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To start, we packed up our things and asked Mo, the manager at Narrara backpackers, if we can leave our stuff in the hostel. At least we assumed he was Mo. The man we assumed was Mo said yes, so we left our stuff.
We walk down to the local mission to have breakfast. Egg and bacon roll with chips, accompanied by a passable coffee. Very nice it was too. All for the princely sum of $9.50. Jesus lives!
Now committed Christians (at least for the next half hour whilst we digested), we wandered down to St David's Cathedral. This is the main Anglican cathedral in Hobart. Here, we go inside the museum where, built into the sides of the walls, were stones from other cathedrals. An interesting concept for a church that is only 150 or so years old. Amongst others, we spotted stones from both Durham Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, so we were quite happy. Our main factoid from the visit was... apparently, there is only other St David's cathedral in the world and it is, of course, in Wales.
Spending further time before we could pick up our newest hire car (our fourth!), we headed over to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Here we initially found the exhibits a little disjointed and poorly thought out. But a highlight for any tourist was the Thylacine area - aka the Tasmanian Tiger. Although it was just a small room, it charted the functional extinction of this species. Hunted by farmers who viewed it as a threat to sheep, a bounty was placed on its head by the Tasmanian government in 1888 (£1 per adult). This state-sponsored genocide ensured its complete decline, with the last known confirmed thylacine dying in captivity in 1936. And although the probability is low (!!), a few dedicated fanatics are still looking for it. The current reward for proof of a living Tassie tiger is $1.25 million.
We then walk into a section acknowledging the traditional owners of Tasmania, the Ningina Tunapri. This exhibition is quite jarring, much more so than anything we've seen in Australia so far.
This feeling was only heightened when we went next door into the old Bond Store. On the top floor, we saw a permanent exhibition entitled "Parrawa parrawa! Go Away White Man!" This brought to life what was called 'the Black War' (first time we've heard that). Stylish audio visual prompts remind us that there are two sides to every story, but in this case only one was ever told; the white one. And this was simply because there were no "pure" ethnic Tasmanian aborigines who survived. It was complete genocide. Later in the day we mused about the terrible parallels between the Tasmanian aborigines and the Tasmanian tiger. Both were ostensibly hunted because they disrupted the lucrative wool business on Van Diemen's Land.
We left the museum feeling really bad... Again the first time we had been challenged in this way in Australia, which we think is interesting in itself.
We pick up our newest car from Budget. This time Hertz was a little too expensive. We quickly find out why this company is called Budget!... budget customer service too!
So our new car is a KIA Sportage, who is wide and slow, and whom we nickname Kiki. Not sure why, but Bailhache finds this amusing. The jury is definitely still out on it... We miss our i30!
Complete with new car, we drive up the nearby Mount Wellington. It's 1270m above sea level. As such, up here it was 10•C cooler than in Hobart... Chilly! As usual, there were lots of bush flies. Where do they come from?!
It was a fantastic view, if not slightly spoilt by the haze. We learnt how Charles Darwin also scaled Mt Wellington, and how climbing it had been a "severe day's work". I imagine this means it was really quite terrible! He enjoyed the view though, "the day was splendidly clear & we enjoyed a most extensive view."
Next, we planned to visit Richmond, over the other side of Hobart, but as we haven't had lunch yet (it's 4pm), we stop at the first place Alex can find. It's a quirky little place run by an old Indian man and his daughter. :)
Arriving in Richmond after the midday sun has passed, we find it particularly English in feel. But the main attraction here is the Richmond Bridge... the oldest bridge in Australia! A stone bridge built by the Richmond convicts in 1823 (although actually opened in 1825). It is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a cruel overseer who was killed by a gang of convicts during construction, and now he haunts the arches!
Flagging a little, we head towards our bnb for the night, via Brighton. I am delighted to report that Brighton, Tasmania was rubbish, and we didn't see the need to even slow down as we passed through.
Arriving in New Norfolk, we grab foods from Woolworths for a couscous veggie roast, and try to get into our house. Raymond, the host isn't here, so we have to help ourselves in. With the aid of his neighbour, we find the key and opening the front door, wander into a smell I can only describe as 1978. We immediately open all the windows, and feel better.
We cook, eat, talk about the day's museums / the British Empire, then retire to bed.
AF
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