I’ve always had a distant fascination with Tasmania. It is a seemingly remote outpost island that is not much in the news, known for its native “devils”, and a stepping stone to Antarctica. We arrived in Hobart, Australia’s second oldest city located at the base of majestic Mount Wellington, at the height of their crisp autumn to discover a beautiful, Europeanesque harbor town with stone buildings and colonial cottages, vintage sea vessels, tidy hillside suburbs, quaint shopping districts, fresh local food and handcrafted beers and wine. Once a penal colony, Hobart was built on the sweat and blood of early convicts and is now one of the most enjoyable, laid-back, and engaging of Australia’s cities, surrounded by national parks, wilderness, and beaches.

Port of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Elizabeth Pier, Hobart, Tasmania

I wandered out alone to some fabulous shops and galleries in the port area and the nearby historic limestone warehouse district of Salamanca Place that featured high quality unique and contemporary aboriginal paintings, wool and woolen goods, local crafts, pubs and cafes. Later, we took a bus tour across the Derwent River to view the city and nearby countryside from a spectacular lookout point high above the harbor.

Tasmania produces some stellar wines that seldom make it off the island, so we went to the Barilla Bay Oyster Farm to see how the renowned local oysters are produced and paired with local vintages. Along with oyster farming, Barilla Bay also produces an unusual product called “Candy Ab”, which is small, whole abalone dried to a rock-hard, puck-like consistency, most commonly exported to China where it is reconstituted and used as a popular ingredient in cooking. The oysters are farmed in a series of wire cages strung offshore, where trucks can drive to and tend during low tide. Dean was in his element as we sampled some lovely local wines from Observatory Hill Vineyard with succulent fresh oysters.

This little island state of Australia may be most commonly associated with it’s Tasmanian Devil, the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial, known for his crankiness and shrill, goose-bump shrieks. But don’t be fooled. It will quietly charm you.

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