A great start to your second day in Hobart is to wake up early and do the climb up kunanyi/Mount Wellington. And when I say climb, I really mean drive! But either way, you’re assured of getting a spectacular view across the city of Hobart! This is a wonderful tour to take after you’ve finished the introduction to Hobart’s Harbourfront and Battery tour. Once you’ve finished looking out at the incredible vistas, head down the mountain to explore South Hobart‘s historic Cascade Brewery and convict past at the Cascade Female Factory. Continuing on the convict trail, let’s walk over to Campbell street to see the old city Gaol. Finish the day off with a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens and dine on some of the best seafood in a little hidden gem of a neighbourhood east of the center city.
For over 35,000 years, the semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub-group of the Nuenonne people, lived in Hobart. These indigenous people made good use of the astonishing natural resources the River Derwent provided. And the protected access to the Tasman sea also meant their fishing boats were kept safe but could be sent out to bring in fresh food. This indigenous group were the descendants of the Tasmanians we now refer to as the ‘Palawa‘ people.
Hobart was founded as a British colony in 1804, making it the second oldest capital city in Australia after Sydney. Hobart was settled as a penal colony, bringing the most hardened criminals from the shores of England and Ireland to the newly built prisons. Back then, Tasmania was dubbed the ominous ‘Van Diemen’s Land.’ The colony settled here was first named “Hobart Town.” It was named after Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire. Lord Hobart was the Secretary of the Colonies when Hobart was settled.
Hobart grew over the years as the freed convicts made their permanent home here. Despite their criminal past, people found these free men were hard and honest workers looking to simply restart their life here in Australia. When the penal colonies closed in 1850, whaling and shipbuilding became the prominent industry in Hobart. Due to Hobart’s proximity to the Southern Ocean, the fisherman quickly found and captured whales for the commercial market. Today, after the decline in whaling, Hobart finds itself serving as the port for Australian and French Antarctic operations and, of course, as a tourist destination for many Australians and international visitors alike.
Our first and most important stop of the day is up kunanyi/Mount Wellington. Access to kunanyi/Mount Wellington is free, no park pass is required. The summit and observation shelter are open from 7 am to 10 pm (although it closes earlier in the winter months). You can take your own car up the winding Pinnacle Road.
The drive from downtown Hobart takes about 30 minutes. But take your time as the road bends and weaves around the mountain can be a bit treacherous to newbies. The Tasmanian government has an entire site dedicated to helping international drivers learn the road rules. But in terms of driving up the mountain, the key points are:
For specific driving directions, check here.
The road to the summit was constructed in the early 1930s. The name “Pinnacle Drive” is a more modern naming convention as it was first called ‘Ogilvie’s Scar.’ Albert Ogilvie was the premier of Tasmania during the 1930s. The newly created road up the mountain seemed to carve a scar into the hillside, as the forests were so heavily logged, leaving the woods almost bare.
If you didn’t bring your own vehicle, you could take the kunanyi/Mt Wellington Explorer Bus. This tour departs from Hobart and takes you to the summit. Once you arrive, you get to enjoy the panoramic views and observations shelter without doing the drive yourself! There are also a few different hop-on-hop-off options along the route. These are great if you wanted to explore any other walking trails around kunanyi/Mt Wellington. Throughout your journey on the bus, there is a commentary track from your drive. They will tell you all about the history and wildlife of the region. Your bus passes valid all day, but checks to see when the different pick-up/drop-off times and locations are.
kunanyi/Mount Wellington rises 1,271 metres (4,170 ft) above sea level. The temperature up here is frequently so cold that the summit is covered in a thin blanket of snow, even in the summer! So be sure to bring a bunch of extra layers to ensure you’re not too cold up here. I thought I had dressed warmly enough but was shocked by the strong winds up here. The wind chill drops the temperature even further! So bring more than you think you’ll need. A puffer jacket is an excellent option since it is so light to carry around in your bag after the tour. A scarf, hat and gloves are also a necessity!
If you are driving yourself, you MUST make a stop at the Lost Freight cafe. Even if you are taking the Explorer Bus you can get off at the ‘Springs’ stop. The cafe is located on the road to kunanyi/Mount Wellington. It provides a scenic place to grab a quick coffee and pastry before heading off into the brisk weather of the summit! This is the best way to keep warm while exploring the mountain. Plus, it’s just the cutest place to make a stop with some of the friendly staff!
