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Published: March 3rd 2011
We are now ensconced in the south east corner of the state, with a bit of a theme involving our title.
In the small towns (very attractive, too) the agapanthus is the preferred means of front fence decoration for many people. Sometimes white, sometimes purple, sometimes mixed.
More prevalent on your typical country road, however, is the carcass of the small furry marsupial. For a state with so few cars there are a lot of squashed animals by the roadside.
And the convicts - since Hobart and the rest of Tasmania received about 73,000 convicts during the years of transportation it is hard to avoid their inevitable mark on the place.
We were lucky enough to stay near the Hobart waterfront, which was fantastic; lots of area, lots of people, lots of places to go. We arrived on a Friday so had the after work crowd around as well.
Naturally though the weather was not so good the next morning, and our trip to the Salamanca Market was cut a bit short by the rain. I wish I could say I was disappointed…
Actually the market was pretty good – the organic fruit was delicious,
the variety of assorted crap was quite broad. It was also quite packed.
We did a walk around Battery Point and admired the old waterfront houses. Then we walked up through the shopping area and finally to the Museum/Art Gallery of Tasmania. There were some good exhibits, especially relating to the colonial days.
We met our friends Paul and Trish Lorger for dinner that night, and had a good time comparing travel stories and eating seafood on the waterfront.
Our last day in Hobart had to involve a trip up Mount Wellington. Just the trip up the mountain was an event, especially with Sunday cyclists cluttering up the road. The ride back down must be really good to justify all that oxygen debt!
Sadly, although not surprisingly, it was cloudy by the time we reached the top. It was not unexpectedly also very cold.
The Cascade Brewery was a quick stop, really only for a photo of the iconic building, before we moved off toward our next stop – Snug.
We had no idea that Snug was anything other than a dot on the map with a pretty bay and a caravan park (staffed
by one of the least charismatic hosts in the country), until we went for a walk to the bushfire memorial.
In 1967 80 out of 120 houses in the town were destroyed. The schoolkids huddled in the dark in the school house (which later burned as well) while the fire passed. The power and water had been turned off to try and save the nearby town of Margate instead. The current caravan park was the site of the temporary housing set up to house the displaced people, and nearby is a very moving memorial about the Hobart Black Tuesday bushfires.
Other than that, Snug doesn’t have much to offer, but it is a pleasant drive through Cygnet to Huonville and then on to Geeveston and the Tahune Airwalk.
The Airwalk is operated by the Tasmanian Forestry Department, and comes with an appropriate Forestry spin on things, but it is worthwhile to suspend all argument about things green and just appreciate the beauty of the place and the facility of the Airwalk which allows people to see the forest from a completely different angle.
We enjoyed the Airwalk very much, with its cantilever 45 metres above the
river. We then moved (a little bit) out of our comfort zones by walking across a couple of swing bridges over the river as well. All in all it was great fun, and on the way back we stopped to look at the biggest tree in the state – all 405 tonnes and 84 metres of it.
We travelled up to Port Arthur via Richmond, a town just north east of Hobart with a most photogenic stone bridge (convict-built, of course) and an interesting jail.
The weather was still bad, 11 degrees at lunchtime at Port Arthur, but we are pressing on nonetheless. Our accommodation here is in an old renovated shack right on the water. Rustic outside, fairly comfortable inside, just the place for Sharon to celebrate a birthday! We had to drag ourselves away from the peace and the views.
The Port Arthur historic site is another relic of well-intentioned but ultimately wrong thinking on the way to treat and control human beings – perhaps the Stolen Generation is another one. However it is a very picturesque reminder of that fact and the history fascinating.
The site is huge and the information substantial. Our
day there was informative as well as an opportunity to take photos and try to keep warm.
Finally we left Port Arthur and its convict-ridden past behind, stopping at some of the natural sites on the Tasman Peninsula as we did so.
The blowhole was a bit disappointing at low tide, but was near the very interesting Doo Town, named either for the “Doo” names given to the houses(“Dunee Doo”, “Af 2 Doo”) or the smell of excrement at the blowhole toilets, we’re not sure which.
Tasmans Arch, The Devil’s Kitchen, The Tessellated Pavement, in fact the whole coastline is absolutely spectacular.
So we’re done with the convicts (although probably not with the agapanthuses or the roadkill) and heading north up the east coast – next stop Freycinet.
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lily
non-member comment
Happy memories
HelloSharon and Chris. I am enjoying your trip, it brings back many happy memories of when Alan and then Judith were in Tasmania. Enjoy the rest of your travels, long may they continue.Bye love Lily.