Queenstown to Hobart is another torturous winding road 268 kms and it took 4:44 hrs in a drizzle. Queenstown by the way is the wettest town in Tasmania and the West has more rain and rugged mountainous terrain than the East. First stop was Nelson Falls, I nearly did not stop because it was raining but a good thing I did because it must be the most spectacular, raging waterfall on this island, not very big but scary with the thunderous sound and the force of the water cascade. It’s a short walk from the car park which is just off the road on a pathway and the lookout is just under the falls so I got blasted with the spray coming off the falls, only time for a short video and out of there hahaha back to the car to dry off. Watch the video, a still photo does not do it justice.

My next stop was Lake St.Clair, it was drizzling so a quick walk around the Visitors Centre and down to the Jetty and then on to Hobart.

Hobart – population 222,356 reported in the 2016 census, the second smallest of the state capitals after Darwin. There are no skyscrapers and Highway 1 runs through the middle of the city. It receives 40.8 clear days a year and an average of 626 millimetres making it Australia’s second-driest capital city after Adelaide. This translates to a constant drizzle but no heavy rainfall. A very nice city.

Bruny Island Cruise – I bought a ticket from the Visitors Centre in Hobart, there are various options. I chose to drive down to Kettering and get picked up by the tour bus at 0830, this goes onto the ferry and then a drive to Adventure Bay at the Southern end of the island. Cruise on a small very fast boat starts at 1100 and returns at 1400 but we returned at 1330 after 2.5 hours due to bad weather. Going out was fine though windy and freezing so we got to see most of the sights which are rock formations, a few seals and luckily a pod of dolphins on the way back. The return journey was wild, strong winds blowing the rain sideways, they give you a waterproof poncho which mostly keeps you dry but not my camera which died from water poisoning. Lesson learned, next time its wet use your phone which is waterproof. After that lunch and the drive back home.

Port Arthur Prison – I went to this place expecting to see a prison but instead I saw nicely manicured parklands with some old houses hahaha not what I was expecting. The only place that I found interesting was the Separate Prison used for Solitary Confinement which has been rebuilt. There was also an interesting exhibition of Mug shots from the early 1900’s of criminals from Sydney.

On the way back I stopped to see some rock formations along the coast.