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Showing posts with the label Cellar Door

Hobart: Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)

Mona sounds like your great-aunt. Or someone with big hair that Craig McLachlan would sing about . It is also the snappy and memorable acronym for Hobart's newest - and so far, very successful - tourist attraction: The Museum of Old and New Art . View from MONA Cafe Opened in 2011 after a $75 million refurb of its former identity, the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities, MONA is happily situated among the Moorilla Estate winery on the Berriedale peninsula of Hobart. Outdoor stage area Australia's largest privately-funded museum, its artworks come from the collection of David Walsh , a Tasmanian millionaire and professional gambler known as quite a character (or,  according to the MONA website , a "prick"). The art featured tends to err on the side of shocking, frequently referencing sex, death and violence, and apparently designed to challenge the viewer's sensibilities wherever possible. In a nutshell, MONA is the must-see attraction of Hobart, ...

(Out of) Hobart: Historic Richmond

On Day 2 in Tassie, we had booked in for a wine tour with Boutique Wine Tours to " Historic Richmond ", half an hour's drive out of Hobart. Unfortunately, we did not get off to a good start, awaking late and disgruntled to a rainy day, and then NOT BEING ALLOWED TO TAKE MY COFFEE ON THE TOUR BUS. (Sort of understandable-ish, and yet, I am an adult... and the cup had a lid.) Anyone who knows me knows what a tragedy this would have been for me - not to mention the other people on the tour. The tour guide began his rather interesting spiel about the region and our stops for the day, but I was so tired and grumpy and uncaffeinated, I was (very maturely) loathe to listening. But, luckily, a wine tour involves wine, so the effects of my lack of caffeination were soon lessened by the effects of alcohol. Our first stop was Puddleduck , a charming boutique winery with a cute duck-in-water logo and a shopful of merchandise, run by winemaker Darren Brown (ex- Moorilla, of MONA ) ...