Hobart city? Where to start is the problem. Let me begin with a few first impressions. Relatively small, water and hills (everywhere), narrow streets, beautiful buildings, docks on the city doorstep and history oozing from every corner. I am far from sure that this is adequate, but hopefully the photos I'll share will be more eloquent than my mere words.
We toured the city itself in spurts whilst based at Margate for the two reasons......the bug from which I was suffering limited me to three to fours hours of daily activity only, and there was so much to see and take in.
Our host Andy was more than generous in sharing his time and local knowledge. He initially took us up to the top of Mount Wellington. This vantage point presented an obvious place from which to begin our tourist take on Hobart.
Apart from providing spectacular views over much of Hobart, a visit to the summit lookout is also a lesson in the atmospherics, namely the higher one goes the colder it becomes. The temperature on the mountain top is said to be constantly about 10 degrees cooler than that of the city below at any given time, and on the day of our visit I can attest to the truth of this.
As we alighted at the lookout car park where the massive TV transmission tower dwarfs the trig point below it (the spot of the absolute summit) the cold hit us like a train.
Mount Wellington seems to wrap winds around its summit like a shawl around cold shoulders. It is rarely still up here, and these blasts are never warm. On the day of our visit, with the wind chill factored in, the estimated temperature on the tops was hovering just above freezing....between 1 and 3 degrees was the consensus.
Needless to say we scurried down the path from the car park to the shelter of the enclosed observation building at a goodly clip.
Here two sightseeing and photography options are provided for the troupes of tourists who traipse up the mountain. The cleverly designed observation post (even in here Liz could not bring herself to part with her beanie) provides for viewing the scene below in warmth and comfort,
whilst for those prepared to brave the elements, walkways below the building allow much more photographic elbow room.
In a quest for better shots, I did venture down to the observation platforms below the glassy front of the building above (but not for long!)
Apart from the inevitable chill, another inescapable aspect of any trip to the Mount Wellington summit is the clarity of view. It is almost a matter of pot luck. Even when from the city below the tops appear clear (and I have to say that is quite rare), this can change in a flash as the clouds constantly form and dissolve in the swirling winds. The other problem is haze, and as you will see, on the day of our visit, our views were hampered by this phenomenon.
I began with a shot looking over the northern reaches of the Derwent estuary,
before panning further to the right to take in the more central part of Hobart. You might be able to just make out the ribbon of the river bridge in centre shot.
I am really disappointed about the quality of these photos, but as I have explained, there is nothing which can be done about the haze. I'll ask that you peer closely as I try to make some sense of this next one. The graceful arch of the road bridge over the Derwent is pretty obvious. Stretching away from the water at the far end of the bridge you can see the ribbon of roadway which is the highway we took each day into the city from the Airport Caravan park. Now, if you look very closely, you might just be able make out a lighter looking strip on the flat land almost at the top of the photo.....that is in fact the main runway of the Hobart airport about 15 kms distant.
On that same side of the river estuary, the Bellerive cricket and football stadium (where we shall be sitting on 4 January for a T20 match) lies just to the left of the sandy cove on the right of the shot.
Opposite that you can now clearly see the Hobart docks area (complete with a cruise liner alongside) and the CBD which begins where the docks end. This was one aspect of Hobart which we found unique.....the fact that the main CBD and the dock area (including the fishing fleet basins) are so co-joined (I'll hopefully make more sense of this comment later).
Panning even further to the right brought the unmistakable tower of the Wrest Point casino and the adjacent Sandy Bay marina into view.
I have to admit to a sense of frustration in presenting these photos. The inescapable haze did nothing to enhance the views, and this is one occasion on which I clearly felt the limitations of my little camera. Not only that, I did not quite capture what I wanted to give the view of the city I had in mind.
So, as I oft do, I've decided to resort to the Internet to remedy the shortcomings of my photography, my positioning and the vagaries of the weather in the interests of a more complete presentation.
Firstly, a closer look at the docks (again complete with a cruise ship), the high rise of the CBD and the Derwent bridge in the background, courtesy of 'prweb'.
This lovely photo by 'spiritland' shows the location of Wrest Point in relation to the city itself
And speaking of the mountain, I should mention that this dominating rock is over 170 million years old. It consists mainly of dolerite and was formed when molten magma poured into the beds of sandstone and mudstone which covered this area. This liquid rock slowly cooled into large vertical columns which eventually became exposed as erosion stripped away the softer sandstone.
This process has left Mount Wellington with one of its most recognisable and striking features, 'The Organ Pipes' as they are known (thanks to 'commons.wikimedia' for this view of them). These peculiar rock formations can be seen on the upper faces of a number of mountains in this area of the island.
And before we came back to the flats, Andy took us to another well know lookout point south of the city. Mount Nelson is the site of the old Hobart signal station, chosen for obvious reasons. The current lookout building is the 'modern' version, built to replace the original in 1910.
This is what things used to look like here on Mount Nelson,
and this explanatory plaque located inside the present lookout building told us how it all worked, and why.
The use of visual telegraphy and these incredible semaphore masts came to an end in 1890 when they were replaced by more efficient means of communication.
Now, instead of being the home to the bearers of tidings good and bad, the Mount Nelson site and its adjoining cafe
still provide a service........stunning views over the Derwent estuary and out into Storm Bay.
Below the signal station site, another lookout point provided us with a different look at the Hobart port area,
the buildings of the city centre, and the suburbs of Glebe, West Hobart, North Hobart and New Town beyond (at least one of us was busy...the other two were just chatting!)
Hopefully these aerial antics have provided you with some sense of the relationship between the city and the hills and the water which makes Hobart the place it is.
Next we take a bus tour, visit the famous Cascade Brewery and wander around the city itself.
