Last week I was teaching cooking and nutrition at the Australian Maritime College in Launceston and then snuck away for a girls weekend in Hobart, with my Sydney BFF Jane. And it was divine. From the Launceston CWA shop selling home made wares to that meal at Garagistes, Tassie served up more than I could ask for. Here are my postcards and notes for your next trip. Plan it now.
Our Airbnb accommodation at the old Sunday School in North Hobart was just perfect. One room living with a kitchen for a self catered breaky, cheese plate or glass of bubbly on arrival.
The only problem was we had to much eating and exploring to do and didn’t spend much time here. Saturday morning we were up bright and early. Breaky was at the hip Environs cafe in Battery Point as Pigeon Hole was too busy. Then a walk around Salamanca Market with a farm fresh apple juice, a look at woodfired pizzas from the back of a truck and Wallaby Pies, plus a spot of cheese tasting at Bruny Island Cheese Company shop.
Next up we headed out in the trusty hire car hugging the Derwent River like the early explorers would have done to visit Redlands Estate. You see my friend Jane Read can trace her family tree back to this property and the illegitimate son of King George IV of England. It’s an epic tale of love and loss. Redlands Estate was a thriving convict serviced farm and is now in the process of becoming a boutique single malt whisky distillery. We had the full farm to fork tour looking at barley and peat, and a tasting or two, but more on that in another post real soon.
We rushed back to shower and then head to dinner at the talk of the country, Garagistes. We were worried about being late for our online booking slot of 6pm ordered 2 weeks in advance, but of course this is Hobart and we had the choice of three car parks right, out, the, front. Top right: Smoked eel, rhubarb, laver + pickled hawthorne blossom. Bottom left: Lightly vinegared blue mackerel, sugar snap peas, lovage + salt bush.
Sunday we self-catered for breakfast and then headed to MONA for a mind boggling time. Old and new art including Sidney Nolan’s Snake wall and the live art installation by Wim Devloye, Cloaca, that is a simulated intestine fed daily which *ahem* poops on cue.
We would have visited the Sunday Farm Gate Market but that would have meant no slow lunch and more talking at Smolt. So we made the pact to come back in 2015 and do the Huon Valley and The Agrarian Kitchen. Don’t you love Tassie? What’s your favourite spot or stop? Share your ideas below in the comments lovelies.
