After 9 months without leaving the State of Victoria, in
late May, I finally rewarded my itchy feet with a weekend of sightseeing in the
city of Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania, an hour’s flight
south of Melbourne. Originally discovered by Dutchman Abel Tasman and formerly known
as Van Deimen’s Land, Tasmania was claimed by the British and first settled in
1803 in Hobart and became a penal colony of the United Kingdom for the majority
of the 19th century, as thousands of convicts were shipped half way
around the world in an ill thought out method of solving the problem of
overcrowded prisons in the UK. Tasmania is roughly the size of Ireland, but
with a population of just a little over half a million, and makes up only 1% of
the total land area of Australia. Almost half the state’s residents live in Hobart,
leaving a lot of the island, particularly the West side, uninhabited.
Thanks to its convict history Hobart is the second oldest
city in all of Australia after Sydney, but unlike its older brother, it hasn’t
had its heritage seriously damaged by 20th century mass construction
and development. The city is not littered with soulless skyscrapers and thanks
to this Hobart still very much retains its history in a very visible manner and
there still remains numerous old buildings in their original form that date
back to the early 19th century. This is perhaps most noticeable at
Salamanca Place, a street consisting of numerous sandstone buildings which were
formerly warehouses in the city’s early years, but in recent times have been
converted into pubs, restaurants, galleries and craft shops. To put it simply,
there is more historical architecture crammed into this one small street than
there is in the entire unremarkable city of Perth. Australia offers a lot of things, but history
is certainly not one of those them, so Hobart provides a refreshing change,
which was very much enjoyed by this picturesque architecture loving individual.
This charming street also plays host to the famous Salamanca Market which takes
place every Saturday throughout the year, rain, hail or shine, where the
residents of Hobart congregate to buy and sell all sorts of useless junk. I’m
usually not absorbed by street markets, but I was drawn to this particular
version by the stunning backdrop of early 19th century buildings, as
opposed to the array of vases and mirrors available for purchase. All in all
there was a very cheery atmosphere on market day, with plenty of live music to
lift people’s spirits.
Salamanca Place is not the only part of Hobart that is
steeped in history however. Hunter Street, situated right on Hobart’s
waterfront, Sullivan’s Cove, is much like Salamanca Place, with ancient
Georgian sandstone warehouses still existing in close to their original form.
Another area of Hobart rich in heritage is the suburb of Battery Point, in
particular its main street, Hampden Road. Despite being just a 5 minute walk
from the city’s Central Business District, you can’t help but feel that you are
walking through an old English country town. The buildings are old, simple, but
delightful and the area retains much of the character of 100 years ago, with
lots of historic houses, restaurants and small businesses in view. The super-corporations
of McDonalds and ANZ feel a million miles away when strolling through this
hilly quaint street and I for one couldn’t have been more content, as I ran
down my camera battery in no time. With Hobart in general, and Battery Point in
particular, the main appeal is simple – aimless wandering through a beautiful
throwback to simpler times. A delightful experience.
While Battery Point was certainly impressive, the little
colonial Georgian village of Richmond, located 25 kilometres outside Hobart,
was in a different league entirely. Founded in the 1820’s, this tiny town is
literally one cute 19th century cottage after another, containing
numerous historical landmarks such as the nation’s oldest catholic church, the
Richmond Bridge, the oldest bridge in Australia that is still in use, along
with the Richmond Gaol, the oldest still intact prison in the country, where
hundreds of convicts were crammed into a small enclosed space and forced to
live in sinfully appalling conditions. During my few hours strolling through
these country streets I genuinely didn’t feel like I was in Australia as
Richmond feels very much like a cosy village in the English countryside. Even
the dour overcast skies and the light but persistent rainfall gave the
impression that I was a little closer to home. Throughout my travels through
South America I fell in love with some of the beautiful old colonial towns
which I encountered, namely Paraty in Brazil, Colonia in Uruguay, Valparaiso in
Chile, and Cusco in Peru. I’m glad to say that, in Richmond, Australia has
something to somewhat rival these places, and while not nearly as old, it
certainly holds its own with these places in terms of beauty, but in its own
unique way. Richmond is certainly a true hidden gem of Australia.
