Hobart 2023, January 28

I planned poorly so didn't have any drinks left for the morning, so was really thirsty before heading off to the morning parkrun, which start at 9am in Tasmania instead of 8am in most other states. It was only a 3 kilometre jog to Queens Domain parkrun but it was pretty much all uphill to get there. I also ran a bit of the course which didn't appear too challenging, but overheard there was a difficult single track dirt section later on.

During the run I was in second most of the way, the course was narrow with some sharp hills as I heard, so barely managed 4:00/km during that phase. Being at the top of a hill also meant there was a lot of wind, so only just managed to finish under 19 minutes. I got to add a Q parkrun to the collection, so only I, O, and U remaining.

I ran back to the hotel which was all downhill at least, then walked over to the morning Salamanca markets. It was a busy market where you can't even move at walking pace due to the crowds. There was a significant number of stalls but mostly that arts and crafts junk, quite a lot of food too but nothing too interesting. While in the area I also went to Salamanca Square and Salamanca Arts Centre.

Next went back to the main city centre to Elizabeth Street mall, a bit smaller and quieter than Bourke Street mall. Finally got something to drink then back to supermarket for some lunch supplies and more importantly a box of donuts from the donut shop.

Elizabeth Street mall

I decided to walk over to Tasmania Botanical Gardens before having lunch but was soon regretting it, it was a slow and tiring 2.5 kilometre walk on a dusty uphill track - carrying lunch and a box of donuts didn't help the situation.

Tasman Bridge

After eating lunch I had a look around the gardens, there was an Antarctic house that sound interesting but it was closed! The rest was a mixture of local and foreign plants - the usual cactus, Japanese Garden etc. Had another 2.5 kilometre walk back the other way, but stopped at the Hobart Cenotaph on the way - a big monument that was really windy since it was right next to the bay.

Got back to the hotel around 4pm, really tired from walking for about 4 hours on top of the running. Like usual my left shin is always quite painful. I went to the pool for about 45 minutes to recover before having dinner which helped a bit, then watched the BBL and Australian Open women's final - better than nothing.