Saturday 7 September 2024 – With a day at leisure stretching before us, it was obvious that we would go for a walk and Jane had discovered a self-guided walking route for us to follow. Hobart is an interesting city to walk around, as it’s the second-oldest capital city in Australia after Sydney, having been founded as a British colony in 1804 and settled as a penal colony by hard-bitten British and Irish convicts. There’s quite a lot of Georgian architecture from this convict era, and it makes for a very attractive place to wander round.
We are staying at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, more of which in a separate post, but it stretches for quite a long way along Hobart’s waterfront.
Outside it by the water, there are various statues: the “walk to freedom” – remembering the female convicts (and their children) who settled here;
and various references to Australian Antarctic exploration, for which Hobart was a centre.
The chap on the right above is Belgian-born explorer Louis Bernacchi, the first Australian to winter in Antarctica, and who accompanied Scott as chief scientist on one of his expeditions.
As is often the case in waterside cities, the waterfront area is attractive
with a selection of unusual boats, the purpose of which is not necessarily obvious.
The other side of the waterfront area from our hotel was given over, it being a Saturday morning, to the Salamanca street market, which is A Thing.
It is vast
and diverse, with stalls offering fresh and prepared foods, clothes and accessories of all kinds as well as a startling range of niche products.
It is clearly very popular – it was very crowded indeed, and so we headed out past it towards Battery Point, which is set on a hill above the city. Its name stems from the fact that the first Battery was built there as part of Hobart’s coastal defences, and well stocked with arms and ammunition which, in the end, were never used in anger, just mainly for ceremonial salutes.
To get there, we passed the old semaphore station
and entered the Battery Point area proper, where there are many styles of colonial buildings, from cottages to grander houses.
One very attractive diversion took us to Arthur Circus, which has several old cottages, originally constructed for the garrison officers of the Battery, surrounding a small park area.
Walking on took us past many more really attractive older buildings, lovely spring blossom, and some great views over the city.
We stopped for coffee
at a place where they had fantastic cakes
(yes, we had some; yes I took photos; no, you won’t see them here) and at least one interesting item on the day’s menu.
Our path took us past St. George’s Church, a Greek revival church built in 1838 to serve the Battery Point residents (the classical tower was designed by English architect James Blackburn in 1847).
Steps took us back down to the Salamanca area, where we found more quirky statuary
It’s entitled “Happy Birthday, Mr. President”
some helpful people,
and, on the lawns outside Parliament House, a Masked Lapwing, a bird we had seen before,
and a Pied Currawong, one which was new to us.
The city has some attractive, imposing and, indeed, historic buildings, too.
The oldest continuously-licensed pub in Australia
City Hall
Post Office Building
The slightly odd bell tower of St. David’s Cathedral
We went into St. David’s Cathedral,
which is odd in that it has a gift shop beside the pews
and it has some lovely stained glass, both classic
and modern.
Opposite the cathedral is a statue of someone or other, but
Franklin, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
Actually I do, but couldn’t resist the joke. It’s Sir John Franklin, an Arctic explorer and former Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the convict era.
That was it for our walk around the city, and very pleasant it was, too. We got back to our hotel in time for a tour of our unique hotel, which is what I shall write about next; I hope you join me to read about it.
