was even worse. It was windy, raining heavily and cold.

We had experienced cool weather before on our road trip in the Barossa valley but here in Tasmania it was COLD. UK November cold and we realised that we did not have the appropriate clothing for it as we had left our warm 'New Zealand' clothes with our friends in North Sydney. 

But in spite of the rain and wind and cold, driving through Tasmania was totally mesmerising.

We had not experienced anything like the wild beauty of that wonderful island anywhere else on our travels so far, it was only later that I realised that it actually resembles New Zealand's South Island more than mainland Australia.

The rugged scenery and the extraordinary collection of wildlife everywhere, including Tasmanian devils, wallabies and even an echidna crossing the road in front of us, was overwhelming..

As it was Royal Hobart Regatta weekend, this was a national holiday so we appeared to have the highway to ourselves for most of the time we were on it.

The down side of that was that the daily road clearers were not working that day so we encountered many dead animals on the side of the road, having been hit by cars at some point during that long, holiday weekend.

There were kangaroos, possums, Tasmanian devils and so many wallabies. Every hundred metres or less we would come across a poor dead wallaby on that animal unfriendly road.

It was a sad, distressing sight for us as we had never seen this anywhere else on our travels until then. We initially thought that was because we had never driven in country areas on a National holiday before, but after looking online, we learnt that this is a well documented problem in Tasmania. ABC news describes it as the "Roadkill Capital of the World":

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/tasmania-roadkill-capital-of-the-world/7021816

Some of those poor creatures had clearly suffered fire damage as well; we knew that Tasmania had been badly hit by wildfires in mid-January, and there was certainly evidence of drought and fire damage along some of the woodland areas we passed so it could have been a contributory factor.

We took great care on our drive to adhere to the advice given on the many road signs everywhere and be aware of animals at all times so as to avoid hitting any of them that approached our car when we were least expecting it and there in Tasmania, quite a few came close. 

We stopped for a coffee and a snack at an isolated lake-side café half way between Hobart and Freycinet not far from the town of Swansea.

Apart from a couple who left as we arrived, we were its only customers. Surprisingly though, service was slow and there was very little on the menu to choose from but the view of the lake and the surrounding countryside was spectacular.

We could only imagine how glorious this place would look on a clear, sunny day.

The Freycinet National Park

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freycinet_National_Park

Our final destination that day was Freycinet National Park, a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, 125 km northeast of Hobart.

The park occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island.

It was founded in 1916 and is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park.

Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the town of Swansea which is the largest town in the area.

In and en route to Freycinet one can experience Tasmania's iconic rugged coastline which encompasses the secluded Wineglass Bay.

Features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".

Due to the vast range of rare and endemic flora and fauna species present, as well as the diversity of landscapes and communities at Freycinet National Park, its role in conservation is particularly significant.

The area within the park is also of cultural importance, with many Aboriginal and European sites protected, though deeper investigation into human history within the park still needs to be undertaken.

Large sections of the park remain undisturbed by humans, including parts of the catchment and the landscape.

Tourism at Freycinet forms a significant component of the economy for the eastern part of Tasmania, with visitors drawn to the region by the natural environment, weather and recreational activities available in the area.

Every year thousands of people are attracted to the coastal environments and the area's rural and isolated setting.

We stayed at a resort called BIG4 Iluka on Freycinet. It had been recommended to me by friends who travelled to Tasmania regularly and had stayed then on several occasions themselves.

At BIG4 Iluka you can choose from several accommodation options. We had booked a charming log cabin with two bedrooms, and very large open plan kitchen/living area. It was perfect for us for our one night stay in Freycinet.

The site includes a mini supermarket, a pub/restaurant, a pool and a variety of activity guides if you need guidance on what to do whilst there.

It was excellent value at only £70 for 1 night for all three of us. 

The best aspect of it for us was its stunning location overlooking Muir's beach on one side and Great Oyster Bay on the other. The entire area was surrounded by spectacular woodland. We couldn't have selected a more perfect location for our brief experience of beautiful Tasmania.

In spite of the weather and the cold, we wrapped up as warm as we could and set off on a wonderful late afternoon/early evening walk. Our only minor regret was that we would only be there for one night and so would never see this spectacular scenery on a sunny day.

"I am the only fire that can live in the rain"

Lil Wayne (American rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur)

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/10/fires-and-floods-australia-already-seesaws-between-climate-extremes-and-theres-more-to-come

We returned back to the resort wet and cold just after sunset. Fortunately we had a washing machine and tumble dryer in our cabin so we could wash and dry our wet clothes in order to be able to wear them again the following day. 

