As most of you know, I hail from Australia (the full story is a little more complicated: I was born in NZ and lived there until I was about seven. But culturally, I’m Australian and most of my memories of growing up are of Australia). We moved around a lot, but I usually tell people that Brisbane is/was my hometown. About eight years ago, my family relocated to Tasmania. So, when I went back to visit in 2014, that’s where I went. It was my first visit there (I’d venture to guess that the majority of Australians never make it to Tassie).

My family lives in the small southern Tasmanian town of Geeveston (population 700?), which is part of the Huon Valley Council (population c. 17,000). Relatively small numbers are characteristic of Tasmania as a whole. The population of the entire state is about 600,000 which is the smallest of the six states. The capital Hobart (birthplace of Errol Flynn), is home to about 250,000. The second largest city is Launceston (90k), with Devonport coming in third with about 30k.

For a number of reasons, when I was there, I stayed in Hobart. This meant about a one-hour drive each way to Geeveston. Kind of a drag, but most of the drive was through the beautiful Huon Valley. So, following in the footsteps of esteemed Glibs like straffinrun, pistoffnick, TOK, Richard, and others, I thought I’d write up a brief travelogue of some of the sights between Hobart and Geeveston (and from some adjacent areas as well). This might encourage you to visit, now that the Australian government has rescinded most of its draconian covid-19 travel requirements.

Hobart

One of the reasons I stayed in Hobart was to visit some of the sights in a city which I’d never been to before. Although technically a riverfront rather than an oceanfront city, Hobart is located near the mouth of the Derwent River, so there are some nice water views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like a lot of cities, Hobart has transitioned much of its waterfront from working to tourism and dining. There are some terrific seafood restaurants hidden along this street:

Hobart was founded in 1803, so historic as a descriptor of a building is relative. But there are several examples of Victorian buildings. Hadley’s Orient Hotel was built in the early nineteenth century and is the oldest continually operating hotel in the country.

 

St. David’s Cathedral (Catholic) dates from 1874.

 

 

Hobart is also home to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery which, among other things, holds a stuffed Tasmanian tiger.

 

One other museum worth checking out is the Museum of Old and New Art (hat tip to the sorely missed Invisible Furry Hand for telling me about this):

 

In addition to some cool exhibits, there are also some spectacular views from the MONA site:

 

Last stop in Hobart, Salamanaca Farmer’s Market which runs year round:

Huon Valley & Surrounding Areas

 Heading generally south out of Hobart to Geeveston, is where you start getting some great scenery. These first two are from the Huon Valley itself:

This one is from near either Cygnet or Dover, can’t remember which:

 

Geeveston

View from near my family’s property:

 

Main Street Geeveston:

 

Southernmost Commercial Radio Station in the world:

 

Port Arthur

We took a day trip to Port Arthur, home of one of the most notorious convict settlements. Port Arthur was reserved for the worst offenders sent from Britain, those who had re-offended at other convict settlements such as Sydney, Moreton Bay, and Port Phillip, and rebellious convicts from Britain’s other penal colonies. Touring the site is such a contrast: beautiful buildings constructed in such brutal circumstances:

 

 

 

From the settlement there are also some spectacular views:

 

Anyway, that’s what I saw when I was there (and yes, I know, you can see all these pics online but, hey, material for the website!). Visit if you can, the Tasmanian government would love to see you.

Obvious music choice. More obscure music choice.