While your stopping for that coffee, you might as well take a short walk over to the Springs Lookout. Thru the trees along the winding road, it’s hard to see the beautiful views. But from this little lookout point, you get a fantastic view across the hillside.
As you climb the mountain, look out your window at the incredible landscape. The initial climb is full of lush Eucalypti forests. On either side, you’ll see tiny bursts of water flowing out from the rocks. These ravines, creeks and hidden waterfalls flood the mountain range. The freshwater creates colossal tree ferns that flourish in the moist ground.
The animals that live in these mountains are so diverse! I hadn’t even heard of some of the creatures that live up here. Everything from potoroos, pademelons, quolls, bettongs, and bandicoots! There are also the common possum, bats, echidnas, the elusive platypus, small frogs, reptiles, and of course the alpine lizards. There are also 67 different bird species living in these forests including peregrine falcons, wedge-tailed eagles, swift parrots and grey goshawks.
One of the most interesting stories of the mountain is of a dangerous bushranger named John ‘Rocky’ Whelan. Whelan is actually my maiden, and my brother is named John Whelan, so it was a shock to read about this Whelan’s gruesome story! John Whelan was an Englishman who had been convicted of a crime and sentenced to seven years in Tasmania’s penal system. But upon arriving, he escaped custody and went on to become a prolific highway robber. Eventually, he was caught once more and, this time, sentenced to eighteen years on Norfolk Island in New Zealand. After that prison closed and he was being moved to Port Arthur, he escaped once more! He made his way into the rugged bushland of kunanyi/Mt Wellington, where he hid in a cave, now named ‘Rocky Whelan’s Cave.’ But it wasn’t just hiding that Rocky was doing in this cave…
One day when visiting a shoemaker in Hobart, the shoemaker noticed a name on the bottom of the shoes. The words “Dunn” were embossed on the bottom of the shoes, the name of a man who had recently gone missing, suspected dead. The shoemaker managed to get a hold of the authorities who arrested Rocky when he came to collect the shoes. When Rocky was arrested, they found he was wearing all the clothes of the murdered Mr. Dunn. He confessed to the killing, and the police found the decomposing body of Dunn inside the cave. Rocky went on to confess to the murders of five people. The cave is located just a short walk from the Springs Lookout.
When you finally reach the summit, the landscape changes from lush green ferns into flat sandstone cliffs. The sub-alpine flora and glacial rock formations you find on the summit are so unique. It feels like walking on the moon. You might have noticed that anytime I write Mount Wellington I pair it with the word kunanyi. Kunanyi is the proper Palawa name for the mountain. The indigenous Tasmanian people have called it such for thousands of years before the British colonizers’ arrival. In 2014, the mountain’s name was officially changed to kunanyi/Mt Wellington. This was done as part of the Tasmanian Government’s Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy.
Standing at the top of the summit, you can see the entirety of Hobart, the River Derwent and even the surrounding hillsides spread out across you like a painting. The most iconic aspect of the summit is the igneous rock spread out over the landscape. These were formed by layers of rocks pushing upwards by upsurges of molten rock as the Australian continental shelf violently tore away from the Antarctic. It’s incredible to think how old these rock formations are. This separation from Antarctica happened over 40 million years ago!
Charles Darwin visited Hobart Town in 1836. He made an effort to climb the mountains and described his journey to the summit.
“The summit of the mountain is broad and flat, and is composed of huge angular masses of naked greenstone… The day was splendidly clear, and we enjoyed a most extensive view; to the north, the country appeared a mass of wooded mountains, of about the same height with that on which we were standing, and with an equally tame outline: to the south the broken land and water, forming many intricate bays, was mapped with clearness before us. …”
Once you get out of your car or bus at the summit, you can walk along the boardwalk toward the Observation Shelter. The short section of the pathways leading into the Observation Shelter has been made to be wheelchair accessible. Inside the Observation Shelter is a great place to look out at the fantastic views but be protected from the harsh weather as the room is encased in glass.
The boardwalk continues one along the cliff edge. A set of stairs leads you towards a view platform that puts you out on the absolute edge of the mountain to get the best views. Continue walking along the boardwalk as the more you explore, the more of the unique landscape you’ll discover!