We had solved our lack of warm clothing problem by piling on most of our summer tops in multiple layers over our one pair of jeans so we were relieved indeed to find a tumble dryer as well as a washing machine in our cabin. 

A glass of Barossa Pinot Grigio provided us with warmth and comfort while we waited for our clothes to dry.

Within an hour we were back in dry clothes and indulging in an excellent fish and chip supper at the resort restaurant next door.

Tasmania is renowned all over Australia for its superb cuisine and fine wines, especially its super fresh fish and seafood. 

Just as we were about to try Freycinet Vineyard's prized Pinot Noir, I received a text from our friends in north Sydney wondering where we were and if we were safe and well.

I was puzzled at first but in a subsequent text they explained that driving rain and gale force winds which had descended upon Sydney the previous Friday, had intensified over the course of the weekend causing flash floods all over the area and as from that evening a district wide power cut. 

They rightly assumed that we wouldn't have access to regular news and weather reports whilst travelling so they wanted to warn us of intensifying storms in Melbourne and Tasmania over the course of the following 24 hours. It appeared that the violent NSW storm they were enjoying then would be heading our way soon.

We received similar messages from other concerned friends in Sydney and Adelaide after weather alerts and warnings had been issued all over NSW urging people to stay at home especially if they were in remote, country locations.

When I first received this news I was clearly concerned for our friends but also a little relieved as this must surely mean that the wildfire season would finally be over and all the anguish, suffering and heartbreak associated with it would be at an end, at least for this very trying and exhausting summer for so many.

But that was not the case at all. I read later in the Guardian that "the weekend's devastating storms that had swept through eastern NSW, causing flooding, power outages and commuter chaos" did not signal the end of the wildfire season.

The Bureau of Meteorology says that "391.6mm of rain fell over Sydney in the past four days, the most since 414.2mm fell from 2 to 5 February 1990".

That same article continued with:

"We are at the riskiest time for heatwaves in southern Australia. The risk usually peaks around the middle to the end of summer.

Weather conducive to increased bushfire risk also usually peaks in February for southern states.

So although media, community and political attention have focused on the horrendous bushfires we have already suffered, we should not overlook the likelihood of other extreme weather, including cyclones, floods and heatwaves, or think that the bushfire risk is over for the year.

It is important to remain vigilant for all weather extremes".

Just a few days after I read that article, we heard of continuing wildfire damage in NSW, not too far from where flash flooding had been reported that past weekend.

To say that "Australia seesaws between climate extremes" is very much an understatement. We can certainly testify to that.

Fortunately we were not experiencing such extreme weather in Tasmania at that time but we were grateful to our friends for alerting us to this problem. 

When / if you are travelling anywhere in Australia at any time of year, always ask one or more friends or future Airbnb hosts to check in with you regularly and keep you abreast of news and weather reports in the area you are travelling in and the areas you are going to next.

That is the best Health and Safety tip of all.

Tuesday 11 February 

Wet and Windy Freycinet

Our plan for our one and only morning in this unique area of Australia was to join a coastal walking tour from the resort to Coles Bay then to tackle the short but steep trek to Freycinet's most famous tourist attraction Wineglass Bay.

Of course, as bad luck would have it, the weather had worsened to such an extent that our walking tour had been postponed for an hour to see whether the forecast improved. 

During that hour we walked back to our beautiful if very wet local beaches only to realise that the weather was so awful that even if the walking tour were to be reinstated we did not have suitable shoes or clothing which would have coped with a long trek in such poor weather conditions. 

As this was our only morning in this area of Tasmania we felt we should at least try to see some of its most iconic scenery even if it meant driving to a few suitable viewing points and admiring the scenery from afar.

Having decided that, we had a leisurely breakfast in our charming beachside cabin before checking out, packing our luggage into our hire car and setting off for one of Wineglass Bay's main viewing platforms in the Freycinet National Park. 

Freycinet Marine Farm

https://www.freycinetmarinefarm.com/

We had been to markets, wineries, breweries even chocolateries but we had not yet visited a local marine farm. There would surely be no better place to do that than in Tasmania; so for us an early lunch at the Freycinet Marine Farm was a no brainer. 

The increasingly unpleasant  weather meant that tours of the farm and lunches on the beach were cancelled but we were able to sit in their covered courtyard and order whatever was available on that day from their fresh fish counter nearby. 

"Julia and Giles Fisher purchased Freycinet Marine Farm in 2005 with the aim of showcasing Tasmania's best seafood produce to the world".

Their intention was to "build up a selection of the finest, freshest foods to share with visitors" from the mainland and beyond.

