Hobart & White Beach
We arrived with much excitement into South Hobart to meet my Aunt Sarah and her furry companion Luca. It was a first-time meeting for Claire and Sare and from within the scope of Hugh’s memory, it was his first encounter with his great Aunt too. After they overcame their initial shyness the kids settled quickly into their new home, Claire making instant best friends with the very patient Luca.
I had a big day blitzing the Christmas shopping in conveniently compact, easy-going Hobart Town. Chores done, we went for an afternoon family stroll through the elevated and open Queens Domain, with great views over the busy Derwent River.
We returned to the Domain the next morning for a festive Christmas Eve parkrun, then packed up and headed south to the gorgeous coves, beaches and dramatic coastal cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula. Sarah's shack, where we would be spending Christmas and the next week, was nestled on a hillside bush block with great views over the ocean at White Beach.
Christmas was a very laid-back affair. The Christkind got the show started on Christmas Eve with a special Australian delivery ahead of attending his northern hemisphere duties. Hugh felt hard done by, receiving nothing on his extensive wish-list but luckily Santa came up with the goods the next morning. His very own REAL fishing rod and tackle box sent Hugh over the moon and kept Sarah and me occupied for most of the rest of the morning. Claire was simple sweetness, joyful for all the little gifts she unwrapped.
No fuss was made over food for the day, except for pancakes in the morning. Instead we filled the day with activity, including an exclusive visit to Port Arthur. Closed to tourists on Christmas Day, we had the breathtaking grounds all to ourselves.
Santa made another two surprise deliveries - some mix up with the elves - conditioning the kids well for a lifetime of capitalist over consumerism. We closed out the day with a fast-forward-through-the-talking-bits introduction for the kids to The Sound of Music. Our hikes are now filled with far too much "Do-Re-Mi-ing" for Matthias' liking.
On boxing day we enjoyed a blissful sleep in and then returned to Port Arthur to watch the annual woodchopping competition. This time the old penal settlement was busy with tourists, but as woodchopping spectators we were lucky to enter for free.
Relieved not to have witnessed any severing of feet by the axe wielding heavyweights, we drove on to the Maingon Bay lookout. We loved the roiling seas of the south coast and the mist laden view out to Cape Raoul. The fury of the ocean was palpable at Remarkable Cave and Maingon Blowhole. Matthias walked on to Mount Brown and Crescent Bay Beach and the kids and I picked him up at beautiful and aptly named Safety Cove.
The following day we all set out for the 9km return hike, with countless stairs, from Fortescue Bay to Cape Hauy. It is part of the popular multi-day Three Capes walk. The kids were rewarded for their efforts with a swim and an ice-cream on the way home. For Matthias and me, the walk was reward enough. The second half traversed spectacular coastal cliffs, culminating with an "edge of the world" view of the dizzying rock climbing pilar, The Totem Pole. We watched huge pods of dolphins, saw seals on the rocks below and a white-faced echidna and a tiny grey whip snake on the path back.
We enjoyed superb weather for our whole week in White Beach, bar one very windy day. We were amused to see the Tassie BOM proclaim "heat wave" warnings when temperatures are set to reach mid twenties. It was on one of those "severe weather warning" days that we drove out to the Coal Mines historic site, only to find it closed due to said severe weather. Instead of turning back we drove on to Lime Bay State Reserve and took a fairly uninspiring walk, void of wildlife, out to Lagoon Beach.
We had the car booked in in Hobart for a diagnostic of the returned oil leak. I willingly volunteered to drive it back, secretly filled with excitement at the prospect of a night and day all to myself. I had a blissful evening on the couch with takeaway and a movie, followed by a great day exploring Hobart. I upgraded my wardrobe at the charity shops, ate Van Diemens Land Creamery ice-cream for lunch, inspected the winning Sydney to Hobart Maxi yachts at the marina, supped a dram of Lark whiskey and mourned Tasmania’s colonial-indigenous history at the Return to Country exhibition at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Full on "me-time" I was further treated to the gorgeous excitement of both kiddies rushing out to greet me on my return. They’d had a great day at Roaring Beach and paddling in the kayak.
On our final day out of White Beach Sarah joined us for a walk out to Cape Raoul Lookout. We then ventured further to the Shipsterns Bluff Lookout and on to complete the Tunnel Bay loop walk. We were flogging the kids right from the outset and it remained that way for nearly the whole 10km. It was a hard slog for all of us and the kids were outright heroes for getting through it.
Sad to leave our Tasman Peninsula paradise, we had a day of "touristing" ahead of us. We stopped to look at the Coal Mines, the Tassellated Pavement and all the lookouts in-between. We were again treated to beautiful weather and thrilled by Tasmania’s dramatic coastline. The day could have taken a different turn when Claire experimented with sticking a piece of chewing gum up her nose. Luckily a trip to the doctor was averted with a strong blow and a pair of tweezers.
Back in Hobart we bid farewell to 2022 with the kids' first taste of fireworks viewed from the hills of South Hobart.