If you are keen to take a short hike, I recommend the Chalet Walk. The Chalet Walk is a 2 km return trip, so it’s easy for almost anyone to do. This walk takes you along the Organ Pipe track, which is usually a 3-hour return journey. But if you start the walk at the Chalet, you can enjoy a small section of the Organ Pipes walk without trekking the entire section. This little exploration takes you to see the spectacular dolerite columns found there. These dolerite columns, called the Organ Pipes cliffs, are some of the most dramatic natural sculptures in all of Tasmania. They were created from molten magma 175 million years ago. Their soaring structure is made of Doleratie, which are crystals formed when the magma cools down quickly rather than slowly over time.
Simply walk as far as you’d like and turn around when you feel like you’re ready to return to the Chalet. The hop-on-hop-off bus makes stops here so you’ll able to make your way over even without your own car. The chalet is also a great place to sit and enjoy the views with a breakfast picnic!
Heading back down the mountain, make your way to the South Hobart neighbourhood. Nestled in these suburbs are a few historical treasures of Hobart’s past. If you are taking the Explorer Bus, you can ask to get off at the Fern Tree Park Stop. From there board the 448 Bus at Fern Tree station towards stop 20, Huon Rd near Hillborough Road. Then it’s a 20-minute walk to the Brewery. Although it sounds like a trek, we loved the winding, scenic walk leading up to the great Brewery!
Walking up Cascade Brewery, the enormous building feels a little ominous. It feels almost out of place, as such tall buildings are scarce to find in Hobart. On the grey, misty morning when we arrived the building looked absolutely haunting! The misty shadow of kunanyi/Mt Wellington silhouetted behind the sandstone facade. But once you get inside, you’ll find a charming brewery serving up some fantastic local beers and ciders. Although you’ll discover that its tumultuous history gives reason for the rather spooky atmosphere here.
The history of Cascade Brewery is marred with deception and hints at its convict past. The Cascade Brewery first opened in 1824 and remains the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia. Originally the estates here consisted of large sawmills producing the much-needed timber used in the Hobart shipyards. Shipbuilding was one of Hobart’s largest and most lucrative industries, so the demand for timber was very high. Hobart was an optimal location for shipbuilding as the blue gum trees around the city made for some of the best ship lumber.
The Cascade Brewery was the brainchild of Peter Degraves and Hugh Macintosh. Until 2011 this was not the commonly accepted truth. It was previously thought that the brewery was founded only by Peter Degraves. Degraves was a cheat and a debtor so it’s no surprise he managed to fool everyone for years that he was the sole creator. Peter came to the shores of Hobart with his brother-in-law Hugh Macintosh in 1824. Degraves had decided to come to Hobart only to escape his charges of thievery in England. But you can’t run from your past forever.
When they arrived, Macintosh wasn’t so keen on the idea of a brewery. But Degraves convinced him to fund it anyway. In 1826, Degraves was arrested for the debts he had in England. He was sentenced to prison for five years in Hobart. Once Degraves was in jail, the kindly Macintosh opted to pay off all Degraves’ outstanding debts. Macintosh abandoned the operation of the brewery and focused his attention on the lucrative sawmills he ran with his nephews.
Once Degraves was let out of prison, Macintosh (for whatever reason) agreed to allow him back into the partnership. Degraves immediately went about expanding the brewery. When Macintosh died in 1834, Degraves offered to buy out the other half of the estate. Macintosh’s sons, who inherited the property, lived far away in India and had no interest in the estate. The sons agreed and transferred the deed to Degraves but, as was the pattern with Degraves, he never paid them. In fact, Degraves went onto falsify the brewery’s history after Macintosh’s death and made it appear as if he was the sole owner.
Despite his trickery, both the mill and the brewery began to experience a boom of growth, and the money came rolling in. The gold rush in Victoria demanded the import of both timber and beer for the miners. And lucky for Degraves, he could supply both! Eventually, Degraves died and the brewery passed hands a few times. Eventually, the brewery was purchased by Australian subsidiary Carlton & United Breweries, who still own the brewery today. Sadly, a massive bushfire in 1967 destroyed many buildings around South Hobart, the brewery included. Thanks to immense restoration efforts, the entirety of the brewery was rebuilt stone by stone and looks like a replica of the original.
