We rarely present for a formal guided tour, preferring usually to do our homework and make our own decisions about what to see.
However, on this occasion we decided that it made sense to gain an overview of the city and some of its more noted historical buildings and so on by hopping on one of the colourful Hobart City tour buses which constantly circulate around the city, Battery Point and Sandy Bay and out to the famous Cascade Brewery.
This is a very good service. Passengers can hop on and off at will at any one of the many stopping points made during the 90 minute loop around the city. We stayed put for the duration just soaking it all up.
One of the tricks with this is to make sure the weather is fine. The open top deck is the only place to be. We were early for our chosen service, and quick to snaffle pride of place behind the shelter of the clear front windscreen.
Even before we left, this shot down Elizabeth Street shows just how close the waterfront is to the city itself, and there the spreading spars of a square rigger alongside the dock provided just the right historical note on which to begin our jaunt.
The bus initially made its way down to and around the dock area. We later wandered around here on foot, so the camera remained holstered for this section. Beyond that, I snapped away somewhat indiscriminately, more when the mood took me rather than with any set plan. Here is some of what we saw.
After the docks we meandered on through one of Hobart's best known suburbs, Battery Point, where all the narrow streets seem to follow what must have been the original tracks.
Roads run in all directions,
up hill and down dale, all past houses which were certainly not built in the past year!
And some of these old homes are just charming, as is the squeeze and clutter of the streets (I am not sure how long that aspect of the 'charm' would last if one actually called this suburb home).
The houses through here are incredibly varied in style, ranging from modest low little cottages through to the elegant sandstone building of the last photo, or this two storey brick building of a somewhat later era. And here we could again see what is so typically Hobart.....houses blanketing the slopes of the hills which surround the city itself.
Battery Point, it is said, is best seen on foot. After today's experience we agreed. It is a magical place. We plan a pedestrian jaunt through here over the New Year when we return to Margate for a few days.
Beyond Battery Point we rejoined the more modern world, as we made our way back into the bustle of Sandy Bay Road
and on through the Sandy Bay commercial district where suddenly Hobart seems almost like any other Australian city.
The nearby Wrest Point Casino, so well known as a Hobart landmark building, was next on the list of stopping points.
This is well know for a very good reason. Opened on 10 February 1973, Wrest Point was Australia's first licensed casino, and was the catalyst for the development of the country's casino industry (for good or bad!). It was conceived and developed to kick-start Tasmania's flagging tourist industry, something which it achieved most successfully. Indeed I can clearly recall the fanfare which accompanied its opening, the special flights and tours which it prompted, and the prominent place it assumed as Hobart's tallest building.
Wrest Point and Hobart became synonymous. Mind you, it was a close run thing. The referendum held to allow Tasmanians to have their say on whether or not this gambling facility should become part of their local landscape just squeaked through.
But for good or bad, and it would have to be said that from an economic perspective it has been very good for the State, Wrest Point was a trend setter and here to stay, and although the city skyline has been steadily rising since it was built, this 17 storey (now quite dated) building still dominates the Sandy Bay shoreline.
Of course, we had 'been there done that' during our recent reunion, and unlike many others on our particular bus, we sat tight as our trusty red rocket pushed on, back along Sandy Bay Road and then left past a section of the Anglesea Barracks, the oldest functioning military establishment in Australia (built in 1814).
After yet another hill and another delightful Hobart street scape had passed us by,
we came to and crossed Davey Street, the city thoroughfare which takes folk from one side of the city centre to the other. This was one street with which we were very familiar.
One thing which has been done in Hobart with spectacular success is the preservation of its old and significant buildings. Churches like this, and other buildings dating back to the origins of the town (as it the was), can be found throughout the city, as we shall see later.
But for now it was on down the slope to Macquarie Street, another left turn, and out past the valley along which the Hobart Rivulet runs (rivulet....what a quaint and most Tasmanian form of waterway nomenclature) and on to one of the city's most famous buildings (for more reasons than one), the Cascade Brewery.
Now at this point I shall temporarily part company with our bus, but only for the sake of this blog. We actually visited the brewery on another occasion but this seems the ideal spot to include what we found.
And what we found was spectacular. At the end of yet another charming Hobart suburban street,
seen here in back view as we approached the brewery itself,
this was the sight which greeted us.
What an extraordinary building this is, imperiously looking down along the street which in the days of yore was also home to the infamous Hobart Women's Prison (and now provided a backdrop for a couple of posers!)
Aside from the fact that it turns out a bloody good drop (several of them in fact), this particular brewery holds a place of significance in Australian History. I'll let its official website take up the story:
"Established in 1824, Cascade Brewery Co. proudly holds a revered
place in Australia's Brewing History. From humble beginnings as a
sawmilling operation in the foothills of Mount Wellington, Cascade is
now the country's oldest operating brewery.
The business was founded by
English settlers, Peter Degraves and brother-in-law, Major McIntosh, who
arrived on Tasmania’s shores in 1824. Plans for Cascade Brewery were
born during Degraves’ stint in the old Hobart Gaol, serving time for an
offence that he had committed prior to emigrating.
Degraves recognised that he had access to the pure waters flowing
from Mount Wellington and devised a strategy for a groundbreaking
brewery. Upon his release from Gaol in 1831 Degraves set about realising
his vision to brew a genuine and pure beer and in December 1832 the
first Cascade Brewery Co. beer was sold."
Interestingly, from what I learnt from other sources, this take on Degraves and his relationship with his 'partner' Major McIntosh, is a rather whitewashed version of the real truth. Degraves was a rogue, and although his part in establishing Cascade is true enough, there is much more to the story than has been related here, but I'll not bore you with the details.
It was also of interest to me to discover that part of the initial great success of this enterprise lay in the fact that the gold rush in Victoria meant that it had a ready and very large market in Melbourne and beyond for both its beer and timber. Good timing indeed!
Apart from its position in Australian history, the Cascade operation is unique for another reason amongst the country's breweries in that it produces its own malt for its main beers, made from locally grown barley.
Now, apart from the brewing operation, the Cascade facilities include an adjacent restaurant and function centre,
set in the most delightful gardens which include a fountain
spreading trees, ferns, and (at the time of our visit) beds of yellow iris in full bloom.
Expanses of lush lawn
are home to facilities such as this stone outdoor bar with its facade designed to match that of the main brewery building,
and several pieces of outdoor art.
Stone paths and steps allow access to the higher parts of the surrounding gardens,
and it was from up here I was able to snap this photo, which to me summed up this spot perfectly.....the restaurant with the Gothic facade of the brewery building behind it, all under the brow of Mount Wellington. It doesn't get any more 'Hobart' than this!
Now, after this interlude, it's back onto the bus for our return to the city (down a street the name of which I now cannot remember for the life of me...but the old and incredible buildings continued to pop up)
and along cluttered Collins Street, where a new development section made things even more crowded than normal, before we found ourselves back at the point where this had all begun.
So, had this done the trick in whetting our appetite for more of historical Hobart? Indeed it had.
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