Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
INEXPENSIVE
Cumquat on Criterion
MIXED ASIAN/AUSTRALIAN This cafe is
an excellent breakfast venue, offering everything from egg on toast to traditional
porridge with brown sugar. On the menu for lunch and dinner you could find
Thai beef curry, laksa, a daily risotto, and chermoula-marinated fish. The desserts
can be great. Vegetarians and vegans, and those on a gluten-free diet, are very well
catered for, as are your average carnivores.
10 Criterion St.
Value
&
03/6234 5858.
Reservations recommended.
Main courses A$7.50-A$15
(US$4.90-US$9.75). No credit cards. Mon-Fri 8am-6pm.
HOBART AFTER DARK
Built in 1837, the 747-seat
Theatre Royal,
29 Campbell St. (
&
03/6233 2299
),
is the oldest remaining live theater in the country. It's known for its excellent
acoustics and its classical Victorian decor. Ticket prices vary depending on the
performance, but A$25 (US$16) is average.
If theater's not your thing, you may be interested in the
Hobart Historic Pub
Tour
(
&
03/6225 4806
), which traces the city's development through hotel
drinking holes—an important part of life in Hobart early last century. The 2-hour
tour takes in four pubs; visitors enjoy a drink in each as guides give an account of
the building's place in Hobart's drinking history. Tours depart Sunday through
Thursday at 5pm, and cost A$35 (US$23), including a drink at each pub.
Opened in 1829 as a tavern and a brothel frequented by whalers,
Knop-
wood's Retreat,
39 Salamanca Place (
&
03/6223 5808
), is still a raucous place
to be on Friday and Saturday evenings, when crowds cram the historic interior
and spill out onto the streets. Light lunches are popular throughout the week,
and occasionally you'll find jazz or blues on the menu.
My favorite drinking hole in Hobart is
Irish Murphy's,
21 Salamanca Place
(
&
03/6223 1119
), an atmospheric pub with stone walls and lots of dark wood.
Local bands play Friday and Saturday evenings.
If you want to tempt Lady Luck, head to the
Wrest Point Casino,
in the
Wrest Point Hotel, 410 Sandy Bay Rd. (
&
03/6225 0112
), Australia's first legal
gambling club. Smart, casual attire required (collared shirts for men).
3 Port Arthur: Discovering Tasmania's Convict Heritage
¡
102km (63 miles) SE of Hobart
Port Arthur, on the Tasman Peninsula, is one of Australia's prettiest harbors and
houses the extensive remains of Tasmania's largest penal colony—essentially Aus-
tralia's version of Devil's Island. It's the state's number-one tourist destination,
and you really should plan to spend at least a whole day in this incredibly pic-
turesque, yet haunting, place.
From 1830 to 1877, Port Arthur was one of the harshest institutions of its
type anywhere in the world. It was built to house the settlement's most notori-
ous prisoners, often prisoners who had escaped into the bush from lesser insti-
tutions. Nearly 13,000 convicts found their way here, and nearly 2,000 died
while incarcerated. Port Arthur was, and still is, connected to the rest of Tasma-
nia by a strip of land called Eaglehawk Neck. Guards and dogs kept watch over
this narrow path, while the authorities circulated rumors that the waters around
the peninsula were shark-infested. Only a few convicts ever managed to escape,
and most of those either perished in the bush or were tracked down and hanged.
Look out for the blowhole and other coastal formations, including Tasman's