The original icon of the Cascade Brewing Company is the now extinct Tasmania Tiger or thylacine. The thylacine was the largest carnivorous marsupial native to Tasmania. They called it the Tasmania Tiger as a nickname was the stripes on its lower back resembled that of a tiger. Like the kangaroo, the thylacine also carried its young inside its abdominal pouch. The animal was timid and only about the size of a large dog. Sadly, intensive hunting, shockingly encouraged by state bounties on the animal, contributed to its eventual extinction. New diseases were brought to the country by the English settlers. Their encroachment on the land also led to the thylacine’s disappearance. The last Tasmania tiger died in captivity in 1930. The Tasmanian devil is its closest living relative.
Cascade Brewery is famous for its beers inspired by the incredible fruits from Tasmania. The best place to learn more about the brewery and sample some of their beers is to take one of their tours. They have two options, the historical tour and the brewery tour. The historical tour is 45 minutes long and allows visitors who want to hear stories about their humble beginnings through to their current history. If you choose to add a tasting to the tour, you will be able to head into the bar to sample various Cascade’s beers and ciders. The tour without the tasting costs $22 AUD, and the Tour + Tasting costs $32 AUD. This tour runs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The brewery tour is an hour and 15 minutes long and studies the art of creating the nation’s oldest beer recipes. You’ll get to explore previously unseen areas of the brewery and finish off with a tasting paddle of four of Cascade’s beers or ciders. The brewery tour costs $30 AUD and only runs on Saturdays and Sundays. Be sure to book in advance as these spots book up fast. If you can’t attend one of the tours, you can always grab the sampler platter inside the bar and read this post to your group so they can learn all about the history.
The Cascade Brewery Bar is also a great place to grab a bite to eat while sampling their brews. Their menu is full of incredible Tasmanian delights. Their taste of ‘Tassie platter’ is a fantastic way to try a bunch of different local items at once. It consists of smoked wallaby, pale ale glazed ham, salmon rillettes, apple relish, pickled vegetables and lavosh bread.
Down the aptly named “Cascade Road,” make your way over to the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site. The walk from the brewery to the site is only 10 minutes and a 5-minute drive. Although most of the prisons in Australia were meant for male offenders, a large percentage of female convicts were also sent to Van Diemen’s Land. Throughout the penal colonies’ history in Australia, 25,000 convict women were sent to Australia to serve their time. It is said that anywhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 7 Australians are related to the women who came thru these prisons! They were the true mothers of modern Australia.
The women sent to so-called “Female Factories” were seen as corrupt. They needed to be removed from society. Only after they reformed could they return to become functional members of the community. They were therefore sent to these workhouses masquerading as prisons. Here, it was thought the women would become reform criminals if they were put to work. The hope was also that the work they produced would make the institutions profitable, although this was rarely the case. The Cascade Female Factory was open from 1828 to 1856. Unlike many of the male prisons that remain today, many of these females factories were destroyed. The Cascade Female factory is the only remaining one, making it a spot of colossal significance.
Inside the cold, stone walls of the Cascade Female Factory, the women would be forced to take part in a multitude of tasks. Everything from spinning wool, sewing clothing, cleaning dirty laundry, cooking and working in the nearby hospital. The different tasks were assigned to each prisoner based on their “class.” Classes were determined by the severity of their crimes. The well-behaved, low-level “1st Class” criminals were given the preferable tasks. These first-class women even got to act as overseers to the other prisoners. Those in the second and third classes were given the tough, physically demanding jobs. Women were made to labour 12 hours a day, even in the winter. During these freezing cold months, the women had to work in the dark of the night, under the imposing shadow of kunanyi/Mount Wellington.
Conditions inside this prison were dire. More than 1000 people lived inside these walls at one time. The location of the prison was built upon damp swampland. The icy winds from the mountain would batter the women working in the open-air yards. The grounds where the women were working were muddy, cold and filthy. All of this resulted in the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow and spread. Add to this overcrowding and inadequate sanitization, and you are left with a cesspool of disease and suffering. Once diseases got out, many women and children died from the outbreaks.
Three of the five original work yards still remain and you can walk through them on your tour of the factory. Their crumbling walls have been replaced with piles of old bricks, shaped with wiring into the original layout of the factory. One of the remaining historic buildings on the grounds is the Matron’s Quarters in Yard 4. Inside this building that still stands, you can see what life was like for the factory administrators. Inside, you can see the matron’s 19th-century parlour, bedroom and kitchen. It is the only remaining building from the convict era that stands in the Female Factory today. There would have also been a similarly designed building on the opposite side of the property but it has since been lost to bushfires.
