TASMANIA 7 - HOBART

Upon getting to Hobart we went straight to the showgrounds to set up and discovered that what they charge for a powered site ($25 per night + $1 each for shower tokens) did not represent good value for money. They probably get people in there though as we were told the caravan parks were up to $20 a night more. If you plan on staying only a couple of nights I would still shop around though as the facilities at the showground are not well maintained. Apparently they are upgrading soon. We did meet some nice fellow-campers though and had some pleasant afternoon social gatherings.

There are plenty of shopping centres and a laundromat nearby however and it’s only a short walk to the bus stop to get into town. We took this option as parking in the city is expensive and you can also have a drink if you want to. Arriving in Hobart for the weekend is the only option if you want to do Salamanca Markets, and most people do. They are great in that there is plenty to see but many of the stalls carry the same stock – there is an unlimited supply of wooden chopping boards. However, the prices are not cheap on the whole. There are some great buskers though and the atmosphere is really nice.

 

Don’t get too excited about the Sunday markets at the showground though. Most of the stuff is either second hand or just rubbish. One of our fellow campers from Queensland commented that is was on par with the local market at Caboolture and I gathered they weren’t too crash hot.

After the markets we had lunch with our old friend Craig who is in Hobart doing his training before heading to Antarctica for a year. What an experience that will be. There are lots of seafood places on the waterfront, both restaurants and take-away places. Our scallops were delicious.



As well as some beautiful sailing ships, the waterfront is home to lots of working fishing boats.



There are lots of iteresting sights and places around the waterfront in Hobart.

This area is dedicated to the exploration of Antarctica.

This squid boat was covered in bllack ink. Note all the light bulbs too. It must take some power to run the all.

Joe's Garage is a quirky little bar in the backstreets, obvviously popular with the biking fraternity.

We had noticed quite a few motorbikes arriving as we left the markets and when we walked back toward the bus stop we discovered that the Tasmanian Motorcycle Association we having their toy run, finishing at Salamanca so there were bikes everywhere. The news claimed there were about 3000 and I’d believe it. They were parked everywhere and the pubs were chockers. This was an added bonus. We took a while to check out all the bikes.



Just a few of the thousands of bikes from the Toy Run.



On Sunday we picked Craig up and headed out to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). It is cheap at $20 to get in as it is a truly amazing place which was built by a syndicate of gamblers which included a local Tasmanian bloke. Give yourself several hours to wander around Mona and make sure you keep your eyes everywhere as it is easy to miss interesting things. Some of the artworks could be considered confronting but I would recommend it to anyone. They variety of works is amazing. I have included photos of just some of the pieces.

You asked me to come and see your routine, you call this a routine? 2006

Jon Pylypchuk

Scrap art

 

Hanging Garden 2008

Mikala Dwyer

BIT.FALL (2006-7) - Julius Popp  This piece consisted of droplets of water falling regularly. Each time a new word from current news appears.

Craig what have you done? I hope you're going to clean that up!

Untitled (White Library) 2004-6

Wilfredo Prieto

At centre - ARTIFACT (2010) - Gregory Barsamian

Inside "Artifact"

Part of "SNAKE"

Snake 1970-72

Sidney Nolan

Mixed media on paper, 1,620 sheets

CLOACA PROFESSIONAL (2010) - Wim Delvoye.  This interesting exhibit is a replica of the processes in the human digestive stomach. It is fed scraps from the restaurant above (but no tuna as the artist doesn’t approve of how it is caught). It processes the food and at 2 pm each day it produces a “poo” just like a real person. You can even smell the gases being released from each receptacle. Delightful! The staff were particularly proud of the fact that this is the only “permanently installed” Cloaca in the world. All the rest are just on temporary loan to various galleries.

"Fat Car" (2006) - Erwin Wurn
"The fatter you are the more your brain shrinks." -Erwin Wurn

Queen (a Portrait of Madonna) 2005

Candice Breitz

Thirty-channel video installation, duration 01:13:30

The Fairy Horde and the Hedgehog Host 2008-10

Tessa Farmer

Taxidermied hedgehog, wasp nest, rat and hedgehog bones, dried toads, eggshell, crab shell, insects, plant roots

Trashblower 2012

Michel Blazy



Sixteen garbage bins, foam, pump - This was my favourite!



 

If you’d like to see more their web link is:

http://www.mona.net.au

The view from the balcoy at MONA

 

The Cadbury factory is also worth a visit if only to load up with cheap chocolates as well as the huge free ones they give you when you go in. I think there were a lot of locals doing their Christmas shopping when we went. There is also a video presentation, café etc but you can’t actually go into the factory any more but who cares.

Chocolates anyone?



That's a big choccy Lachy!!!!!




Remember these guys from the Cadbury ads?????



Most visitors also go for a drive up Mt Wellington and visit the brewery but we skipped both. We had done Mt Wellington last visit and the views are truly amazing. It is not unusual to get up there in summer to find it snowing either. The city area also has lots of interesting buildings as well as museums, and some amazing antique and specialist stores which are interesting just to browse in. Getting around is quite easy. It is more like a big country town. We found plenty of reasonably priced markets and stores so we managed to stock up before heading south down to the Huon area.

And we also found our next dream caravan!