After breakfast on Tuesday, we wandered down to the port and took a Historic Hobart Cruise. We took a seat out on the top deck, looking backwards, and the boat pulled out, heading north up the Derwent River. There was commentary as we went. We went up past Government House and over into Rose Bay, passing under the Tasman Bridge. In 1975 a bulk carrier hit one of the pylons and brought down a large section of the bridge. Twelve people died, seven on the ship and the other in four cars that plunged the forty-five metres into the water. Luckily, the collapse was confined to the span between the pylons, unlike the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore recently. When they were repairing the bridge they had to use a steel beam to span the gap because there was so much debris in the river they couldn’t rebuild the pylon.

After the cruise, we wandered up into town and got sandwiches for lunch. Then we went to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. This museum is free to enter and is in several historical buildings including Commissariat Store which is the oldest surviving public building in Tasmania.

After the museum, we went back to the apartment for a nap and to get ready for our fancy dinner at Aloft. The restaurant is perched on the top of the Brookes St Pier, overlooking the water. They do a tasting menu. Every time I go to a restaurant like this, I kick myself that I didn’t take some notes on what we ate. At least this time, I remembered to take some photos from the second course (except for the first lot of dishes). The food was excellent, the ambience great, service was good and not stuffy. We really enjoyed our meal.

What we ate: Tempura saltbush and green goddess, Bruny Island Wallaby Tartare, Master stock lamb ribs and, pictured above clockwise from top left, Crispy Eggplant, Kingfish with buttermilk dressing, Scallops, Blue Trevalla with zucchini, capers and horseradish, Pork, Rhubarb and Raspberry and Vanilla.

Afterwards, we had a bit more of a wander around the port area, working off some of that food.