Hobart, Tasmania (Part 3)

Tasmania on Day 4 - Hobart

On my 4th day in Hobart, there was nothing much I could do and since I did not make any booking on any day trips, so the whole day was mine. I was regret for not taking another tour, perhaps to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory or to the Freycinet Bay. But thinking that I had to do the laundry, I'd rather do what I was supposed to do, or else, I might ended up nothing to wear or stinky shirts and pants piling up.

After bathing and having light breakfast, I went out heading towards the water to see if there was anything unusual or something nice to experience there. Well, I thought I was doing the right thing when I heard a nice music in the air. Not quite sure whether that was a group or solo musical performance. The music played was one of my favourite type which is fusion music. It sounded modern but having tribal/native/ethnic elements in it. Truthfully, anyone who can compose this kind of music is truly a genius and personally, I feel that this personnel is some kind of mysterious and special in some ways. I love instrumental music rather than lyrical musics because I prefer to blend-in my mind with the musical composition. Other artists which I do love their musics are Kitaro, Enigma, Richard Clayderman & Kenny G. 

So I approached a canopy at the Brooke Street Pier, where a guy with s straw hat and white-framed sun glasses was performing with his marimba, didgeridoo, guitar & saxophone. I sat at a bench under a tree and enjoyed his music. For the first time, after several years, I decided to buy his CD. It costed AUD 25 for a CD (considered expensive if in Malaysia) but I did not mind to by this authentic and impressive piece of music. Additional info of DidgEra (artist is Dave Johnson) can be read from Didgera - Dave Johnson.

Salamanca Square

Next, I headed to Salamanca Place which was just opposite the pier to have a look there. Behind the buildings was Salamanca Square, a small, cosy place for those who would want to sit and relax. There are several cafes and bistros for those who would want to have social retreat or spending own sweet time alone. A small fountain in the square cooled off the environment. I met a nice and friendly Scottish lady and we chatted about couple of things from travelling to expensive items in Australia.

Salamanca square

Feeling that the midday heat was getting stronger, I bid good riddance to that Scottish lady and made my way to Battery Point, which was a historical suburb within Hobart city. Based on the local map, I walked uphill and downhill to see if there was anything interesting for the day. Actually, I have checked out this area on the Hobart City Tour day trip, but that was on tram and I thought I have missed something. 

Battery Point

Point was not a big area so it did not take that long to complete the navigation. The cottages here were well-tended and neat. Most of the houses compounds were planted with beautiful flowering plants and non-woody plants. Roses and lavenders were the most commonly planted here and they bloom gloriously. This suburb also was known for its extravagant houses and apartments. Mt. Wellington was visible from here and would be at its best in a cloudless sky.There was an infamous bakery among the Battery Point (and perhaps Hobart too) residents, Jackman & McRoss Bakery, which gained popularity for its freshly baked pastries and breads. In addition to that, the bakers used only organic ingredients in each recipe. There was a small convenient shop and a post office too.  There was also an Anglican church (St. George church) in this suburb.

View of Mt. Wellington from Battery Point

Blooming red roses

Do I even know what kind of flower is this?

Orang and yellow...very nice

Salamanca Place

Salamanca place is a very well-known place for its Salamanca Market. From this area, Mt. Wellington can be seen clearly. Oh..and by the way, behind Salamanca Place is where the suburb of Battery Point is. In Salamanca Place, there is also a Salamanca Fruit Market which sells fresh fruits and vegetables, and they are a lot cheaper than in Woolworth? I  dropped by at this market and bought myself fresh peaches and a bottle of mineral water. It came to my attention that bottled drinking water is expensive throughout Australia. Maybe it does not want to encourage buying bottled water perhaps for environmental-related factor. And of top of that, tap water in Australia is drinkable and treated. I was a little in doubt about that but I did drink from the tap (obviously not from the bathroom taps) and I was fine.

Mt. Wellington as the backdrop.

This was where I bought fresh fruits

I did not wish to be out of the hostel the whole day as I have planned to do the laundry and start to pack my stuff for tomorrow. Though I knew there were several places I wanted to visit, but I guess I have to gave that up and do what I was supposed to do. And on top of that, the heat and sun ray were super strong that I could feel my uncovered part of my forehead was about to burn off. So I ended my 4th day in Hobart very early.

