I woke up bright and early. Actually it wasn't even bright, considering it was 5am? (Could not sleep post-Port Arthur!) Well, so dark and early. Darren was fast asleep of course. But I was too excited to go explore, so I dragged him out of bed and off we went to our very first 'pit-stop' - Jackman & Mcross Bakery on Battery Point. We've heard and read about LOTS of good things about this bakery. From our friends Madeleine, The Design Files, and also Bloom. Once again, we were the very first customers. Darren and I were saving our tummy space for breakfast at Salamanca Market, so we decided to just share a Chocolate Eclair. Bad idea! It was really hard to share it. The eclair was too yummy and it brought back so many memories growing up, where my mum would buy my sister and I eclairs. Light, fluffy and sweet cream sandwiched in between beautiful choux pastry. Darren and I finished it in split seconds! We had to hold our hunger in and move on.
We arrived at Salamanca Market and my, my was I like a kid off the leash! So much to see and touch and feel and smell! I'm a big sucker for weekend markets. I often visit the ones in Melbourne. (Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers Market is my favourite of all!) Darren and I started off by treating ourselves to some tempura mushrooms and warm apple juice. I've never had warm apple juice before. It was pretty interesting in a yummy sort of way and definitely worth the try. I still pretty much prefer icey cold apple juice though, simply because I tend to burn my tongue drinking hot stuff!
With apple juice and mushrooms in hand, we went along, taking in everything. We bought some yummy Tasmanian honey. We love our honey and go through bottles quite quickly! Along with a pack of Gilespies Ginger beer. Highly recommended by our dear friend, Lynsey. If you don't like an over-bearing ginger taste and prefer something more san-pellegrino-ish, this my friend, is for you!
Apart from walking about looking at interesting objects, Darren and I also did our groceries! Hahaha. Oh yes! That's how we roll! We've heard many good things about Tasmania being the land of good food and produce. The carrots and veggies certainly did look bigger and greener. I imagined that they would be super sweet so since we drove and were on the ferry back, we ended up filling our entire large Esky with super sweet carrots, onions, leeks and 'hardy' veggies. Best decision ever! I made a big pot of veggie soup after coming home from Tassie. It was oh so sweet and delicious. Yum! Oh and of course we bought apples too! Everyone told us Tassie has amazing apples. We were at an apple stall and couldn't decide which ones to get so I got one of each variety. I don't even like apples but Tassie apples, they're truly the best. So sweet and crunchy, like real Japanese Fuji apples. Yummy! 
While at Salamanca, we also made it a point to explore all the little shops and galleries around, such as those at Salamanca Arts Centre. We had brunch at Tricycle Cafe. Yummy food, served on beautiful ceramic wares. We went into Matthew Evan's A Common Ground, and also The Maker where I ended up returning to buy 2 heart shaped keys. One for my sister and another for myself. While around the area, we also discovered a fun fairy shop. I forgot what it's called. But it's amazing. PINK and glitter everywhere! I felt like a kid all over again. There was even a 'fairy' reading stories to little kids. So funny and oh so adorable. If you've got kids, beware! Your kiddos will be pulling you into the shop for sure! We did see that happening. Haha.. It's too cute to resist! 
Post Salamanca, Darren and I headed off to walk around in the city. We dropped by a bunch of lovely shops such as Love and Clutter, Ruby's Room, Store & Co. and so on. Coming from Melbourne, we were not interested in the bigger shopping malls such as David Jones and Myer. Instead, we chose to shop around smaller independent stores.
After walking around, digesting all our food, we headed to the waterfront for lunch #2. Haha. We're such pigs! As recommended by friends, we had fish and chips at the wharf. There were quite a few different fish and chip boats to choose from. We went with the cutest looking one which had a shark cartoon on it. (We ended up having fish and chips everyday for the next 3 days, so we pretty much tried everything there, they're all yummy and good!)
