Our next destination was the town of Stanley, about 230km north-west of Launceston.
The road leading to the town was of good quality, with plenty of stopping places to view the ocean and scenery.
The town is located on the base of the ‘Nut’, an(other) extinct volcano, which the first peoples called Munatrik.
We continue on our drive around Tasmania by driving across the top of Northern Tasmania. We had a few stops in a few towns. Like Ulverstone, where there was some nice old architecture.
And we strolled on the beach, which faced the Bass Strait.
We then continued east to the town of Penguin, known for, well, you know what. There were plenty of penguin paraphernalia in the streets, and this wonderful giant Christmas penguin (we visited in early December).
We didn’t stay overnight in these towns, instead we headed to…
That’s all from Launceston, but it’s the beginning of our drive around Tassie.
The next morning we made our way north along the Tamar Valley and stopped at the little town of Beaconsfield. It was up until 2012 a gold mining town. A mine collapse in 2006 contributed to its end.
The town was founded in the mid 1800s and was quite a prosperious place. Now it houses the Mine & Heritage Centre.
Being a town founded in the 19th Century, there were quite a few Victorian era buildings.
But in the Mall, there were quite modern sculptures of our favourite extinct marsupial, the thylacine, aka. the Tasmanian Tiger.
We saw lots of representations of the thylacine in Launceston, and saw more exhibits in Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. In the museum we came upon this little quote.
And another amusing quote we found in the museum, very relevant for some people I know.
The New Zealand series is now done and dusted but there are plenty of photos left to go through from past trips. For the next while, I’ll be examining more of Tasmania, where we spent two weeks in December 2019.
The strongest memory from that trip was simply being able to breathe fresh air again, as Sydney had been under a smokey haze from successive bush/forest fires for months by that time. The trip starts up north in Launceston and ends in Hobart.
Launceston is a city I have visited, but generally only in passing. It was good to spend a few quiet days there getting used to the Tasmanian pace of life (which is generally relaxed).
Launceston is a sizeable town by Australian standards and pretty big by Tasmanian standards. Having its first European settlement in 1804, it is also quite an old colonial settlement, though the first Tasmanians arrived some 40,000 years ago, when the Bass Strait was still land, and were isolated from the mainland 8000 years ago when the sea levels rose after the last ice age.
The age of the settlement meant that there are buildings of varying ages in the CBD.
The post office is gothic Victorian.
While this building is in the 19th century classical style.
There are some terraces.
And art deco.
But my favourite was relic from the past.
Like most large galleries, MONA was a mixture of permanent collection and temporary exhibits.
Some of the permanent collection exhibits are fascinating, like the waterfall of words they call bit.fall.
It’s a bit of a maze inside because there are no signage on the walls or set ways to view the works (you are provided with an ipod and headphones to navigate by), but for me that’s what makes it so much fun. You really don’t know what you might see next. It could be an Egyptian mummy, or a weird video installation or an artwork based on a bodily function.
The exhibition at the time was called Zero, and it’s a modern art movement from Germany in the late 1950’s. It’s appropriately minimalist, like this blue ‘pool’ by French artist Yves Klein.
Needless to say, if you don’t enjoy being challenged and completely confused then it’s not the place to be. But if you do enjoy a bit of an adventure (artwise or not) it is worthwhile visiting.
After the visit, we cruised back up the Derwent just as the heavens were opening up. There goes Mount Wellington, for another day at least.
Let’s take a little cruise upstream, to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). It’s a bit like Disneyland for adults there – a bit absurd, lots of fun, very interesting.
Lots have been said about the place, but it’s no doubt the biggest drawcard to Hobart and has even lifted the whole Tasmanian economy out of the doldrums.
The cruise starts from the centre of Hobart at Brooke Street Pier. Soon we’re passing under Mount Wellington, clear and in sunlight.
The special cruise boat has the absurd MONA touches. Kids loved the sheep seats out back.
And 25 minutes later we pull aside the wharf to the low-key entrance.
Hobart is a nice, sleepy place, with lots of 19th Century sandstone buildings, like this hotel in the CBD.
Its population perhaps tends to be a little eccentric than most. Look what we found in the phone booth!
And now for somewhere different. These photos were taken in Hobart on a wedding anniversary weekend getaway in spring 2018.
I hadn’t been to Hobart since I was a child so it was interesting to see it through ‘grown-up’ eyes. It’s a small city by the River Derwent, dominated by Mount Wellington in the background. You can always tell how cold it is by looking at its summit, which can be covered with snow at any time of year.
Constitution Dock is about as busy as it gets in Hobart, with tourists (pre-covid), shops, and markets on a weekend.
To show how far south Hobart really is, it’s the departure point for the Aurora Australis, the ice breaker ship that services the Australian research stations in Antarctica.
I’ve always been enchanted by photos of southern France that feature rows and rows of lavender, but having only ever passed through the area, I’ve never actually seen anything like it. Until I went to Bridestowe Estate, that is.
I visited just before the lavender’s at their best, but it was good enough for me. One could mistaken the scene for the south of France, what with the ochre soil and undulating hills. It makes for a picturesque picnic spot, that’s for sure.
Static and Silence 