INTRODUCTION

We were due to depart on Tues 4-Mar-25, and return on Mon 10-Mar-25, about 7 days away. We had decided to fly down & back and get a "hire car" while there, as a car trip down and Ferry crossings would take too much time.

Because of Cyclone Alfred, just arriving on the Coast, off Gold Coast, we were VERY lucky to get a Flight out, and a return Flight. Could have been a PROBLEM as for our domestic trips, we seldom take out Travel Insurance.

We arrived at Hobart, feeling VERY relieved and picked up our "budget hire car" a Suzuki Vitara sedan, quite satisfactory.

Immediately headed off to the Wrest Point Casino, for 3 nites, quite satisfactory for Lady Pamela & Parj. Neither was a gambler, so we enjoyed the magnificent views, meals and drinks, and excellent help from friendly staff.

We wanted 3 nites, so as to visit Mt Wellington, Port Arthur, and do a Harbor Cruise with food and booze. One of Lady Pamelas favourite pastimes!!

Now let the Photos and associated narratives, tell the tale :-

Navigation :- Our previous TRUSTY GPS, a Garmin Nuvi 1450, had expired on our recent Europe trip, so we were relying on our Mobile Phone, hooked up to the cars display. We NEVER really got the hang of this, but somehow, with a GREAT amount of time/trouble, managed to get where we wanted. A friendly cop gave us some help/advice and poor Parj spent hours trying to master this ? (should be easy?)

We had a brilliant sunny day to drive up Mt Wellington and see the great views of Hobart, and then cross the Derwent River and visit Port Arthur, historic Convict prison/settlement.

Wrest Point Casina, Hobart, 3 nites great views, food, booze and staff.

Driving up Mt Wellington, Hobart. Great

weather and views. (seldom so good!)

View from top, Mt Wellington

Looking from TOP of Mt Wellinton, WOW !

Derwent River bridge, on way to Pt Arthur

Port Arthur visitor centre, VERY busy.

Amazing what they did with CONVICT labour and skills.

Next Day it was our intention to Drive to Launceston, via Mt. Ben Lomond. However, our GPS was NOT working properly, despite help from a "friendly local policeman". The drive up and down Mt Lomond was quite spectacular, sharp bends, great views, often scary near HUGE cliff drop-offs !!

Friendly COP tried to help with GPS, no luck !

Going up Mt Ben Lomond, Tassie Ski area.

View from Mt Ben Lomond. The last stretch of road, previously open years ago, has now been closed.

From Mt Ben Lomond, we headed for Launceston, not far away, to find accommodation. The Motel/Hotel seek on our previous GPS was NOT available, and we couldn't find any suitable accommodation. As Tassie was so small, we headed on to Devenport, where we found an EXCELLENT NOVOTEL on the waterfront. This provided good food, booze, views and excellent nites sleep.

The EXCELLENT Novotel in Devenport hotel on the waterfront. Good value, excellent facilities.

From Devenport, we drove SOUTH to Strahan, hoping to find accommodation and special seafood meals. However, there was NOTHING suitable in Strahan, so we had to go on to Zeehan to find food and bed.

From Zeehan, we headed East via Queenstown and back to Hobart, via SCENIC countryside & views.

Back at HOBART, Lady Pamela wanted to do a "Harbour Cruise" off-course with food and drinks. This was quite pleasant, seeing much of the Derwent River, Cruise ships, Bridges and much of Hobart. We were apprehensive about getting a FLIGHT back to Qld., because of Cyclone Alfred. Therefore, we did NOT plan any sightseeing tours in HOBART, hoping to get our scheduled flight home. Again our stay at Wrest Point in Hobart, on the river, was excellent. We were on the TOP or 15 th floor, with excellent views. However, navigating the bars and restaurants still proved difficult. ( both 82 yo ?)

Back in Wrest Point, Level 15 views arrow_upward

Cruise Boat, Hobart harbor, Great arrow_forward

Lady Pamela on Cruise Boat, happy

Parj fighting off Sea-sickness after cruise

We had both been to Tassie before, but it was a pleasure to re-visit such a lovely place. Our only problems were the concerns about Airflights due to Cyclone Alfred, which turned out OK, and NOT having a "RELIABLE" GPS in a strange area. The GPS problem will be solved for next trip.

Usually, in our trips in Australia, we do not bother to take out Travel Insurance. On this occasion, this could have proved costly if Airlines had been cancelled !!

When we got back home, the Cyclone had caused many POWER outages, including at home. We had to find MOTEL accommodation for 5 nites nearby, until the POWER had been turned back on. What a mess this made to all our fridges and fallen trees in the backyard. Much work ahead to recover from this.

Nevertheless, we can recommend a visit to Tassie, it’s a pleasant change from OUTBACK Qld., and mainland Oz. We found the Tassie people quite friendly and helpful to tourists. No problems with safety.