After another sea day, we arrived in Hobart, Tasmania on Thursday, Feb 8th. We took it easy that morning, taking the local Visitor Bureau shuttle into the city for some sightseeing and shopping. I had been looking for film, becuase I knew I did not bring enough, but most places had it for $9-$12 a roll. We ended up finding a Target at the Elizabeth Street Mall, an outdoor covered shopping area in central Hobart, that had the film I wanted for just $1.88 a roll! So I snagged all they had on the shelf, about 5 rolls, figuring it was on clearance at that price. This area is also where we encountered a thief. You always hear the stories about being safe and knowing what’s going on around you, well as we exited one store I noticed out of the corner of my eye some guy seemed to be following us. Went around a couple corners and sure enough, he was keeping pace. So like I’ve read, I picked out a spot ahead to stop suddenly and look in some store windows. Stop, turn, look, and sure enough, he stops and turns also to look, but I had stopped at the first window of a store, so he ended up looking at the blank wall between two stores. I think he realized we were onto him, because he then turns and walks back the way we came. With that problem out of the way, we continued onto Woolworths to buy more water.
After getting back to the ship and getting lunch, we headed out on our Excursion for the afternoon. First stop was a hill overlooking Hobart and the Tasman Bridge (second link). From there, we headed to the little village of Richmond and the Richmond Gaol. It was at this point that we agreed we’ve seen enough jails. After the jail, we had some time to explore the neighborhood, and settled on a little bakery to get drinks and a bite to eat. After we board the bus again, we headed over to St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, one of the oldest, still in use, churches in Australia. From there, we walked down a hill to the Richmond Bridge, again, one of the oldest, still in use bridges in Australia. After that, we finally started heading to the main reason we wanted this excursion, the Bonorong Wildlife Park, to pet the koalas. There they let the kangaroos roam free, and they always have one koala out so you can pet them. We spent about an hour and a half before heading back to the bus and ship. Next stop, Fjordland after two days at sea.