| American Perspective Travelogue |
2000 |
We arrived in Hobart and stayed at the Mornington Hotel. This is the closest hotel to the Hobart Airport and a really great place. It is not a big hotel. It is convenient to the airport and offers true Aussie hospitality. We loved the massive wisteria vines outside the entrance and the fresh cream in the frig in our room but this is definitely the norm. It also has one of the neatest restaurants. You have to go just to see the elaborate presentation. They are almost too pretty to eat, but we will promise you that your nose will overrule your eyes.
One evening we caught a dinner sailing aboard Captain Fell's Dinner Cruise and had a 4-course dinner and all of the wine we could handle which was minimal, since we got busy chatting with two wonderful couples and spent the rest of the sailing with them and will be staying in touch. Our new friends, Bill and Vicki suggested that we see the town of Richmond, so the following day, we followed their advice.
Richmond is about 25 minutes from Hobart. Today, it is much as it was at the height of its development in 1840. The village is home to a number of "historic firsts", including the oldest bridge, oldest Roman Catholic church and oldest postal building in Australia. Shops proudly sell Tasmanian goods, Lavender products, soaps, eucalyptus products, old-fashioned sweets and woodcrafts shops. This is a town bursting with history and the site of the Richmond Gaol; (prisoner barracks). There is a self-guided tour to offer lots of incentive to proper behavior and sympathy for those that did not.
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