On the day we went in February 2020, we could select "Pacific Oysters and Tasmanian Blue Mussels from the marine farm itself, along with a list of produce that covers most corners of Tasmania: Atlantic Salmon from the West coast, Octopus from the North West, Abalone and Rock Lobster from the South, West and East, Scallops from Bass Straight and Sea Urchin Roe from their very own waters in Coles Bay".

Their ultra-fresh daily menu is, of course, "dependent on nature and fishing seasons, so some species, may not be available all the time", but you can be sure that what is available is always ultra fresh and super delicious. 

We ordered between us: half a dozen fresh oysters and their specialty cooked oysters with ginger and soy and smoked salmon with brie.

We also shared two bowls of mussels; one served simply steamed with lemon and the other topped with their spicy tomato chilli sauce. 

Our last trip to the fish bar resulted in hot-smoked Salmon, pan-fried Tasmanian Salmon in a ginger soy dressing, with a bread roll.
Sashimi Abalone presented in the shell with seaweed salad and Sea Urchin Roe from their very own Coles Bay.

The oysters, salmon and mussels were out of this world and the abalone and sea urchin roe were far more palatable than we thought they would be.

We accompanied it all with a wonderful bottle of Freycinet sparkling Chardonnay. 

Anyone touring this extraordinary island at any time of year whatever the weather, should try to find time to visit the Freycinet Marine Farm in Coles Bay.

I cannot imagine a more perfect Tasmanian luncheon experience anywhere else.

Unbeknown to us our daughter and her fiancé went to Tasmania the following month and they too had a wonderful lunch experience at the Freycinet Marine Farm even though by then social distancing laws were already in place on the island and numbers able to order food and eat it on site were limited.

Our daughter claims it is the perfect place to stop during these troubled times as there are so many isolated locations to eat in at the marina farm, including their beautiful beach just a short walk from the fish counter.

Of course, unlike us, they had the great advantage of lunching there on a gloriously sunny day. 

Check in at Hobart 

Our drive to Hobart after our injured wallaby encounter was undoubtedly the lowest point on our trip since our arrival the previous December. 

We stopped at the same lakeside café for a coffee as we had the previous day and I tried calling the animal rescue number from before to see if they had any news on our injured wallaby but phone signals were poor due to the bad weather so I wasn't able to get through.

Less than two hours later as we arrived in Hobart, the weather started to clear and we even saw a little sun. This lightened our mood considerably.

We checked into our low-cost but perfectly comfortable Airbnb accommodation immediately and I then went straight to my appointment at a local school which quite by chance happened to be a short drive from where we were staying.

In a previous entry I explained that I visited a school in the Mount Lawley area of Perth which had a historical link with the London school that I had taught in for over 25 years.

This school in Hobart had that same historical link so I was happy to have the opportunity to meet their archivist and look through their extensive and well documented archive collection. 

All three schools as well as others in Canada and New Zealand had been founded by the Anglican Sisters of the Church, a religious community which was established in 1870 in the Kilburn area of London.

Discovering how the young sisters managed to travel so far at a time when such a journey would have taken many months, then to have set up religious communities in various locations in different locations around the world and founded schools that are still there over 100 years later, really is a humbling experience.

Academic education establishments for girls were not looked upon favourably by all at that time.

It must have been an uphill struggle for many decades which would have required great faith, determination and a firm belief in their ultimate goal.

The two schools I visited in Australia and the one I taught in for many years in London are now highly academic educational establishments for girls and are a testament to the courage and vision of this order of sisters whose perseverence against all the odds, opened doors of possibility and opportunity for their protégés which I expect have far exceeded their original expectations. 

St David's Cathedral

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_David%27s_Cathedral,_Hobart

After dropping me off at the school my travel companions went on separate tours of the city.

My friend set off on a walking tour of the CBD and harbourside areas and my husband decided to drive through the main tourist areas of the city so as to see as much as possible in the short time we had left there. 

We met up at St David's Anglican Cathedral on Murray Street.  

"The Cathedral Church of St David in Hobart is the principal Anglican church in Tasmania"

"Consecrated in 1874, St David's is the Bishop of Tasmania's principal place of teaching".

"In 1842 Hobart was declared a city and the existing St David's Church became St David's Cathedral".

"The current cathedral was built between 1868 and 1936 in the usual Gothic Revival style to a design by the English architect George Frederick Bodley".

"There are flags in the cathedral dating from the time when Tasmania stopped being a convict settlement". When you see these flags, it brings home the fact that this island's history as a convict settlement is still comparatively recent and there is still a strong link to that period of this state's region which local residents are more than happy to keep alive.

"A memorial service for the Port Arthur tragedy is remembered in the Hope Chapel".

