TASMANIA. Hobart.

North of Hobart we spied some interesting, large sculptures in a garden next to a magnificent Georgian house. As we went past I saw the main gate was open, so we did an about-turn on the highway.... no mean feat with a caravan attached! We wandered in and were met by the owner who generously gave us a brief tour of his stunning property, the gate of which was open only because he was expecting a delivery! He explained that his work is largely commercial, but he also showed us a series of bird baths, some of which were fountains as well, which are on a smaller scale.

We are based in a caravan park near the famous MONA and have been food shopping today.

The next day was spent exploring the waterfront and Salamanca Place, poking through the interesting shops in the arts precinct. It was great to see a huge collection of Deeping Dolls, made by Jill Roberts. The range includes families, kings and queens of England and many others, painted in fine detail and so collectible. We also shopped in Kathmandu and bought a new sleeping bag for Glenn and a lightweight cabin bag for me.

During our meanderings we happened upon the Hobart Real Tennis Club and wandered in to watch a game in progress. One of the members came to sit beside us behind the netting, and explained the rudiments of the game. It is quite a bit like squash in that the ball rebounds of all walls, and some rooftops, but it is scored in a similar way to tennis with some major handicapping to allow a novice to be competitive with a champion. It was played by royals and aristocrats and has a long history and is the oldest of five in the country.

The next day we walked around Battery Point, enjoying specialist antique shops and indulging in cake and coffee at the well-patronised Jackman & McRoss. The area is quite steep, with small and lovely terraces, narrow streets and wonderful views.

There are some extremely beautiful homes and colourful gardens behind brick walls, tiny shops and narrow lanes. Then there is Arthur Circus, the quaintest roundabout we've ever seen. It circles around a park bordered with flowers and ringed with Georgian houses, like dolls houses surrounded with miniature gardens.

As we walked down the convict built Kelly Steps we looked over into Kelly's walled garden and then entered it to look at the yellow, contemporary installation - meme ii Kelly's garden, designed by Marie Sierra. She has created two large outdoor works of these 'weeds' of nature, made around the idea of the meme, which is like a vehicle for carrying social ideas or practices. Both flourish and re-seed, often in harsh conditions.

A refreshing cold beer in Salamanca Place!

In the afternoon we drove the hairpin bends up to Mount Wellington and luckily had a clear day with panoramic views over Hobart and beyond to Eagle Hawke Neck. There are a lot of Chinese tourists about in Tasmania we have noticed, mostly on organised tours.

Of course we went to the famous Salamanca Market on Saturday, along with five million other people and loved the huge variety of stalls and the innovative craft.

There was a lot of Tasmanian produce and some great buskers and we bought Beetroot Marmalade which we are tempted to eat by the spoonful it is so delicious. We ate lunch at the Blue Eye restaurant at the end of the market and had a wonderfully fresh and delicious seafood meal, served with style in a waterfront setting. Below is an art work in paper on a wall in the restaurant.

In the afternoon we took in the experience of MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), and now understand its reputation as a Hobart must-see! The contemporary building is just amazing with three levels cut into the beautiful warm sandstone which is in contrast to the dim lighting and heavy atmosphere of the gallery. The viewer enters at ground level and then immediately descends into the depths of the gloom to the lowest level, then moves up through the levels to finish at the top. Security is obvious and the collection is eclectic to say the least. A lot of it is quite confronting and thought-provoking, and all of displayed with originality. It ranges from antiquities through to cutting edge streams of data from astronomical observations. There we also two machine embroidery pieces. Cafes and bars abound inside and out and the grounds have outdoor eating and stage areas, sculptures, a jetty and a helipad.

Today the temperature hit 39c at midday but by 5pm we were in fleecy jackets, pants and furry boots. They say in Tasmania that if you don't like the weather, just wait 20 minutes!!

We started out at the farmer's market in town stocking up on strawberries, blackberries, apricots, apples and veggies straight from the farms. We sampled apple juice, home-made sausage rolls and took home berry slice. We unloaded it all, had some for lunch and went back into Hobart to St. David's Cathedral for a concert.

While we were there, a huge storm blew into the city and rattled the rafters of the cathedral so much that dust and dirt showered down on us from above. There was an enormous thud as a tree came down in the churchyard and the audience wriggled nervously while the violinist carried on. The concert was lovely with well credentialed musicians and the cathedral looked stunning with all the flowers there for their floral festival. Featured performers (FYi Lori and Margaret) were Andrew Bainbridge - continuo, Rohana Brown - violin, Jane Edwards - soprano, Amanda Hodder - piano, Monica Naselow - violin, Martin Penicka - cello and Dinah Woods - oboe. I particularly loved the Telemann sonata for Oboe, Violin and Continuo.

 

I liked this 'blessing tree' where you could hang the names of special people.

It was blowing a gale when we left the cathedral and we got wet getting to the car..... really our first heavy rain in over a month. It took us 15 minutes to drive in from the caravan park but one and a half hours to return because of the chaos caused by the storm. The were trees down and detours everywhere. Added to that the enormous crowds from The Hobart Cup Races were trying to get home and there were people in very wet suits and sagging fascinators at every turn.

When we got to the caravan park the first thing we saw was an upturned fifth -wheeler smashed to smithereens, then another overturned caravan and a camper trailer with it's canvas shredded. Most people who had their awnings out had them destroyed as well and there was debris strewn all over the place. We were relieved to see our home still standing and lucky to have wound our awning up before we left but the back window was open and we got some water in and a lot of dust and dirt, but were otherwise fine. We later retrieved our bucket from the Derwent R (but not the lid) and Glenn walked around the inlet and found our blue mat.

Apparently, this van flipped over twice before being wedged against the tree!

