The Parkers Down Under: Hobart

This is totally me and Jordan.

Who doesn't love a bloomin' onion?!

The hot movie of the 80's.

It's true. Prior to this trip, most of my knowledge/experience with Australia came from these three sources.










One of the amazing perks of Jordan's job is that he gets a four week sabbatical every five years where his company will pay for a trip anywhere in the world. I know, it's unreal. Over the last five years, we've talked about where we might like to go and about a year ago decided on Australia. I mean, if someone else is buying the tickets, you should travel as far away as possible, right?! Interesting fact: the top 4 destinations that people from his company choose to visit are New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Thailand.

We spent the past few months planning and booking tickets and on June 16th, we were off!

Ready for adventure!

We decided to take a two-week trip (Jordan's sabbatical can be taken in a four-week chunk or two two-week chunks) while Noah stayed at our house with my mom. We're so lucky that she was able to come and spend such a significant amount of time with him and keep his routine pretty normal. 

Our flight left Madison around 1pm, then we flew to Dallas/Fort Worth where we had a reallllly long layover. Finally, we took off for Sydney around 9pm. We paid for seats with extra legroom which was nice but we were also right by the galley so there was a lot of foot traffic around us during the whole flight. Being in the air for 17 hours straight was kind of brutal. And even with the blankets, eye mask, and ear plugs, I didn't manage to get even a few hours of sleep. We were very, very relieved to finally land at 6am on the 18th. We actually lost a whole day on the flight over. 

Ready for our international flight!

Ahh, it was nice to stretch our long legs.

We could watch our flight pattern and progress on the in-flight entertainment which was kind of cool. I watched a lot of movies, Jordan played a lot of video games.

Before a 17 hour flight...

and after... we need to sleep!

But we weren't done flying yet! We still had another flight before landing in our first destination: Hobart, Tasmania. As we started planning this trip, we talked about a lot of cities we might want to visit and got some great advice from friends. Jordan mentioned that he thought visiting Tasmania would be awesome. I had no idea where it even was! In case you don't know either, Tasmania is one of the states of Australia and it's the tiny island just south of Australia. Hobart is its capitol. After a nap in the airport, one more (short!) flight, we were finally there!

Looking cute, Kayleen. 

Tasmanian devils in the Hobart airport! Jordan was in love.

First stop: picking up our rental car. Yeah. After talking with several friends that have lived in and visited Australia, we were convinced that driving on our own would be the best way to get around. I was a bit nervous but also excited for the new experience. Jordan was a great navigator and we made it to our AirBNB with minimal stress. The thing that actually bugged me most was that the turn signal was on the right side- I just couldn't remember this and I kept turning on the windshield wipers when I was trying to turn! And *maybe* I dinged up the hubcaps a little when I got a bit to close to a curb... BUT. I think overall I was an excellent driver!

I haven't slept in 30 hours and I'm sitting on the right side of the car to drive. This is totally a good idea. Right?!

Our amazing AirBNB!

When we finally arrived, Jordan and I both just needed to crash for a bit. We found a nearby grocery store to get some snacks, then spent the rest of the day hanging out. We found a beautiful art gallery that had some paintings I would have totally bought if we could afford it... and ship it 9,000 miles. 

For some reason I didn't think that I would have to deal with much jet lag. I was so very, very wrong. The first couple days I felt super dizzy and just 'off' physically and mentally. I was also falling asleep around 6pm and then waking up around 1-3am, unable to go back to sleep. But it was really nice to be able to spend our time however we liked- sleeping, sight-seeing, eating, hanging out, shopping, whatever! It's vacation!

I wish this was in my house. 

Important to remember!

What's on Australian television at 1am and you can't sleep? THE OFFICE. I love this place.

This money is awesome. Hidden, see-through pictures!

On the second day, Jordan and I drove to the top of Mount Wellington. The drive was a bit more intense than we were expecting- we were above the clouds! But getting to the top was amazing. We had views for miles and the terrain was so rugged and beautiful. We explored for about an hour, taking photos and climbing on the rocks. And then all of a sudden we heard... bagpipes?! There was a bagpiper up there playing while a photographer was following him around. It was pretty great.

Yay Tasmania!

It was just so beautiful.

Snow? In June?! Oh yeah... it's winter here right now.

This bagpiper was awesome.

Adventure woman!

We are so good-looking. 

Yep, I did tree pose. Nerd.

After leaving the mountain we explored a nearby forest then had lunch at an adorable cafe. After all that fun I just needed some time to rest and relax. While Jordan went on a walking adventure around town I enjoyed some alone time reading. I can't remember the last time I was able to just lounge in bed for as long as I wanted, not worrying about anything, no to-do lists, nothing to plan. It was bliss.

What is this crazy tree?

Lunch time!

Ahhhhh... time to relax!

Tasmanian ice cream treat!

I like that the calories are listed as "energy"!

One of many sunrises I saw on this trip- I was up early almost every day!

On our third and last day in Hobart, we decided to visit a couple museums. First up was the Museum of Old and New Art. It was such a cool place- it's an art museum that is set mostly underground. When you get there, it feels like you're descending into a cave going down, down, down a bunch of stairs. The artwork is all modern, some of it was very dark, some very strange, some very fun, and all of it was interesting! And we took a ferry to get there! It was a very brisk and windy ride, but the views were unbelievable and it was just a perfect day. In the afternoon we walked to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. They had some amazing exhibits about the natural history of Tasmania and the Aboriginal culture in the area. Then we did some shopping and just enjoyed our last night in Hobart. 

They had sheep to sit on for the ferry ride!

The beautiful view of the fog rolling in.

More views of the fog and bridge.

It was a bit windy at the front of the boat!

Awww, we love this place.

Sunshine through the fog.

I really liked this piece. That is all powdered blue dye. It was hard to resist the urge to touch it!

This was a audio sensory experience with surround sound in the chair.

Another audio piece with a switchboard. I think this looks like the cover of a horror novel or something!

This piece had a walkway where you could step into a room (you can see a person standing) and you're surrounded by oil. They only allowed one person to enter at a time so you didn't bump into anything although the attendant told me that a couple people a day still end up getting oil on themselves by brushing too close to the edge. It was so reflective and the smell was UGH.

This room was so fun- it was like being inside a metallic rainbow igloo! Jordan was clearly enthralled with it.

Panoramic view from the top of the museum.

On the ride back to town. I loved this boat ride!

Jordan enjoyed a virtual reality experience at the history museum.

He definitely fits in with these animals!

Can we just buy all of these?!

We loved Hobart. It actually reminded me a bit of Alaska. It was a really fun city and although we didn't get to see a ton of it, we loved walking around the downtown area visiting all the shops and enjoying the harbor. On our last day we packed up our apartment and returned the rental car (safely!) then hopped onto a plane to our next destination: Cairns!