Hobart, to be precise.

I arrived in the afternoon in my hotel. I figured, this time no Airbnb. I’m only staying for four nights, and the places on Airbnb seemed to be not so central, or private cottages somewhere far out.

My hotel, the Welcome Stranger Hotel in the center of town, is a funny mix of hotel, backpacker’s hostel, snack and pool bar. It’s pretty expensive for what it is, the room is quite basic, but clean. And the staff was super friendly. I didn’t have any luck to find much cheaper that central, so I booked it.

I did not know that some local Regatta takes places this sunday, and that monday is a day off in Tasmania… which explains the hotel situation.

After parking the car and unpacking, I walked through town, the parks, down to the water, the piers…

Then I had a look at Salamanca Square, that hosts the famous Saturday market (already earmarked) as well as a number of restaurants, bars, pubs, book shops, art and craft shops and cafés, all in rows of old sandstone buildings, former warehouses for the port of Hobart.

I walked along the port and then strolled through the CBD.

It’s pretty compact, the usual grid layout, and mostly smaller, colorful brick houses, with a couple of office buildings thrown in.

In the evening I walked up Elizabeth Street towards North Hobart, a strip filled with restaurants, bars, pubs, theaters and shops.

It’s not big. Nothing is big in this state capital of a mere 250.000. But it really has charm.

I ate Malaysian veggie noodles and studied my guide book, then headed down to Salamanca Square again for a glass of Tasmanian wine. Tomorrow I’ll either visit the museum, head up to Mount Wellington or drive to Port Arthur….