Not only is Hobart culturally and historically beautiful but
its natural surroundings are equally as impressive, with numerous mountains and
bays providing a stunning backdrop to this charming city. The most striking of
Hobart’s natural landmarks is the commanding Mount Wellington, which stands authoritatively
over the historic city, peaking at 1271 metres above sea level, comfortably
higher than any mountain in Ireland. A 30 minute drive from the city centre is
all that is required to reach the summit, yet the climate and landscape couldn’t
be more dissimilar. From about three quarters up the mountain the scenery
changes dramatically from one that is overwhelmingly forest based to a
landscape consisting of rough sub-Alpine vegetation. It certainly didn’t look
anything like Australia. From approximately 1000 metres above sea level we
stopped to take in some fabulous views of Hobart sitting cautiously by the glistening
bays and inlets, encircled by several protective mountains.
If the scenery was this good merely from here then surely I’d
be in for an absolute photography feast from the top you would think. Wrong! As
soon as we approached the summit we were greeted by a swarm of furious clouds,
seemingly smug in the knowledge that they had ruined the afternoon of numerous
tourists. We literally couldn’t see a thing from more than 30 metres away, with
the exception of an unremarkable white mist. To add insult to injury, the
weather was bitterly cold, approaching freezing point, but with gale force
winds to add a severely unwanted wind chill factor to proceedings. Generally
speaking, Australians do not understand the meaning of the world “cold”. It
could be a nice winter’s day in Melbourne with the temperatures in the range of
15 degrees Celsius, yet you will never go more than 5 minutes without hearing some
soft soul rugged up in winter woollies complaining about how penetratingly cold
such harmless conditions are. However Mount Wellington is an exception to this
rule, and anybody who ventures to the top has every right to a good moan. It is
drastically uncomfortable and after fifteen minutes braving the elements in the
hope that the clouds would find some other mountain to bully we gave in and
rushed back to the comfort of our heated minibus, resigned to the fact that
those picture perfect postcard views would not be making their way onto my
camera any time soon.
I completed a thoroughly enjoyable three days with a
theatrical show called Louisa’s Walk. This unique piece of theatre is ranked as
Hobart’s number one tourist attraction according to TripAdvisor. Two English actors,
Judith and Chris Cornish take you on a journey into the life of Louisa Regan, a
mother of three who was convicted for the petty crime of stealing one loaf of
bread to feed her family, and sent to Van Deimen’s Land for a seven year sentence,
forced to leave her children behind. The actors are in full 1800’s costume and
you walk with them for approximately two hours, beginning at the Cascade
Brewery (which resembles a haunted house), taking you on a journey to the
Cascades Female Factory, where Louisa spent much of her imprisoned time. The
show was excellently presented and gave a great insight into the horrid
conditions and treatment the female convicts had to endure during the 19th
century in Hobart. It is simply disgraceful that such insignificant crimes were
punished in such a heartless manner. The show was very simple, with no props,
lighting or any other mod-cons you’d find at a more conventional piece of
theatre, with each audience member encouraged to delve deep into one’s
imagination. My one complaint is that at times the show got a little tacky, and
the actors tried to be funny a bit too often, when the reality of the situation
was anything but a laughing matter. But overall Louisa’s Walk was an excellent
and informative way to spend my final afternoon in Hobart.
So overall Hobart has left me with an extremely high opinion
of the state of Tasmania and has given me a taste for more. Hopefully I will
get to see more of Van Deimen’s Land in the near future with the Tasmanian
Wilderness on the west side of the island being at the top of my list. But for
now I have a four week visit home to look forward to, incorporating 8 days in
London for the Olympic Games. It has been 22 months since I left Ireland and I
am greatly looking forward to reuniting with family and friends over a few
proper pints of Guinness.
