This was the opening journey for the year of 2013. And this
was my second solo trip, after my first trip to Jogjakarta in year 2008.
Ohh..and by the way, I have to apply for unpaid leave, because I have just
started working (and still in probation period..huhu). It is so unwise to
cancel this trip because I have planned this trip since last year. And of
course I did all bookings and no refund for cancelling them. As usual, I am
glad to have AirAsia as my only favourite flight (because it’s cheap and pretty
reliable most of the times).
The flight journey to Melbourne took around 7 hours and 45
minutes and amazingly, for the first time, I felt how time flew so fast that I
did not feel the trauma of ‘sitting obediently’ on an 8-hour flight. It was
good and it remained good until the aircraft landed at Tullamarine
International Airport around 9.45 am.
I was supposed to get on the Virgin Australia flight to Hobart at 11.15 am and for the first time ever, I missed the flight. Why? It is due to my unforeseen traffic condition at the airport during summer. Yes, it was too busy at the immigration and at the customs and I was almost got my clavicles shattered for waiting in a long queue and considerably heavy backpack I carried. I was a little panic when I knew I have missed the flight but having the internet and mum’s credit card details, I managed to book next available (and cheap!!) flight to Hobart. I flew to Hobart by Jetstar, which the airfares are comparable to Tiger Airways, but not Virgin Australia. And by the way, Tullamarine Airport is not at all my favorite airport. Reason? There is not free internet access and the internet usage rate is pretty much expensive.
It took 1 hour and 5 minutes to reach Hobart. After claiming
my backpack from the luggage carousel, I hoped on a Airport Shuttle (costed
around $17 per way) straight to Central City Bacpackers. Hobart was such a nice
and peaceful city to visit. There were not many people, though everybody knows
that summer is the busiest season among other seasons. It was cold in Hobart,
though I was told that the temperature was exceeding 40’C in the past week,
which has triggered several bush fire incidents in several places in Tasmania.
I checked-in at Central City Backpackers and unpacked. One
of my roommates, Annie, was a Chinese lady, studying in University of
Newcastle, NSW. She was such a nice and friendly person, and I felt comfortable
having her on that day. It was unfortunate that she had to leave the next day,
but exchanging email addresses is essential to keep in touch with each other. I
thought of strolling around Hobart city in the evening but I was a little bit
tired and hungry too. I decided to go to the nearest supermarket, Woolworth, and
I bought couple of things which I was unable to get it before flying to
Australia, a towel, pairs of socks, body shampoo and foods. It was almost 9.45
pm and the day ended just like that.
Tasmania on day 2 – Hobart City Tour & Richmond
Before joining the Hobart Premier City Tour (booked from
Discover Australia) at 9.30 am, I did my own tour within Hobart city, but
limited to the harbor, or wharf, or whatever they call it. It was a windy
morning and lucky I brought my jumper. It was not that busy though it was time
where most people were heading to their working places.
Depending on the city map which I have tried so hard to
remember, I walked blindly without having any decisions on the places I wished
to see. But the walking-blindly-thing was working well for me. I found a place,
the Masonic Temple, which I have never thought of its existence. I have seen
beautiful mosques, unique temples, impressive cathedrals, churches and chapels,
as well as synagogues, but Masonic Temple? It did amaze me for a moment.
I have read something about Masonic teaching but I could not
digest it well. Several movies where I got to know a little about Freemason,
such as National Treasure (casted by Nicolas Cage) and Da Vinci Code, did
interest me a lot. And of course, a novel written by Dan Brown entitled The
Lost Symbol, was such a good read for me. I could not exactly elaborate much
about this Freemason thing, but what I knew, there was a time where a group of
idiots tried to relate Freemason practices and the political opponent in
Malaysia.
After taking couple of pictures of the temple (sadly I deleted them, thinking that I would return the next, but I didn’t), I headed to the Tasmania Visitor & Information Center, to enquire on the pick-up point of the tour. Once clear, walked to the Constitution Dock, which was just behind the visitor center. It was cloudy and windy but I did not mind to do some photographing while waiting for the tour to start. And then I saw a building, Center of Arts (or something like that), University of Tasmania. Frankly, I was thinking of my elder sister when I saw that building as she was studying in UTAS, 17 years back. It was pity that she was not around and I was so sure she would feel extremely happy to return to Hobart.
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| View from the Constitution Dock |
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| Quiet morning |
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| This was how the 'tram' look like |
Cascade Brewery
Cascade is only a few kilometers outside Hobart City Center.
There were 2 important landmarks here and one of it was Cascade Brewery. The
history of the brewery can be read here. I was not into brewery or
winery, but the building itself was interesting to look at. While walking to
the brewery, there was a filtration pond where all remnants and dirt in the
flow originating from Mt. Wellington were filtered here. The pond was not much
of a sophisticated engineering built but it worked just fine until today.
