HOBART,TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA

                         Capitol of the only  Island State

      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..

NEW ZEALAND TRIVIA

                                       Fun Facts

 There are no barns in New Zealand as we know them.

Grazing horses wearing blankets soon became a familiar sight. The blankets help keep the horses warm during cool nights, and. keeps dust off their coats and protects their skin from the sun during the day.

Another odd thing we saw was cows all had their tails cut off. We were told there is no fly problem, and it is believed that a cow’s urine in the eye of the farmer can cause a serious hepatitis-like illness, which is the primary reason for bobbing the cow’s tail.

Nearly all the homes in New Zealand had tile roofs. An imitation roof tile is made there, but most of the tile is exported.

New Zealand has a 12 ½ % value added tax (VAT) that is added to all goods.

Cumera, a sweet potato, much lighter in color and less flavorful than our yam, is a staple of the New Zealand diet.

There are no poisonous snakes or spiders.

A 1936 volcanic eruption in the Rotorua area killed 150 people. In 1990 two earthquakes registered 6 on the Richter scale.

Rhododendrons were in bloom everywhere and the size of trees lines the streets. They were simply gorgeous!

New Zealand is a narrow isthmus 1000 miles long. The   Waihita River, at 220 miles is the longest river in the country. It is dammed nine times for hydro-electric production and  is the Mississippi of New Zealand.

Authentic Maori wood carvings have only three fingers on the hands as the Maori believe only in birth, fertility, and death.

Australia and New Zealand have been rivals for years over who makes the best Pavlova--- named for the dancer. Of course I wanted to try the famous dessert.  I enjoyed the baked meringue pie shell filled with whipped cream (the real stuff) and topped with thin kiwi slices on our arrival morning in Auckland, New Zealand. We had arrived at 5:30 AM so by 8  the yummy dish hit the spot and held me until lunchtime.

In 1769, 127 years after Abel Tasman discovered and named N Z, Captain James Cook and his crew arrived and were the first Europeans to set foot on New Zealand soil.

Three fourths of the population live on the north island with 84% of them living in urban areas. Auckland’s population is 1.5 million. Maori make up 10% of the population and is the largest minority group;

All native trees are evergreens, and there are many varieties. They provide a lush greenness all year. All the deciduous trees have been imported.

There are many active volcanic craters in the country and earthquakes of varying degrees are fairly common. The last serious quake was in the 1950s near Wellington. The last volcanic eruption was in 1936. There are many geysers in the country.

The country has little in the way of natural resources. Strawberries, timber and logs, kiwi fruit, and wool are large export items and we saw lots of each.

All automobiles are imported as New Zealand does not manufacture cars.

Kiwi grows on a vine similar to a grape vine. The vines are trellised so the fruit can be picked from beneath.  All fruit is picked by hand in May. Actually the kiwi is the Chinese gooseberry, but when New Zealand was ready to market the fruit they knew the original name would be a hindrance so they renamed it.

New Zealand has three kiwis—1 the fruit. 2 the people are known as kiwis and 3 the nocturnal flightless bird.