The last and best thing we did in Hobart was 'Louisa's Walk'. It is strolling theatre which brings to life some of the chilling history of The Female Factory.. It starts outside the Cascade Brewery and two actors cleverly recreate Louisa's journey from London where she was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread c.1840. She was transported to Hobart on a convict hulk called 'The Rajah' to serve a seven years sentence, leaving behind three boys to fend for themselves. Her story continues to the Women's factory where conditions were atrocious. Eventually she was given a ticket-of-leave, married and died at 72 years of age. Historical records tell of the Rajah Quilt which she was involved in making. It is owned by the National Gallery in Canberra and displayed from time to time.

A metal version of the Rajah Quilt.

Houses built from stone from the prison after it was no longer used as a prison. It was bought for wharehouses and saved for posterity as a result.

Next morning we had brunch with Chris and Sophie at The Aproneers at Lindisfarne. What a terrific shop that is, shelves bending under local small goods, fruit, vegetables, bread and delicious home-made fare. It was great to meet them both after hearing about them from Cush and Matt. We recognised them immediately because Chris is very like Matt and their Dad. We enjoyed a long chat and then made our way to Kettering and the ferry terminal to Bruny Island.

Girls in pink. Boys in blue!!

 

 

TASMANIA.. West Coast 28.1.13

Strahan.

Today has been a 'wash the clothes and charge the gadgets' day as we are in a caravan park on the beach at Strahan. It is a pretty place nestled between the rainforest and Macquarie Harbour and is famous for being the base for Australia's most successful environmental protest, which saved the lower Franklin River from being dammed and hence flooding what is the largest remaining wilderness temperate rainforest area in the world. It is now World Heritage listed for the benefit of the planet and its people.

We explored the town and bought obligatory Huon Pine slabs to make a coffee table as well as a breadboard and the following day we watched a demonstration of a giant trunk being sawed in half. The sawdust has effective anti- silverfish properties and smells wonderful.. A bit like nutmeg I thought.

After strong winds the previous day, we set out on the Wildness Heritage River Cruise in warm, calm weather. Although we had allocated seats we were able to roam the ship at will, including the bridge. The captain took us across Macquarie Harbour and then through 'Hells Gates' into the Great Southern Ocean, not possible in bad weather and gave us an informative running commentary as we motored along.

The lighthouse guiding ships through the narrow Hells Gates.

Fish farming. .. Salmon.

Then a leisurely cruise up the Gordon River, stopping at Sarah Island to see remains of the penal settlement used for recalcitrant prisoners from Port Arthur, where prisoners were forced into hard labour. The classic novel by Marcus Clarke, 'For the Term Of His Natural Life', is based on the life of one such ( seemingly innocent) man.

We did a short bush walk and then had a scrumptious lunch after which a large number of guests had a nanna nap!

We saw our first tiger snake in Tasmania... A juvenile we were told and I was surprised as I thought they were a yellowish colour.

A young Huon Pine.... only 70 years old!

Back on dry land we bought tickets for a short play called ' The Ship That Never Was', a very clever and entertaining bit of theatre, partly based on an escape by boat from Sarah Island. Well worth seeing.

The next day we left our civilised caravan park in Strahan and drove to the People's Park to do a short walk to Hogarth Falls. A lot of it was boardwalk through rainforest and and quite lovely. The local school children had drawn their impressions of plants and written descriptions of them and these were on information boards along the walk. They were really engaging.

Hogarth Falls.

Before we left Strahan where we had phone service, we ordered flowers for Laurel, Glenn's mum, who will be 91 tomorrow. We hope you have a great day Laurel.

We then headed out of Strahan along the beach to the Macquarie Heads along a rough gravel road. There were a number of camp grounds there and from the beach we had a landbased view of the lighthouse guarding Hells Gates we saw the day before from the boat.

Queenstown.

The 41 km trip from Strahan to Queenstown was slow through heavy forest and along winding road, much of it uphill. Glenn regularly pulled over to allow faster vehicles to pass as there are no overtaking lanes. The descent into Queenstown is a moonscape of scarified, bare hills and eroded gullies, in such contrast to the lush rainforest which originally covered the hills. The town itself has a sense of timelessness and authenticity compared with touristy Strahan.

On the way out of the valley we stopped at the top of the hairpin bends to see Iron Blow. It is the decommissioned, open-cut mine which was the beginning of Queenstown's mining fame. The 'eagle-eye' view from the springboard is panoramic and the emerald water filling the huge hole is spectacular. It brought to mind The Super Pit in Broken Hill which is a monster by comparison!

We are enjoying the walks in cool conditions but still have a way to go to cover all 60 of them!

The lookout at the top is built around the rocky outcrop.... Making space for nature!

Frenchman's Cap Walk.

The Wall.

We ended the day with a visit to The Wall, an amazing low relief sculptural panorama by Greg Duncan. He tells the story of the Tasmanian Highlands and he told Glenn he would be finished in two years. The scale of the work is an incredible 100 meters long, carved from Huon pine with sensitivity and finely detailed realism. The beauty of the timber panels and their story, is continued on the floors which are laid with off-cuts from the laminated panels.

We are now on the edge of Lake King William for the night just west of Derwent Bridge. Very peaceful! So peaceful that we stayed two nights.

Dinner tonight cooked in butter on the fire.... beautiful flavour and pink flesh. It is a brown trout given to us by Norm who was camped near us at Burbury Lake last night. He fishes regularly for trout and hangs them in a safe to dry them. He also gave us a rainbow trout caught this morning which will be dinner tomorrow night. What a generous man. In exchange we were able to give him fresh date scones cooked by Glenn in the camp oven with a drop of warming port to sip as we sat around the fire. We also fed his cute dog Diesel, some bacon tid-bits at breakfast this morning. How good it is!