With a full tummy(This time for real! Especially after 2 breakfasts, a brunch and a lunch), we headed up to Mt Wellington. It was about 3.30 when we arrived and it was snowing and really foggy. The thing about Mt Wellington, is that the weather up there changes quite a bit. While we were there, it snowed, and was all foggy and misty. And then the sun came and everything was bright and sunny and then the clouds shifted again and it was back to being all foggy. So be prepared! Sun Screen, gumboots, snow boots, gloves, scarf and all. I wasn't really prepared. I was wearing my trainers and they were pretty useless when it came to walking on icey rocks! There were truly moments of panic while being trapped in between sharp icey rocks. Darren on the other hand, was in heaven throughout the entire time. He certainly had the right shoes on. Oh and one thing about Darren, he LOVES the snow and was really hoping we could hit the ski slopes this year. But we chose to visit Tassie instead. So when we both stepped off out of the car into Winter wonderland, he practically pee-ed in his pants from excitement. (ok, I'm just kidding! He's a grown-up so things like that don't happen.) But yes, Mt Wellington's pretty awesome. Snow everywhere! (Especially since we visited right in the middle of Winter!) It's right on top and it overlooks Hobart. So you get super views! 
We spent quite a fair amount of time playing in the snow while up there. It was a little too late to go on the walking tracks. Wished we had a full day for that! We only had about an hour or so before it got dark. But still, we did managed to squeeze in some snowman building time. Ok. Actually, let's be honest here. We did not end up building snowmen. Instead... I'm sorry but please don't get angry... We STOLE everyone else's snowmen! I know! We're horrible sneaky adults! You see, it was a little hard to build our own snowman as the snow around our area had all hardened. So instead, we decided to 'relocate' abandoned snowmen and place them all together. Let's look at it this way. We gave them a new home! Hehehe. We placed them all by the side of the road and Darren decided to turn them into adventurous hitchhikers.
It was really fun as everyone started coming around taking photos, smiling and laughing at what we were doing. Cars were pulling up at the side of the road just so they could get pictures. It was nice seeing everyone smile and wave. I guess we kind of created a mini 'tourist attraction'? So you see, sometimes, stealing other people's snowmen ain't that bad a thing to do. Hehe (:
And yes, that says 'NEED RIDE'. Oh Darren. You're funny! After our time up in 'snow-land', we arrived back in the city at about dinner time. And guess what we decided to have for dinner? FISH AND CHIPS! Hahaha. Darren and I, we both looooove fish and chips. So throughout our entire time in Tassie, we had Fish and Chips 6 times, over 6 days. Yup! You heard it right. We are crazy!
You see, seafood in Tassie is just so fresh and so sweet. The scallops we had were smaller than the ones from Victoria. But they're sweeter. Fishes were fresher and flaked off the fork. And the prawns were crunchy! I can't quite describe it. You've got to go try it yourself. The taste is just indescribable!
Post-dinner, we decided to burn all our fats (or so we thought!) by walking about exploring. We walked to the city and back, around Salamanca again and stopped by the wharf to look at boats. It was cold but pretty nice. Did you know, Salamanca Place lights up with fairy lights at night? It was cute and rather romantic! Not sure if they do it every night though. Or was it just a Saturday/weekend thing. Still, we enjoyed walking through trees with fairy lights strung above our heads. Very 'New York'! And a perfect way to end the day.
On the whole, I really enjoyed Hobart so far. The sights, sounds, smells. Salamanca Market is without a doubt, a highlight. And Mt Wellington was super fun too! Beautiful, breath-taking sights of Hobart. You should go if you have the time! It's definitely worth it. Alrightyo, I'm off to take a shower and chill in bed. I've been sick and so posting will be a little bit slower. Sorry! Just need the rest. This flu I'm down with, it's nasty! Ok, be back tomorrow evening with Hobart Part 2. It's going to be all about the astoundingly amazing, magnificent, marvellous (Insert your very own good word) MONA!
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