Tasmania on Day 5 - Hobart - Launceston

Today, I was accompanied by Lu, another room-mate of mine at Central City Backpackers. We went to Salamanca Market, as early as 9 am. It was also time to check-out from the hostel and I kept my backpack and a bag at the storage room. It was free and I thought that was appropriate. Some backpackers accommodation would charge certain fees, even to the in-house guests, who wish to keep their luggages for couple of hours.

Well, spending half a day in Salamanca Market was really a fun experience for me. It was not just an ordinary market, but it was also a great place to see various product creatively crafted by the locals.   Not just that, street performances by talented individuals & groups were a value added to the environment. 

There was a performance by this gentleman in the pictures below. It was a real, authentic and no trick performance. He was gifted with a very flexible body and the best part was, he swallowed a real, metal sword. That was unbelievable but that was real. He was a really a good performer and funny too. Could it be that he used to be a gymnast before? Or was he practising yoga a lot that he managed to gain such flexibility?

Truly flexible...

Sword swallowing..really bizarre.

Besides the sword swallowing and almost impossible pinnings and stretching and twisting, we were also entertained by the instrumental country music performance by a group of youngsters who happened to be brothers and sister. I really love their performance and there was a moment where I imagined that I was the lady in the middle. Yes, I really admired violinist a lot. I did have a plan to enrol in violin lessons but due to financial limitation, I have to keep that plan aside. Tried to learn that guitar on my own too, but it is more prudent to have my own guitar and a teacher too. My youngest sister would be the best candidate, I think! :p

And there was another gentleman whom I saw performing at the Brook Street Pier the day before, Didgera or his real name Dave Johnson. There were other instrumental performances but I did not take the pictures as visitors were everywhere and blocking my view (I'm not tall enough to see those performances).

Dave Johnson performing at Salamanca Market

Beautiful bunches

It was time to leave Salamanca Market, time to say goodbye to Lu and time to leave Hobart. Lu was planning to check out a place in east of Hobart, whilst I have to return to the hostel, get my things, and head to Hobart transit centre at Liverpool street to catch the Redline bus to Launceston.  Departure time was 3 pm so, good riddance Hobart.

My little friend, Lu Wang

It took 2.5 hours to get to Launceston. The view along the journey was amazing, just like every other parts of Australia, with the yellowish-golden grasses and hundreds of sheeps and cows grazing   gently  in the grazing field. The bus passes several small towns such Oatlands (famous historical windmill and very beautiful in the spring), Ross and Campbell Town. If only I travelled by a campervan, I would be able to make a quick visit to these historical towns.

At 5.30, the bus arrived Launceston bus terminal at Cimitiere street. Launceston was really a quite town. There was not many vehicles on the road and not many people around. Maybe it was Saturday and most of them were out of town for summer vacation. After getting my backpacks, I drop by at the terminal information counter to enquire on the location of Launceston Backpackers. The guy at the  counter showed me the location on a map and the route he suggested was quite a distance. I started walking from the terminal and was a bit confused with the map, until I met another gentleman, definitely a visitor, and asked for direction from him. Thank god he knew where I should head to, or else I would be navigating the wrong way and got lost. So finally arrived Launceston Backpackers at 6.45, checked-in and bathed. Not in mood to cook as the kitchen was busy, so I had granola bars for dinner.

Hobart, Tasmania (Part 2)

Tasmania on Day 3 - Richmond

This day was supposed to be a visit to the historical Port Arthur. But due to the bush fire incidents near Port Arthur, Tours Tasmania (and other tour operators offering trips to Port Arthur) could not bring visitors there. I was told that Port Arthur would be inaccessible to all for a week or two, until the authority and public department restore the electricity line which have destroyed in the fire. This was the most disappointing thing for me as I was dying to visit Port Arthur from the day I plan to visit Tasmania. But nothing can overcome the power of nature, so I respect that and regarded this matter as a very strong reason to return to Tasmania. 

As a substitution to the cancelled trip, Tours Tasmania offered another package, which was a lot cheaper and interesting too. It was a trip to Richmond (again), Bonorong Wildlife Park and Mount Wellington. This was a good offer and a good alternative to the cancelled Port Arthur trip. So the trip commenced at 9.30 am and the first destination was Richmond. And by the way, there were 8 people in this day trip.

