Hobart

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Hobart is the capital of the Australian island Tasmania. Tasmanians are lovely people, with a strong island community feeling, welcoming foreigners - hitching is possible even on small roads. Someone hitched to a town of a 100 people. As there are only 500 000 inhabitants on the whole island, don't be surprised to meet some people twice ! Until recently, tourism was not really developped in Tasmania, so you will meet less tourists, and everything would be more relaxed than on the mainland.

Hitchiking Out

Highways

There are three main highways out of the Hobart area:

  • The Brooker Highway (1), which heads north and splits into the Midlands Highway (1) which heads north, and the Lyell Highway (A10) which heads west. The intersection of these highways at the Bridgewater Bridge is one of the best places to hitch from to travel north or west, since cars have to slow down to 60km/h to travel through the intersection and the bridge. You'll probably need a ride to get you there though.
  • The Southern Outlet (A6) which heads south to the Huon Valley, the Channel area and Bruny Island (via ferry at Kettering). Hitching is best achieved from the start of the outlet at the end of Davey Street, which is a twenty minute walk from the CBD.
  • The Tasman Highway (also known as the Eastern Outlet) (A3) which heads east to the airport and the east coast. Precisely because of the Tasman Bridge crossing the Derwent just at the beginning of the highway, it is hard to start hitch-hiking somewhere near the city, as there is no proper side-road suitable for stopping cars before the bridge. One of the options is to reach the second highway entry at Warrane by taking bus #654, #655, #664 or #665 (there are often a whole bunch of numbers for the same line) getting out at "Shackleton Street" or "Stop nb 27" on Cambridge road, or you may ask the driver to drop you off closest to the motorway explaining him/her you are intending to hitch-hike. Finally, walk to the highway and get a ride there.

As there aren't so many buses on weekends and as enough drivers coming from the Southern Outlet will just pass through the CBD, another valuable option is to start hitching before the CBD on Davey Street.


To and from the airport

The Hobart Airport is more a big taxi dropping you at your hostel than a real bus, and it will cost you at least 15$. A bit of hitching will save you that money : take the bus to Warrane or Mornington to cross the Derwent and then hitch at the entry of the Tasman Highway for a 6km lift.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)



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