"And a memorial to the last ANZAC soldier, Alec Campbell, who died on 16 May 2002, aged 103, was also held also in the cathedral".

The Repurposing of Hobart's Treasury Building 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/balancearchitecture.wordpress.com/2020/02/13/the-repurposing-of-heritage-buildings-skill-or-stealth/amp/

A month after our visit to Tasmania in February 2020, an article was published on the balance architecture website which I found rather troubling.

We all agreed that Tasmania, has "some of Australia’s oldest historic and heritage protected buildings".

These buildings "have long enjoyed quite rightful protection from ‘Developers’ and repurposing".

"This would appear to be not the case anymore", according to this latest publication.

It appears that "the Tasmanian Government is currently undertaking an ‘Expressions of Interest’ on the historic Treasury Buildings complex.

The complex was earmarked ‘for sale’ in the 2018 State Budget".

"The Treasury Buildings were constructed over a period of 130 years, with the original buildings being erected in 1824.

Every component building of the complex has since been clad in local Sandstone".

"Across the 19th and 20th centuries, the complex conveyed an impression of state power and authority".

"During the early colonial period it housed the centralised administration of core government functions within the convict society of Van Diemen’s Land", later re-named Tasmania.

"The Treasury Complex and Public Buildings has been at the centre of Tasmania’s judicial, political and administrative life from the 1820s until the present day, and is of exceptional historic cultural heritage significance".

Why such a building could even be considered for demolition or redevelopment is totally baffling. 

I do hope the powers that be, reconsider their plans for this beautiful heritage site and that it is still there when we return to Hobart at some point in the future. 

Parliament House, Hobart

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Hobart

Parliament House, located on Salamanca Place in Hobart's glittering CBD, "is the meeting place of the Parliament of Tasmania.

This majestic, imposing building "was originally designed as a customs house but changed use in 1841 when Tasmania achieved self-government".

"The building served both purposes from 1841 to 1904, when the customs offices were relocated".

"The island of Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) was claimed and subsequently settled by Britain in 1803".

"Initially, it was administered by the Governor of New South Wales, as part of that British Colony, but in 1825 Tasmania became an independent British colony, administered separately from New South Wales, and a Legislative Council was formed as an appointed six man body to advise the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land who had sole governance of the colony.

"The council initially held their meetings in a room adjacent to the old Government House that was located near the present site of Franklin Square, but by 1841 they had relocated their meetings to the 'Long Room' (now the Members' Lounge) in Customs House".

"In 1850 the British Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act, which gave Van Diemen's Land the right to elect its first representative government".

"The size of the Legislative Council was increased from six to 24".

"Eight members were appointed by the Governor, and 16 were elected by property owners".

"The new Legislative Council met for the first time in 1852, and by 1854 they had passed the Tasmanian Constitution Act, granting Van Diemen's Land responsible self-government and a new bicameral parliament".

"In 1855 Queen Victoria granted Royal Assent and Van Diemen's Land became a self-governing British Colony."

"The following year, 1856, one of the new parliament's first acts was to change the name of the colony from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania".

The reason for this was to remove  the unsavoury criminal connotations with the name Van Diemen (and the "demon" connotation) while honouring Abel Tasman, the first European to find the island.

"In April 1856 renovations began to the Customs House to allow it to accommodate the new bicameral parliament, and on 2 December 1856 the first sessions of parliament were held, with the new House of Assembly sitting in the Long Room."

"The Legislative Council moved to their new chamber at the opposite end of the building."

"The bicameral Tasmanian parliament continued to govern Tasmania as an independent colony until 1 January 1901 when Tasmania joined with five other Australian colonies, and federated to become parts of the new Commonwealth of Australia."

"The Tasmanian colonial parliament then became the Tasmanian State Parliament, and has since continued to take responsibility for internal domestic issues such as education, healthcare, and policing".

MONA - Hobart

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Old_and_New_Art

One of our greatest disappointments on our trip to Tasmania is that we could not visit MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, and have dinner in its iconic restaurant, Faro.

We had been recommended this unique experience by many people prior to arrival in Hobart and had planned to participate in a full 'Faro Experience' for our evening visit of the museum followed by an extravagant tasting menu meal showcasing the best Tasmania could offer whilst being immersed in a southern ocean setting on one side and extraordinary art installations on the other.

When I originally booked our slot online earlier that day, I did not realise that I had been allocated a table for Thursday at 9:00 pm following the evening art tour and drinks on the terrace.

As we would be leaving Hobart the following morning, I called to clear up the mix-up only to be told that the facility would be closed for the bank holiday weekend until Thursday 13th so we had been allocated a table then instead.