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| Does not look like a brewery at all. |
Cascades Female Factory (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
In less than a kilometre from the Cascade Brewery, there was
a historical place which was already listed in the UNESCO World Heritage site.
I did not know about this until I visited this place. It is the Cascade Female
Factory. This was not exactly a factory, but it was a prison of women convicts
in the past. The convicts were as young as 11 years old and as old as
only-god-knows-it. This factory, or prison, held approximately 5000 prisoners
and it was small, judging by the length of the remaining walls covering the
area. This building was so-called as factory as the convicts were doing several
production jobs while in containment. I was not sure exactly what kind of jobs
they did but the jobs did help them to survive in the containment.
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| Remnants of the walls of the factory made of sandstone |
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| More sinned against than sinning...no idea what it means. |
Rossny Hill Lookout Point
From the historical convicts site, we were brought to Rossny Hill where the beautiful view of Hobart can be witnessed here. Though the view was not at its best, it was still mind refreshing and soul invigorating. To get there, one need to pass through the Tasman Bridge which is uniquely build. This bridge reminds me of a Friendship bridge in Macau, like a roller-coaster sort of with the uphills and downhills. The Tasman bridge was rebuild in such structure after a portion of the bridge collapsed when an ore carrier collided with the pylons of the bridge.
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| View of Hobart center from Rossny Hill |
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| South of Hobart and Derwent River |
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| Tasman bridge |
Tasmanian Royal Botanical Garden
After a few minutes as Rossny Hill, we headed to Tasmania Royal Botanical Garden. I love this garden so much as there were so many flowers to see. Despite the abnormally high temperature in the week before, flowering plants seemed to flourish here and there. It must be amazingly beautiful in spring.
I took the time to get something to eat at the garden cafe. I had a vegetable wrap (but later found out there were chunks of chickens/hams in the so-called vege wraps) and a cappuccino. This garden was huge but I did not really explore each and every corner since I was not in a mood for walking too much. But spent my time appreciating the lovely flowers planted near the cafe though.
I did not bother to know the name of the plants though each patch was clearly labelled. I guess my brain was not ready to store any scientific names on that day.
At 12.45, we headed back to Hobart City to board another bus that would bring me to Richmond. We were dropped at the Brooke Street Pier. Since the bus would be coming at 1 pm (but was told it would be a little later to pick other tourists from their hotels), I decided to have a peek at the Parliament House which was just across the pier. It was a nice building, just the way I love to see English/Victorian designed building.
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| The Parliament House |
The bus finally arrived at 1.10 pm so we headed to Richmond. All the way to Richmond, it was such a scenic ride with the golden summer grasses on every piece of land. It took around 30 to 45 minutes to reach Richmond town from Hobart. Actually, I was supposed to join a few other tourists to Bonorong Wildlife Park but I missed it because I was a little bit confused whether this was included in the package or not.
When arriving at Richmond, we were given 2 hours to explore the small town. It was a charming and peaceful town which was really my ideal place to relax and have a peace in mind. Richmond was also a historical town which was built by the convicts from the Port Arthur. There was also a small gaol (entry fee is AUD 8...expensive!!) beside the police station.
Richmond is the only place in the world where every tourist visiting Richmond must try the curried scallop pie. I tried it but it did not taste like what I have expected. I think if they use the real Indian curry powder, it would definitely taste better.
Other than Gaol, Richmond was also home to the oldest bridge and church in Australia. On top of that, it has its own interesting history. The general information of Richmond history can be read here. I took the chance to just walk about the bridge under strong sunlight. The environment was so serene and mesmerising that I felt like lying under a shady tree and fallen asleep for couple of hours.
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| Richmond bridge |
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| Richmond bridge and St. John church |
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| Richmond gaol |
A couple more minutes to spend before returning to Hobart. I decided to check the surrounding area nearby. Voila!! I found this place where grasses were golden and that area was not fenced too. So I set the camera timer and experimented a bit. I have always wanted to have a picture where I am standing in the middle of nowhere, say like a desert or a grass field. Though the pictures I took here were not exactly what I want, but at least they made my day.
It was time to return to the bus when I realized one of my mobile phones was missing. Geez!! I returned to grass field to look for it because I was pretty sure I have dropped it here, while attending to my camera. Could not find it anywhere though!! Sighhh....what a day.
After giving up searching my mobile phone, I returned to the bus with a little bit of disappointment and tried hard to let go of the feelings. It was a bad idea to think too much of a missing 'asset'. The bus left Richmond at approximately 4.30 and I arrived the hostel around 5.15. My conclusion? It's a day with a mixture of emotions. I was hoping for a better day tomorrow.
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