Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (part 1)

 

This is the extent of my knowledge of Tasmania. Imagine my surprise to learn that there are wonderful cities, people and places that actually live in Tasmania! Today our ship docked in the center of the city business district of Hobart, a city with a long history beginning as a penal colony for England and eventually becoming an outstandingly charming city to visit.

Heading into Hobart 

Slowly making our way to the dock

Notice the clouds in the sky…will this be another day of cloudy rain? Seems like we have lots of those lately. 

Our day starts today with a required in person,face to face meeting with the Australian immigration officials. After that, we head out on our bus tour of the Historic area of Hobart,countryside and winery.

The city of Hobart is an example of Georgian and Victorian architecture with modern buildings thrown in between. No building can be higher than 19 stories. This keeps developers looking at new uses of old buildings and encourages conservation and renovation rather than total destruction.

Cascade Brewery, South Hobart

The brewery takes up an entire city block. It also produces other drinks besides beer. 

Sitting beside the brush near the brewery. A portable bar!

The “bush” is any natural area with no development and plenty of wildlife. This was along the back of the brewery.

City hall, today is a LBTQ+parade

The original goal ( jail)

Current fire department

Jewish synagogue still operating for over200 years

The river Derwent and the Hobart bridge from a viewing point across from the city.

Our next stop was at the Runnymede House

A beautifully preserved 1840 whaling Captains’s house. The house has only had three families own it since it was built in 1849. The Pitcairn family who built it, the first Bishop of TasmaniaFrancis Russell Nixon and the Charles Bayley family who ,for generations, made it their home for over 100 years. 

Walking to the house through the gardens

Behind the hill from the fountain there used to be a large water lake that enabled the family to sail their ships very close to the house. It has been filled in over the century and there is no longer any water access.

  

Beautiful crazy quilt

Examples of extremely detailed scrimshaw artwork. One of the Captains of the family was quite the accomplished artist /carver. The outstanding part of the collections of furnishings and artwork in their house is due to the fact that when the bishop sold the house, all of his items went with the house and when the heirs of the Bayley’s gave the house to the National Trust, their belongings were given also. The ability to have a collection that stands over 150 years in the original form makes this house unique.

The front of the home. I have many pictures of the rooms, but wanted to give you just a taste. 

This was one of the best organized tours we’ve been on. The docents only took 9/10 at a time in a Group-a each group went into a different room to look. There was one gentleman stationed in the hallway and he basically directed traffic so each group got an intimate look into all 8 rooms without feeling rushed or crowded. Each docent was able to give their own take on the story of the house and the families who lived here. We never ran onto the others and never needed to share a space. It was fabulous!

Now it was our turn to head out into the countryside to the small convict town of Richmond.

Richmond is located in one of the wine regions of Tasmania. It reminded Al and I of the wine country near Napa in CA. There were grass hills, prairies,sheep and grapes..lots of grapevines.

Our happy faces and those of our traveling friends

      

Steve & Susan

The Richmond bridge built 200 years ago and still being used everyday. It was built with convict labor. The story of convicts sent to the island is really quite sad. They were mostly Irish, received usually 7 years hard labor, took 6 months to get here by ship is appalling  conditions, and were usually convicted of misdemeanors such as stealing a loaf of bread, stealing 2 pigs, or something like that. There were, of course very bad criminals sent also, but many were just handed harsh sentences to quell issues at home in England. After they served their sentences a few stayed but many wanted to return to their lives in Ireland and England. Often times they would find living just as hard, recommit a theft and return to Hobart again. 

Al found these little guys on his way to take the bridge picture and thought they were cute. 

Now off to the vineyards!

We visited Coal Valley Vineyard. They produce Riesling,Chardonnay,and the gem of the area..Pinot Noir

Al always enjoys getting into the grapes!

The patio was beautiful 

The view is spectacular. We tasted a fabulous collection of local cheese ( you can’t take Wisconsin out of the girl) and each of their Wines. Here’s pictures of us afterwards. Think we had fun?

And yes, we came home with a couple of bottles to keep in our room. That’s the nice thing about Viking Cruises..they have no problem with you bringing back wine from the tours.. supporting local businesses is their thing. After the winery it was a nice scenic ride back into the city and our ship. Except we wanted to explore more, so our guide dropped us off in the central business district so we could walk back to the ship in our own time. This always gives us a chance to get a better feel of the destination and more chance for fun!