Meanwhile, Back In Hobart

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

With a bit of a Tasmania tour hangover, I set out today to check out a little bit of Hobart. I decided to stay a few extra days to check out the area and lucky for me I found some more good weather. I started my day by taking a historical walking tour (I know, so out of character for me) of downtown Hobart.

My tour started here at Franklin Square. That's Sir John Franklin in the fountain. Sir Franklin was a rear admiral and an arctic explorer. He also happened to be a Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (that was the original name for Tasmania). Tasmania was "discovered" by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who was sent on this expedition by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen. This was way back in 1642.

Next you go past the GPO (General Post Office). Every town or city in Australia has one of these. You can often find it by looking for the clock tower.....unless the clock tower is on the old Town Hall. This clock tower was built in 1906.

I then wandered past Town Hall (across from the GPO) on my way to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. A cute little place, that is free to visit, it combines Tasmanian History and Tasmanian art. I couldn't take any pictures inside but it gave some really good history, in particular aboriginal history. The traditional owners of the land are the Mouheneenner People and they called this country (as in Tasmania) Nibberloonne. They were expert canoe makers. Archeological evidence shows that aboriginals have been in Tasmania for around 35,000 years. In Tasmania, aboriginal women and children were used as slave labour and wives. They valued the skills the aboriginal women had to live and survive off the harsh land but most were not respected as people.

The aboriginal society in Tasmania was said to be almost single handily decimated by the Van Dieman's Land Company when in 1825 there were granted 250,000 acres of land. Marital law was declared that saw bounties placed on aboriginals. 5 pounds per adult, 2 pounds per child. In 1833 you saw the establishment of several aboriginal reserves. Most of those transferred to these reserves in the early years died. The conditions were horrible. Some the reserves were old penal colonies that had been abandoned for health reasons. Although in 1912 an act was passed that acknowledged aboriginal society, another act was established in 1951 that assimilation policies were the focus and aboriginals became non-aboriginals again.

Since then Tasmania has done some good things including a 1984 act that looked to repatriate Ancestral remains held in Tasmanian Museums as well as a 2006 Parliamentary law that provided monetary compensation for aboriginals forcibly removed from their land and homes. Tasmania was the first Australian government to do this. Today Tasmania's aboriginal society is healthy and growing. There are many people who are still discovering their aboriginal heritage.

There was also a large display about the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). Believe it or not it was a marsupial and it's closet living relative is probably the Tasmanian devil. The last living Tasmanian Tiger died in September 1936 in the zoo in Hobart. There is plenty of concern that due to increased activities such as mining, dam building and tree harvesting more Tasmanian animals will go the way of the tiger. Conservationists in Tasmanian are very active and working hard to protect more and more areas in the State.

Eventually I made my way out of the museum to see a few more things along the way.

Outside the museum. Of course with Tasmania being an Island, the sea plays a very important role in its past, present and future.

Not sure what this was originally but it is now part of the museum. Lots of old buildings like this are around the city. I just think they have so much more character than most of the new and modern buildings.

My walking tour led me to Parliament House (I know, another surprise).

The main entrance to Parliament House. Not a very big building but let's face it, Tasmania is not a very big or very populated state. It was originally used as a Customs House and was built from 1832 to 1840.

Down in the basement. Now setup as a little museum with many old photos, including the photos of all those who have ever held a seat in the upper or lower house of Tasmanian Parliament.

The Speaker's chair in the House of Assembly (The Lower House). This chair was made by convicts. Once it was completed, the convicts who built it were granted pardons.

A look at the very modern House of Assembly. There are 25 sitting members in the House. They sit about 50 days out of the year.

This is the Legislative Council Chamber (The Upper House), it looks today very much the way in would have years ago. It was originally known as the "Gentlemens' Class" due to the fact that women were not allowed in the room. In 1903 Tasmanian women were granted the right to vote so they soon had to change the name as women were also able to sit on the council.

The side entrance to Parliament House. I do believe this is the Legislative Council side. It is a lot grander than the front side.

One more stop on my walking tour took me through St. David's Park, which was the site of Hobart Town's original cemetery. There are still some of the colonial gravestones around, but mostly the place is a nice little park to hang out in. I'm not sure everyone realizes that not so long ago the place would have been covered with gravestones.

I also found this in St. David's Park. I love giant chess boards. If only I knew how to play chess.

Once my walking tour was complete I headed back towards my accommodation. Well, first I picked up my rental car that I would tour around in over the next couple of days.....and I went shopping.. My big purchase was a new day pack.

This is not the new one.....this is the old one. Steve and Heather bought this for me back in 2005 and it was been all over the place with me. However, it has finally fallen a part to the point that it needed to be replaced. All the water proofing layer was peeling off and the zipper doesn't always work and I ripped a big hole in it. It has served me well. I put a lot of miles into it.

Tomorrow I have a big day planned.....Port Arthur.....Take Two.

Julie