Lightly Toasted

The next morning when we got up to a beautiful blue sky with hardly any signs of clouds or rain. The forecast was -1 to 8 degrees C in Hobart with rain clouds. The morning being this clear we dashed off for breakfast place by the atrium at Henry Jones, its called the IXL Jam Cafe. Yummy brekky but s-l-o-w as ever. We had time to kill so that wasn’t really a problem. Soon we dashed off yet again to Mt Wellington before the clouds could cover it. Clear as a day, we were meandering up the the mountain as we spotted a little cloud gathering by from the South west side. Snow, little ice on the road but almost no fog! Yay! Big difference to the previous drive. We parked and got out and the next two hours went by in a moments blink. The view from up the top of Mt Wellington on a clear day is staggeringly beautiful. We are so lucky to be a part of such a picturesque landscape. I took lots of photos as did D and the shot little walks up and down then different paths… it was freezing cold but so worth it.

We came down to the Salamanca Markets later in the day to be confounded by old, new, hippy, retro, daggy and nicknacks. And the food stalls that made us hungry and the coffee shop where the Barista hardly spoke but the lady at the cash register made up for his silence and the neighbouring stalls. Then there were street performers, green energy alternative technologies, crafts from Nepal and India and a lot of them… and then the fresh produce and lots of old daggy clothes. ah sorry!!! I am not much into markets like this but it was good to see it. We also saw people wanting to sell their old Tupperware containers… faded washed and discoloured but still going good. We tried the coffee and some finger food there.

If you are ever there when the markets are on… walk along the pathway till you come to a little open gateway next to the Salamanca Art Center and then walk up the steps till you come out to Kelly St. Walk further up the corner of Kelly St and Hampden Rd and you have the yummies breakfast place ever!! This place is called Jackman and McRoss. If you have pies here I swear you will want to come back for more. They serve their pie with veggies and with home made tangy relish. The pastry on top of the pie is so crisp and perfect that you would feel kinda bad to attack it. And when you do get to the meat it is slow cooked and full of flavour. If hedonism can be associated with food this is the place for it. Thinking of the pies with a touch of their tomato relish is making my mouth water right this minute! Lunch as you can see was very well deserved…. there are a few little restaurants on this street tucked away from the tourist eyes, if in Hobart you must try these Battery Point indulgences.

We wandered around the city and the by-lanes and then decided to head on to the historic township of Richmond around 3:30pm. The drive past the airport turn off onto a rather picturesque country-side where you see undulating valleys and small hills of green and vinewayrds, horses and sheep astray, and you come into Richmond in no time. The town that is known for the oldest bridge in Australia and the oldest Catholic church in Australia. As the sun kept going down the dusk colours painted Richmond in an amazing soft hue. There were cherry blossoms out everywhere. It was such a fantastic day, we covered a lot that day given it was going to be icy cold and raining all day with overcast skies. We were lucky. There were patches of cloud up in the sky and Mt Wellington was starting to get covered in another big thick envelope. By this stage we were enjoying our turndown service at the beautiful Henry Jones.