Blogs from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 5

Monday 16th March 2015 MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, is considered to be one of the top attractions of Hobart. It is the largest privately funded museum in Australia and was founded in 2001 by Tasmanian millionaire, David Walsh. This was where we headed this morning. It is set in the Moorilla Winery about 20kms from Hobart on cliffs overlooking the Derwent River. There were very few signs showing where to enter the museum from the carpark and we wandered past the winery with its workers going about their normal business. An unassuming building near the cliff edge was where other people were entering through a curved metal façade. The museum is set with 3 levels underground, is a warren of tunnels connecting display areas. The displays consisted of static, electronic, mechanical, auditory, ... read more

Another glorious day! Today we’d organised to catch up for coffee with Ken who lived in Hobart. Judy and Ken used to serve on the ACCE Board together several years ago and have maintained links through FaceBook. Today was a public holiday so traffic was light and we had no problem parking although we did double check with a local to ensure that we didn’t need a parking voucher on a public holiday. Luckily, we left Margate with plenty of time to spare because Judy’s IPad map led us in completely the wrong direction to the Rendezvous Café where we were to meet our friend. A friendly passerby steered us in a better direction. The café was located in a square behind the of 19-century sandstone buildings of Salamanca Place. The café was surprisingly busy so ... read more

A Day in Hobart We woke up to light rain for the first time and we were thankful it was our day off for exploring the city. Tasmania has a population of just over 500,000 and Hobart has 40% of those at 213,000. This number is swelled by the many tourists who flock here and especially when a cruise ship calls, as today. I first went to the open air market at Salamanca Square each Saturday and scoured the hundreds of stalls selling vast array of goods including s Tasmanian Devil cap to keep my head dry. I was very impressed by the many wooden artefacts on sale, especially the Huon Pine products. This is a pine only found in the Huon river area and is now strictly controlled species with most of the timber ... read more

Well, after packing we drove through Hobart and along the Derwent Valley towards New Norfolk with June reminiscing about all the holidays she and Arthur spent in their caravan in this very picturesque region. The area is very reminiscent of England with rolling hills and river valleys. We stopped in the small town of New Norfolk and had a walk and coffee. It was a quiet Sunday lunchtime with only a few people about. This is a long weekend in Australia as tomorrow is Bank holiday for Australia Day. There are huge celebrations planned ...every beach has competitions in every sport possible all starting at 08.00 am, there are sailing regattas, BBQs, parties and fireworks planned. I hope that the weather is better than today! The only ones not celebrating will be the Aborigines! We leave ... read more

Today we had a great time sharing June's birthday present! A ride around Hobart on a motorcycle. Andy and Brian had arranged that we were picked up from the waterfront and taken around the historic Battery Point which involved some hairy slopes on the back of a bike! Then through the city up to the Botanic gardens where we all had lunch. It was a great experience and the first time Brian had worn a crash helmet. June is used to motorcycles as Arthur had several and we used to ride in a sidecar! Today's ride was a bit more scary at times but real good fun. Brian and I then went to MONA the new museum of art. It's a lot like Tate Modern so we weren't always sure what we were looking at! But ... read more