Located at the foot of 4160’ Mt.
Wellington, Hobart is a blend of heritage, beautiful scenery, and a relaxed
island lifestyle, but with all the amenities of a thriving city. Graceful old
trees cover the manicured lawns of the many small heritage parks and gardens in
the city. Forty percent of Tasmania’s population live in the capitol. The lush
lowland farms and villages with their Georgian cottages look very English. Tasmania Botanical Gardens, originally a land
grant for a farm garden, became the botanical gardens in 1918.
In 1804 Colonel David Collins settled Hobart
with 262 people. He named the city for Lord Hobart. The same distance south of
the equator as Boston is north, Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city.
(after Sydney) Once a whaling base, the city of 139,000 has one of the finest
deep-water harbors in the world, and is now a busy port. The Derwent River
runs through the city. St. David’s Park was first a burial yard for Hobart in
1804, and turned into a park in 1926.
Hobart is the center of the state’s government.
1105’ Mt. Nelson has watched over ship movements in and out of the Derwent
River since 1811.
Governor Macquarie established Battery
Point after a visit in the early 1800s. The oldest building at Battery Point is
from the 1818 signal station. Twelve relay stations made full communication
available between Hobart
and Port Arthur.
Battery Point was named for the guns that once protected the area. There is a
lot of history at the Point and much to see.
Some
of Hobart’s old buildings include St. David’s Church, 1868, a Regency
Egyptian style synagogue 1843 (the oldest in the country), Parliament House,
built by convicts in 1840 as a Customs House, and turned into its present
function in 1856, and the Cascade Brewery, the country’s oldest. The oldest
theater in Australia is located in Hobart. The city also houses a maritime
museum and a folk museum.
The
Royal Hobart Hospital is the largest teaching hospital in the state. The
University of Tasmania is also in Hobart---Errol Flynn’s father taught zoology
at the University.
There
is much reclaimed land at the harbor, and it took convicts 60 years to reclaim
it all. Apples grow well in Tasmania and many of the 250 varieties are exported
to Japan.
The
main street in the city is Liverpool. The expressway out of town was built in
1954.
Warm sandstone buildings line the uncrowded
waterfront in an area called Salamanca. The series of old warehouses were built
in 1930 to store apples, corn, and wheat for export. At one time a jam factory occupied one of the buildings. Now
the area is full of trendy restaurants, sidewalk cafes, stores, and art
studios.
The city is very walkable and we took
advantage of the warm sunny day to walk by St. David’s Park where a sweet
little gazebo stands in the center. Later we learned that there were no native
trees in the park.
A specialty of Tasmania is Lemmington---a lemon sponge cake covered with chocolate
dough and coconut. I found the one we ate a bit dry. Unlike the Pavlova dessert
that the Aussies have such rivalry about, I believe the Lemmington is strictly
Tasmanian.
Hobart is a delightful city and we had a
great time there in Australia’s only island state..
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