My flight from Hobart was scheduled for 10.10am and, as I drove to the airport just before 8, I regretted that yesterday’s foul weather had meant that I hadn’t really seen much of Hobart.  The weather, though still overcast, was a bit better and scheduled to improve.  Nonetheless, I returned my hire car and headed into the terminal to check in.

It was at this point that I learned that my flight had been cancelled and that the Quantas check in staff weren’t sure which alternative flight I had been bumped to.  I was given a voucher to get breakfast and told to come back in 30 minutes.  When I did, there was a substantial and slow queue of disgruntled passengers due on the same flight.  When I got to the front of that queue I was told that I had been put on the 9.55pm flight, due in to Melbourne at 11.15pm.  I had been due to play golf near Melbourne this afternoon with David, so I called him to let him know I wasn’t going to make it.  Fortunately we were able to rearrange fro Tuesday afternoon.  As I was on the ‘phone I bumped into Richard, who had been with the TGF crew at Royal Hobart and was departing to Brisbane.  He mentioned that Peter (who lives in Hobart) and Firey (who had been due on the same flight as me) were both around the airport.

I managed to find Peter and Firey and Peter offered to show us some of Hobart.  We drove down to the historic Salamanca Quay where we had a coffee and then strolled around.  Tasmania is well known for its thriving wine industry but less well known (to me, at least) for its distilling and brewing.  I had sampled some local beers last night but had not, as yet, tried the whisky.  Firey and I rectified that at the Lark distillery, while Peter, as designated driver, watched on.

I am pleased to report that The Lark’s Traditional Cask Single Malt is, indeed, a fine whisky.  Firey had been put on an earlier flight than me and Peter needed to get him back to the airport.  On the way, he dropped me off at the Museum of Old an New Art, outside Hobart.  MONA is one of Hobart’s biggest and most controversial attractions.

MONA is and exhibition of works owned by David Walsh, who grew up in Tasmania and made a fortune as a professional gambler, using software to make a profit.  He is a colourful figure and MONA reflects that.  Opened in 2011 it is, first of all, a tremendous building, built of rust coloured metal, constructed on four floors and built into the rock face, on a spit of land overlooking a bay.  It is surrounded by Walsh’s winery Moorilla  (and brewery Moo Brew).  As well as the gallery on three floors, there is a high class restaurant, a wine bar and a cellar door.

The current exhibit “On the Origin of Art” combines a few traditional works (some classical European, some from other cultures) alongside newer works.  As with most modern art, I found some of it challenging, some of it interesting and some of it made me wonder what the hell it was about!

A number of works compared historic representations of the female body (classical European nudes, early Japanese drawings, South Sea Island sculptures, with more pornographic images from the turn of the 20th century, the ’40s and ’50s and more recently.  Startling and shocking but actually very thought provoking.

I had a bite to eat in the wine bar, with a pleasant glass of riesling.

I returned to view more art, including some of the sculptures outside the building:

I then returned to the wine bar with my laptop, intending to post a blog entry.  Frustratingly, my laptop’s battery had died, hence the delay in posts.  Eventually, I picked up a series of voicemails which had failed to reach me previously as reception in the bar was poor.  Peter had rung to arrange to pick me up.  We agreed that I would catch the Mona Roma:

A ferry provided to take MONA customers to the Salamanca Quay.  At Salamanca Quay, I came across the “cellar door” of Domaine Simha, a Hobart winery with a very natural, traditional approach, whose wines I had been keen to try.  While I waited for Peter I tried a couple of their pinot noirs, which were excellent.

Peter had suggested that I have dinner with him and Amanda, his wife and he would then drive me to the airport.  Peter lives in a large house on a hill, a few miles out of Hobart.  The views are simply stunning, as shown by the image at the top of this blog.  We had a lovely meal and I had a couple of glasses of very good local pinot noir before Peter dropped me off at the airport just in time for my flight.  What could have been a miserable day had actually turned out to be a very pleasant one.

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