This was a great blow to us as we were fully expecting it to be as wonderful as our banquet in the desert in January; a perfect pre-birthday treat for our friend.

"MONA is an art museum located within the Moorilla winery on the Berriedale peninsula in Hobart".

"It is the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere."

"MONA houses ancient, modern and contemporary art from the David Walsh collection".

"Noted for its central themes of sex and death, the museum has been described by Walsh as a "subversive adult Disneyland"

"The single-storey MONA building appears at street level to be dominated by its surroundings, but its interior possesses a spiral staircase that leads down to three larger levels of labyrinthine display spaces built into the side of the cliffs around Berriedale peninsula".

"The decision to build it largely underground was taken, according to Walsh, to preserve the heritage setting of the two Roy Grounds houses on the property"

"Walsh has also said that he wanted a building that "could sneak up on visitors rather than broadcast its presence ... 'a sense of danger' that would enliven the experience of viewing art".

"Most visitors approach by ferry up the River Derwent".

"There are no windows and the atmosphere is intentionally ominous".

"On entering the museum, visitors descend a "seemingly endless flight of stairs", an experience one critic compared with "going down into Petra", or as a millennials recently described it 'like the constantly shifting staircase at Hogwart's".

"To see the art, the visitor must work back upwards towards the surface, a trajectory that has been contrasted with the descending spiral that many visitors follow in New York's Guggenheim Museum".

"Katsalidis's architecture for the museum has been praised as not only fulfilling its function as a showcase for a collection, but also succeeding as it "extends and magnifies into an experience in its own right......"

"There is a sense that the work, the lighting, the space and the materiality have been choreographed with subtlety and skill into a singular if hugely idiosyncratic whole".

This would undoubtedly have been a unique and alternative experience to any art museum visit we had ever had before. 

Recommendations we were given were beyond enthusiastic so although we are not in a position to vouch for it ourselves, I urge travellers to Hobart to try it.

If you do and would like to tell us about it, I would be very happy to post any reviews of both MONA and FARO in this entry. 

Elizabeth Street Pier, Franklin Wharf 

http://eneabba.net/Tasmania/Tas06.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Street,_Hobart

We would have never believed a few hours before that such a rainy, windy, cold morning could have morphed into such a gloriously sunny evening.

We were sorry that we did not have even five minutes of this beautiful sunshine when we were in Freycinet but we were very grateful for it then so we decided to treat ourselves to a drink at Elizabeth Street Pier

"Elizabeth Street is the major street which runs southeast to northwest through the city and suburbs of Hobart.

It was named by the Governor of New South Wales from 1810–1821, Lachlan Macquarie, after his wife Elizabeth Macquarie". 

We had encountered many Elizabeth streets on our travels so it was good to know what inspired them all.

"Elizabeth Street starts at Sullivans Cove and runs northwesterly through the CBD of Hobart and the North Hobart shopping district, and changes to become New Town Road at the intersection with Augusta Road in New Town".

The Elizabeth Street Pier where we stopped for a drink that evening, extends into Sullivan's Cove (the Port of Hobart) from Franklin Wharf near the intersection with Elizabeth Street.

Franklin Wharf is Hobart's fashionable Waterfront area where fishing and sailing boats dock, seafood cafés and restaurants are abundant as are cafés, bars and ice-cream parlours all quite reasonably priced considering their beautiful location.

We thoroughly enjoyed our sunny waterfront aperitivo and we were even entertained by a Hobart evening news weather report being televised live with the pier in the background.

Apparently a violent storm was heading our way and fishermen and sailors were being advised to secure their moorings with care before nightfall.

That all seemed highly unlikely at that moment while we were sitting on that picturesque pier enjoying a local sparking wine with Australia's warm, summer sun shining down on us. 

Salamanca Square Hobart 

As we could not enjoy our wonderful meal at Faro surrounded by unique works of art and immersed in a stunning southern ocean setting, we decided to have dinner at Mezethes, a Greek Taverna in Salamanca Square.

Salamanca Square was an excellent choice for us as the Salamanca Arts Centre is there and there are several beautiful art installations in the square itself. 

We loved the Happy Birthday Mr President XO, by Gillie and Marc, from 2014.

And Stephen Walker's Jouney to Southland, from 1979 is stunning.

This circular concrete fountain containing various bronze sculptural forms was originally sited at Risdon Cove, I do not know when it was moved to Salamanca Square but for our sakes I am glad it was.

We may not have been at Faro in Mona, but the meze fish menu at Mezethes could not be faulted and the beautiful artistic setting on Salamanca Square was perfect.

An excellent final evening in beautiful Tasmania