Wednesday 4 February Penguin - Hobart

Sunny and warm 21 but Hobart cool just 17

This morning we packed and set off for Hobart making a few stops along the way. We began at the Cherry Farm for coffee with cherry and apple pie, then stopped at the Ashgrove Cheese Factory where they were making Fetta Cheese. We tasted a few cheeses but didn't buy any, Next stop was the Raspberry place and the chocolate coated raspberries were delicious.

After leaving the coast we drove through Deloraine and onto the Great Lake. The drive there was quite scenic with lots of photo opportunities. Our next stop was at Bothwell which is where Ratho Golf Links is located the oldest Golf Course in the southern hemisphere. We first went to the centre of town for lunch and visited the Information Centre which is the where the Golf Museum is located. The displays were very good covering the sticks, the balls the course styles and history of some of the famous Australian Golfers.

Next we went to Ratho to play 9 holes – what an experience, the greens were surrounded by fences and it gave me a new found appreciation for golf surviving in Australia through the 19th century. The fairways were very rough and we were amused that they had just held a Pro-Am at the course last weekend. We had difficulty finding the tees and holes to play. The course is actually 18 holes but we chose to play just 9. It was certainly an unusual experience, one we will not be repeating. Chris was the winner today under very trying conditions.

A couple of hours later we drove through to Hobart. We are staying at the Salamanca Quarry Apartments which are well located in Salamanca Place. They are very modern but a lot of stairs to the 2nd floor where we are staying.

We went to dinner around the corner, the meals were very large – no room for dessert.