Walk Around Hobart

Originally, Hobart was one of the two major settlements in Australia. Later, Brisbane was developed, then free settlers came to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Hobart developed into a significant whaling settlement, but Tasmania doesn’t have much farmland, and didn’t have the goldfields that drew settlers later to the mainland, so despite growing rapidly early on, Hobart has been the smallest state capital city for probably almost 150 years. This has meant that more the early buildings are still around in Hobart and Tasmania than in Sydney.

This morning we walked to the major Saturday tourist market in Hobart - the Salamanca market, through Sandy Bay and Battery Harbour. There were people everywhere, obscuring the old sandstone buildings surrounding the square, so I didn’t take any pictures at the actual market. The walk was through an old part of Hobart.

We then walked back along the sculpture walk. It didn’t have many sculptures, but showed the history of the area - whaling, boat building, sailing, and Errol Flynn (who was born at Battery Point). This is a place where the whalers boiled down the whales.

The platform where the judges of the Sydney to Hobart race mark the end of the race.

Harbour views 

The hill where Errol Flynn was born.

This afternoon we visited Mount Wellington. While the sleet and rain obscured most of the organ pipes and the views of Hobart, it was quite an astounding piece of geology, and what we could see was spectacular.