Trip to Hobart

Day 1
As Christine was on the Young Endeavour (http://www.youngendeavour.gov.au/site/) which was berthing in Hobart on the 25th I flew down there to meet her and to have a look at Hobart. While the Young Endeavour’s Captains Log had mentioned gales, the weather in Hobart for the first few days was lovely. Clear skies, around 22C with a slight breeze blowing, quite a change from the humidity of Darwin. However the weather is more changeable, if you walked on the sunny side of the street it was warm enough to take the jumper off, as soon as you got to the shaded part then the temperature dropped a few degrees so the jumper was required again.
After leaving Darwin at 01.30 it was over four hours to reach Melbourne at 06.00 (the difference due to the crossing of a time zone), then after a quick meal it was on to Hobart.
The city area still has many old buildings dating back to the early 1800s and they are still in use today though not always for what they were originally constructed for. A short walk around the city found these interesting buildings including a store selling nothing but Teddy Bears, they were there in all shapes and sizes for both big and little kids!.. Hobart seemed to have quite a few churches though in the early days when it was an important seaport and whaling centre it also had 55 hotels for a small population.

Above top. Old IXL Jam factory now hosts shops and offices. On the far side of Constitution Dock

Middle. Morrison Street and buildings. At the back of the wharf area.

Bottom. Davey Street buildings and church across from original cemetery, now a park.

Many of the old warehouses by the wharf in Salamanca now house craft shops, restaurants, and offices and behind them is Battery Point which was a popular area for sea captains and other seafarers to retire to and it was a colourful maritime village. The houses reflect the occupants different lifestyles ranging from simple one and two room houses around Arthur Circus to mansions. At the Point is the old guard station which, before the days of telegraph, would signal by flags the arrival of a ship to the merchants of Hobart. Nearby are some cannons that were installed during 1818 because of fear of the Russians and French invasion. However they have never been fired in anger, the only damage that they have caused was to nearby windows when they were fired in training. Most of Battery Point is hilly so I found some unused calf muscles while walking around. Further over in Hampton Road were some more interesting shops including one with a good range of the old boiled lollies and similar. They are still being made by Gourlay’s in Launceston whose shop was an institution even when I was a child there 50+ years ago.

Arthurs Circus and some of the old houses. Guard House and signal pole, Battery Point

As Hobart is a fishing port there are seafood restaurants and takeaways around Constitution Dock. They range from the fish, scallops and chips to be eaten on the nearby seats up to Mure’s which has been a gourmet’s delight in Hobart for years. Dinner that night was in the downstairs section, which offers buffet meals, and there was a long queue testifying to its popularity. The meal I had was a big bowl of smoky fish chowder which was nearly a meal in itself and then a serve of scallops. Cheap! While some of the hardier locals were eating outside, by now it was after 8pm and the wind was coming in straight from the Antarctica and the walk back was quick and chilly. Interesting to note the clothes worn by the people, they ranged from shorts and T shirts to being rugged up in polar parkas. The former would probably been worn since that morning and they have not had time to change to the latter who had changed clothes that evening knowing how the temperature drops once the sun disappears.

Below. Warehouses Salamanca Place,

Hampden Road Battery Point