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Published: March 15th 2014
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Salamanca Markets have a long tradition of providing adventurous shopping and plenty of foods to taste, either at the stalls in the market or the many cafes and bars along the waterfront and down onto the docks.
I must say that I am generally not a great fan of markets, but as these markets are a Saturday tradition every week, I went along to see what we can see, and with the expectation of recording the action.
We were uncertain of the parking for the motorhome or Jim's big Troupie, so for the miserly sum of $3.40 each return, we used the bus service. That took us to within one block of the market as well, so we were ready to rock.
The Salamanca Markets have a wide variety of food, both fresh fruit and vegies, tasty take-aways and of course quite a selection of nibbles. When we were in Sheffield we bought some rhubarb and raspberry jam. Very YUM too. As luck had it, one of the stalls at Salamanca stocked this along with many other Tassie treats.
When it comes to fashion, most tastes other than formal dress are catered for. If its gaudy you
will find it! One of the stands had some great woollen mittens that swap between being finger free for using the camera or enclosed mittens at quick flick. As they were $10.00 each and something similar at Kathmandu was $45.00 each, we supported the market some more.
Another stall had a wide variety of T-shirts etc, but also had some fleecy jackets which will be handy up at Cradle Mountain and Queenstown etc. So more support there as well.
That was all our expenses and back packs filled, but we were satisfied with the value of the items.
Craft stalls also abound, many focusing on either jewellery or native wood craft. Certainly a great variety of both arty and useful items.
The atmosphere is enhanced with all sorts of buskers which seem to have hourly swap overs at the various approved spots. Some were good, some not so, but all added to the day. One busker would have had the most unusual musical instrument which he made himself, and in fact makes for sale for other musicians. The sound is eastern in tone or maybe similar to bag pipes, is played by cranking the handle which
Hobart Town Hall 6
The largest bloom! spins a wheel that acts like a violin bow to vibrate the strings. (4) So what is it called? A Hurdy Gurdy. Yes, that is the correct name and they originate from the 1100s. Some of the early ones were operated by two musicians, one who cranked the wheels, the other played the melody strings. This one is a one man machine. The melody is played by pressing the keys onto the melody string while the other three strings create a drone effect.
Adjacent to the markets are the shops and bars of Constitution Dock, and amongst them are a variety of specialty shops. One of the most famous is The Lark Distillery. Many visitors do a tour of the distillery and then come to this shop to select their preferred whisky. No money spent here!
The sea front at Constitution Dock is full of activity. Today there was a two masted ketch tied up at the wharf. While this ship looks 150 years old, it is only 17 years old. It has been built to assist youth with troubled back grounds to learn new skills. Also school groups can travel to get some concept of Australia's maritime
history. A new group were being trained ready to sail tomorrow.
After enjoying a fish and chip lunch on the dock side, we walked back to Elizabeth Street and then saw a sign pointing to a free flower show in the Town Hall.
So we stuck our nose in here and really enjoyed what we found. The Hobart Town Hall is a real treat inside, very well maintained, and the flower show dominated by fantastic Dahlias was the bonus.
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Mum & Dad
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Good show again it is god to see how it is down there. Keep up the good effort.