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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, ...

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 ) ...

Aside from MONA , two areas of Hobart that people kept recommending were Battery Point and Salamanca . Since we were staying in the CBD within walking distance from both, we were easily able to check them out. On our first night in Hobart (after the exhausting but illustrious start to our trip - and a two-hour nanna nap!), we decided to check out the Shipwright's Arms Hotel in Battery Point, or " Shippies ", as it's known to locals. A traditional-style pub, Shippies is best known for its link to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race : it has long been a favourite with crew members and spectators alike. Sadly, it was too dark outside and too packed inside for me to get many decent photos. The front bar is very old-school, with a wooden centre bar, brick walls, sporting paraphernalia and TV screens - and, when we entered, it appeared to be men-only. (Had we unwittingly stepped into the nineteenth century?! Should we have worn our bonnets and corsets, and carried em...

On recommendation from the lovely folk at Next Door Cafe , on our way back from Port Arthur , we stopped in Dunalley for a late lunch of fish and chips (or "fiss 'n' chips", as my Mum would say. I reckon it's the only remnant of her Dutch accent). View from car park. Seem to have lots of those in Tassie As far as I could tell, there's hardly any of Dunalley. It's pretty tiny. (Wiki tells me it had a population of 313 in 2006.) And the Dunalley Fish Market is at the arse end - or the top end, depending on your perspective, I suppose. It does have spectacular water views - which I'm sure are amplified by beautiful summer weather - and is possibly the kookiest takeaway shop you'll ever see, but it also has what is likely to be some of the best fish and chips you'll ever eat. Entrance, complete with traditional fish 'n' chip shop plastic door strips Empty decorated tank thing (or a VERY large bathtub for visitors in summe...

We arrived at Port Arthur after a ridiculously early flight to Hobart and a lovely, albeit windy and therefore attention-demanding, scenic drive along some Tasmanian coastline. (Get up-to-date here .) Despite being full, even the car park felt eerie, although I initially allowed that this might have been due to the wintery weather. All I really knew about Port Arthur is that it was a protected tourist site where a significant amount of people were killed during a massacre by a madman in the '90s. While this is true, it seems the Port Arthur Visitor Centre focuses - appropriately - on the site's original history as a convict settlement, now an 'open air museum' and Tasmania's top tourist attraction. The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, which runs the joint, knows its popularity, too: innocent tourists (like us) drive there specifically, only to be whacked with exorbitant ticket prices, the cheapest of which is the Bronze pass at $35.00 per adult...