Hobart

I had promised myself that I would make my way to every Australian state. The only one left was Tasmania. To get the most out of it, I booked another group tour that would take me throughout the state in six days. But before I left on this adventure, I wanted to catch up with the swing dancing friends from Hobart I’d made throughout previous dance events on the mainland, so I made sure I landed in time for their Wednesday weekly social at the Queen’s Head.

They had a live band, which was quite upbeat. I danced a bit and met Liv, who would be my host during my stay in Hobart.

The next day, I took the bus in from Liv’s to the city as she lives in Blackman’s Bay and took in the sites. As I only had seen the city in the dark, I was quite delighted to discover a scenic town where the homes cling on to the mountainside. I have the impression that everyone has a great view from their home.

After a stop at the tourism information centre for some inspiration, I visited the Tasmanian museum and art gallery. I mostly enjoyed the videos portraying Aboriginal women doing their art, may it be pearl necklaces or basket weaving. I also enjoyed the exhibit on Antarctica. One could press buttons to hear different kind of whales, and what do you know, Dory in Finding Nemo wasn’t kidding when she says she speaks whale.

The neighbourhood of Battery Point

Afterwards, I walked along the small harbour up to Salamanca Place that turns into a market place on Saturdays. The buildings are former warehouses for the port of Hobart and are now filled with shops and restaurants. In that sense, it’s a bit like the old port in Montreal, but the buildings here are less ornate.

I also went to check out Battery Square and read about the cannons that were never used for defence but only for official ceremonies before eventually being removed. The Battery Point neighbourhood has some lovely homes. There are even some houses dating from the original European settlement such as those found at Arthur Circus. The original land owner had some high hopes for the land as the park sign says : Part of an original grant to the Reverend Robert Knopwood, this site was purchased by Governor Sir George Arthur in 1829. When he resold the land almost 20 years later, the auction advertisement described “delectable building sites in a neighbourhood that will inevitably become The Resort of the Beau Monde”.

One of the Arthur Circus Homes

I wandered some more until nightfall, found some dinner, and met up with Liv and headed with her to the committee meeting for the upcoming Devil City Swings event at Kara’s place. It does seem like it will be a great event.

Having now visited two Hobart homes, I had now realised that even though it gets quite chilly, (I could see the snow on the nearby mountain tops, and was wearing my tuque, gloves and scarf!), they mostly heat one main room in the house where everyone gathers such as the living room or kitchen. I’m guessing this is due to lack of proper house insulation and a high cost of energy. It does make me thankful for our warm insulated Canadian homes!

MONA

A Rainbow on the way to the MONA

On Friday, I went to visit the MONA, the Museum of New and Old Art. Opened in January, it’s the largest privately funded museum in Australia. Most of the artwork belongs to millionaire David Walsh and apparently the current exhibit features about ¼ of his collection. To get there, I took the MONA ferry from Hobart. The half hour ride was quite pleasant as I enjoyed a coffee and Danish while watching the scenery.

Getting off the MONA ferry

To visit the MONA they give you a modified ipod that lists nearby art according to your location. You then click for more information, collectors’ ramblings or audio clips. You can also vote for the ones you like and retrieve your visit online afterwards.

The MONA collection is definitely one that makes one react. Images of death and mutilation, a room filled with screens of Madonna fans singing her songs more or less in harmony, liquid words, pulse lights, bags of digesting bacteria, and so many more cannot leave you indifferent whether you like the art pieces or not.

My favourites were the pulse room by Rafael Lozano-Hammer where you held these two sticks that read your pulse and then mimicked it in the light bulb above. As more people do it, your pulse moves along to the next light bulb and so forth for 108 light bulbs.

Monkey skeleton

I also enjoyed the Mummy and coffin of Pausiris, especially its setting. To get to it, you have to walk on stones surrounded by water. Having seen a similar scene in too many movies and video games, I did think that the stones might vanish as I stepped on them to reach my goal. But they were firmly fixed and the water was only a foot deep. Beside the coffin, there was a video rendering of the scan of the mummy and its bones. Other favourites for me were a multilingual version of the Jungle Book where each character spoke a different language as well as a monkey skeleton sitting on a chair. After my tour, I still had a couple of hours before my ferry back to town so I hung out in the lobby area with my book looking up every now and then to enjoy the scenery on the other side of the large windows.

On Saturday, Liv & I headed to the Salamanca market. Unfortunately, I have no pictures but it was a lovely autumn sunny day and there were many pretty artsy things on display. We went to grab lunch at this laundry mat/café and Liv ran into a few friends. Clearly, Hobart is a small town, especially when you’re in the Arts school circuit. After a great day of chilling I bade farewell to my lovely host and her mother and spent the night in a hostel in town as I had to set out at 6 am for my Tour of Tassie.

Liv works in the building on the right. In the 1920s, this set of buildings
was the H.Jones Jam factory.