Though I visited Richmond the day before, I thought that this was another chance for me to search for my missing mobile phone. Hahah....but long story short, I still could not locate it and I gave up searching. So I decided to totally forget about my mobile phone and start treating my eyes with the beautiful surrounding views in Richmond. I went to St. John church to see the building nearer. It was not that big but being the oldest church in Australia, this building must be very important to the locals. 

This church was actually located at the other side of the bridge and at the right angle, a nice view of the bridge and the church could be photographed from the picnic area close to the Richmond Gaol.

Richmond bridge viewed from the church

Richmond bridge and St. John church viewed from the picnic ground near Richmond Gaol

Bonorong Wildlife Park

After spending 1.5 hours in Richmond, the tour guide brought us to Bonorong Wildlife Park. The was the most unforgettable thing to do because this was my first time looking and learning more about the infamous Tasmanian Devils. I thought these Tassies (that's what they are normally called) were huge but they were no bigger than a fully grown cat. And another interesting fact is, Tasmanian Devils are marsupials. I thought they were belonging to the bear or canine or feline family but they were not. At this park too, I got to see awaken koala (in Caversham, all koalas were asleep) and I could see how cuddly and adorable this little marsupial. Like any other wildlife park in Australia, kangaroos and wallabies are the most common inmates and just cannot stop admiring them. I never get bored with these animals for they are not found anywhere else in the world except Australia.

Little Tassies begging for food

Mine..mine...mine!!

Neither a feline nor a canine...but marsupial!!

Kangaroo

Wallaby

Mt. Wellington

Two hours later, we headed back to Hobart, to get to Mt. Wellington. Before going up to the summit, we stopped half way to do a short walk to the Sphinx Rock where another nice view of Hobart could be seen from another angle.

Along the nice and easy walking track, I was attracted with the variations of berries and some other flowering plants. I was told that berries in Tasmania are all edible but it was just the taste that matters. In some places, red berries are no-no and if you eat it, you might suffer poisoning and die. I am not a berry lover but whenever I get the chance to eat fresh berries, I will never resist. There was also clusters of rocks which looked like a land slide had just occurred. But the fact is that, these rocks were there as a result of geological activity which happened thousand/millions of years ago. It was a slow process and as a result of weathering, hyperbaric activity and some other scientific explanations which are beyond my area of studies.

Edible cherries, but does not taste that nice

A type of plant leaving a nice smell when rubbing the leaves...not the flowers

Dolorites

In less than 30 minutes of walking, we finally reached Sphinx Rock. Though it was a bit misty, it did help to freshen the mind and enough to carve a smile on ones face. We spend only a few minutes here and then we returned to the coach and headed to the Pinnacles of Mt. Wellington. It was windy (most of the time) and freaking cold too. The view? Incredible!!. But I was unable to get a good picture up here due to limitation of knowledge and skills in photography. And on top of that, I did not have complete equipments/accessories to help my dearly camera perform better when it comes to landscape/wide-angle photography.

View of Hobart city from Sphinx Rock

The organ pipes of Mt. Wellington

Another peak conquered, but not by hiking.

Nice shrubs up here

After exposing ourselves with the freezing coldness, it was time to return to our hostels. I felt that I this day was an enjoying day though I was a little starving. I was too lazy to prepare my own food before the trip, and reluctant to buy prepared food out there (believed that it was worth spending for something else). I depended on several cereal bars/granola bars for energy on that day. And I survived!!

So when arriving the hostel, I decided to boil some fettuccine, heat the ready made Alfredo sauce and had mushroom soup for my dinner. I did all this before 6 pm so that I could avoid congestion in the hostel kitchen and had my meal peacefully.

Hobart, Tasmania (Part 1)

8th January 2013

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.

View from the Constitution Dock

Quiet morning

I returned to visitor center and at 9.30 am, several other visitors and I boarded the tram (it was a bus cleverly modified into a tram-like vehicle) and the city tour began. We passed through all important attractions such as the Salamanca Place, the Battery Point, the Cascade and the buildings used to be important in the previous times.  The tour included stops at the Cascade Brewery, Cascade Female Factory, Rossny Hill Lookout Point and Tasmania Royal Botanical Garden.

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.

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.

Remnants of the walls of the factory made of sandstone

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.

View of Hobart center from Rossny Hill

South of Hobart and Derwent River

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.

Parliament House

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.

The Parliament House

Richmond

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. 

Richmond bridge

Richmond bridge and St. John church

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.