We toured the city itself in spurts whilst based at Margate for the two reasons......the bug from which I was suffering limited me to three to fours hours of daily activity only, and there was so much to see and take in.
Our host Andy was more than generous in sharing his time and local knowledge. He initially took us up to the top of Mount Wellington. This vantage point presented an obvious place from which to begin our tourist take on Hobart.
Apart from providing spectacular views over much of Hobart, a visit to the summit lookout is also a lesson in the atmospherics, namely the higher one goes the colder it becomes. The temperature on the mountain top is said to be constantly about 10 degrees cooler than that of the city below at any given time, and on the day of our visit I can attest to the truth of this.
As we alighted at the lookout car park where the massive TV transmission tower dwarfs the trig point below it (the spot of the absolute summit) the cold hit us like a train.
Mount Wellington seems to wrap winds around its summit like a shawl around cold shoulders. It is rarely still up here, and these blasts are never warm. On the day of our visit, with the wind chill factored in, the estimated temperature on the tops was hovering just above freezing....between 1 and 3 degrees was the consensus.
Needless to say we scurried down the path from the car park to the shelter of the enclosed observation building at a goodly clip.
Here two sightseeing and photography options are provided for the troupes of tourists who traipse up the mountain. The cleverly designed observation post (even in here Liz could not bring herself to part with her beanie) provides for viewing the scene below in warmth and comfort,
whilst for those prepared to brave the elements, walkways below the building allow much more photographic elbow room.
In a quest for better shots, I did venture down to the observation platforms below the glassy front of the building above (but not for long!)
Apart from the inevitable chill, another inescapable aspect of any trip to the Mount Wellington summit is the clarity of view. It is almost a matter of pot luck. Even when from the city below the tops appear clear (and I have to say that is quite rare), this can change in a flash as the clouds constantly form and dissolve in the swirling winds. The other problem is haze, and as you will see, on the day of our visit, our views were hampered by this phenomenon.
I began with a shot looking over the northern reaches of the Derwent estuary,
before panning further to the right to take in the more central part of Hobart. You might be able to just make out the ribbon of the river bridge in centre shot.
I am really disappointed about the quality of these photos, but as I have explained, there is nothing which can be done about the haze. I'll ask that you peer closely as I try to make some sense of this next one. The graceful arch of the road bridge over the Derwent is pretty obvious. Stretching away from the water at the far end of the bridge you can see the ribbon of roadway which is the highway we took each day into the city from the Airport Caravan park. Now, if you look very closely, you might just be able make out a lighter looking strip on the flat land almost at the top of the photo.....that is in fact the main runway of the Hobart airport about 15 kms distant.
On that same side of the river estuary, the Bellerive cricket and football stadium (where we shall be sitting on 4 January for a T20 match) lies just to the left of the sandy cove on the right of the shot.
Opposite that you can now clearly see the Hobart docks area (complete with a cruise liner alongside) and the CBD which begins where the docks end. This was one aspect of Hobart which we found unique.....the fact that the main CBD and the dock area (including the fishing fleet basins) are so co-joined (I'll hopefully make more sense of this comment later).
Panning even further to the right brought the unmistakable tower of the Wrest Point casino and the adjacent Sandy Bay marina into view.
I have to admit to a sense of frustration in presenting these photos. The inescapable haze did nothing to enhance the views, and this is one occasion on which I clearly felt the limitations of my little camera. Not only that, I did not quite capture what I wanted to give the view of the city I had in mind.
So, as I oft do, I've decided to resort to the Internet to remedy the shortcomings of my photography, my positioning and the vagaries of the weather in the interests of a more complete presentation.
Firstly, a closer look at the docks (again complete with a cruise ship), the high rise of the CBD and the Derwent bridge in the background, courtesy of 'prweb'.
This lovely photo by 'spiritland' shows the location of Wrest Point in relation to the city itself
and in this one, we have now crossed the Derwent and are looking back over the Bellerive area and its sports stadium, Bellerive beach, the small marina in Kangaroo Bay and beyond that, Rosny Point.....all under the watchful gaze of Mount Wellington, its peak capped with cloud as so often happens (with my thanks to 'steveparish-naturecomment')
And speaking of the mountain, I should mention that this dominating rock is over 170 million years old. It consists mainly of dolerite and was formed when molten magma poured into the beds of sandstone and mudstone which covered this area. This liquid rock slowly cooled into large vertical columns which eventually became exposed as erosion stripped away the softer sandstone.
This process has left Mount Wellington with one of its most recognisable and striking features, 'The Organ Pipes' as they are known (thanks to 'commons.wikimedia' for this view of them). These peculiar rock formations can be seen on the upper faces of a number of mountains in this area of the island.
And before we came back to the flats, Andy took us to another well know lookout point south of the city. Mount Nelson is the site of the old Hobart signal station, chosen for obvious reasons. The current lookout building is the 'modern' version, built to replace the original in 1910.
This is what things used to look like here on Mount Nelson,
and this explanatory plaque located inside the present lookout building told us how it all worked, and why.
The use of visual telegraphy and these incredible semaphore masts came to an end in 1890 when they were replaced by more efficient means of communication.
Now, instead of being the home to the bearers of tidings good and bad, the Mount Nelson site and its adjoining cafe
still provide a service........stunning views over the Derwent estuary and out into Storm Bay.
Below the signal station site, another lookout point provided us with a different look at the Hobart port area,
the buildings of the city centre, and the suburbs of Glebe, West Hobart, North Hobart and New Town beyond (at least one of us was busy...the other two were just chatting!)
Hopefully these aerial antics have provided you with some sense of the relationship between the city and the hills and the water which makes Hobart the place it is.
Next we take a bus tour, visit the famous Cascade Brewery and wander around the city itself.
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