Many of the women who were imprisoned here fell pregnant and even gave birth to their children while in prison. Others were transported to the jail from England with their small children in tow. Their fathers had either given them up or passed away themselves. Life in the prison was challenging for the women but almost unsurvivable for small children. The high infant mortality rate for children was drawing public attention, and so Yard 4 was converted into a nursery. The building could house 88 women and over 150 children. Walking around this space is haunting and its almost impossible to imagine how so many people could have been forced into this small space.
The nursey allowed convict mothers to wean their babies on site. But once they were three years of age the children were removed from their mothers and sent to Queen’s Orphan School. Visitors to the prison in the 19th-century described life in the nursery as a genuinely horrible place. Babies were crammed 4 to a crib, and baskets of straw were laid on the ground to be used as beds for the other children. Inside the historic site, you can still see bronze sculptures of the cribs lying outside in the yard. These stand as a haunting memory and commemorate the lives of all those lost children.
Hours: Open seven days a week from 9:30am – 4:00pm
Admission: $8 AUD for entry | $18 for the Heritage Guided Tour and Entry
Continuing on the convict route in Hobart, let’s head over to the old Hobart Convict Penitentiary. If you’re travelling without a car, take bus #446 from Stop 13 on Cascade Rd to Macquarie St outside St David’s Cathedral. From there it’s a 13-minute walk from Macquarie Street to Campbell Street.
The place where you find the historic Hobart Convict Penitentiary was originally the Hobart Prisoners’ Barracks, or as they called it ‘The Tench.’ This place was the first stop for prisoners coming from Britain who had yet to be assigned to a specific prison; such as Port Arthur. From here, men and women would be sent off to a variety of different convict sites across Tasmania. The barrack was initially built to house 640 convicts, but almost immediately, this was found to be too small. Therefore, the barracks were expanded to eventually hold up to 1,200 convicts.
The barracks were constructed over a two-acres long block and enclosed in high, sandstone walls. The tops of the walls were encrusted with broken glass to ensure prisoners couldn’t easily climb out. Over 50,000 prisoners would come to stay in the barracks over the years during its operations. Today, not much remains of the first barracks. Only a few sandstone walls that once enclosed the barracks on the Campbell Street side are still visible.
In 1831 a chapel was built for the prisoners. Part of a convict’s reformation was that they had to go to church. Therefore, architect John Lee Arthur was hired to build a church. What Lee ended up creating was thought to be one of his best works. He designed the building in the Georgian Renaissance style. John Lee Archer drew the layout of the building into a cruciform design, in the shape of the Christian cross. The church’s crowning glory was the glorious clock tower, which remains one of the most iconic sights along Campbell Street.
The church was designed to hold both prisoners and regular citizens of Hobart. The regular citizens would enter through a separate entrance, to ensure they were kept away from the prisoners. Also to ensure separations, the seating was designed on an incline. This allowed everyday citizens to attend church without the convicts’ eyes staring across at them as they attempted to pray. The prisoners were made to sit on hard, wood benches, whereas the citizens had large, spacious pews.
But some of the prisoners in the barracks were deemed too dangerous to be kept with the rest of the convict population. A need for solitary confinement cells arose, but there was no more space to construct a new building on the grounds. So John Lee Archer went about renovating the area underneath the chapel to accommodate 36 solitary confinement cells. The brick cells were designed to decrease in height to support the inclined floors of the chapel above. Because the chapel was both a place of worship and a place of punishment, this meant that the church would never be consecrated.
As soundproofing wasn’t a consideration at the time, people in the church often complained they could hear the sounds of screaming convicts during their church services. A horrific thing to imagine hearing while trying to pray in peace. In 1847 some of the smallest cells called the “dust holes”, were sealed up as they were deemed to be inhumane. These cells were so small the convicts had to crawl inside. There was no light, and the poor ventilation would have made it almost impossible to breathe.
In 1860, when no more convicts were being brought to the shores of Tasmania, the building was converted into the Hobart Old Gaol (Jail) and Supreme court. Two of the old chapel wings were converted into courtrooms used for criminal trials. The remaining two wings were kept as a working chapel. Tunnels underground connected the courtroom to the docks so prisoners could be kept out of view of the public when being brought to trial. During its conversion into a Gaol, an execution yard was installed. Here, 32 people would lose their lives. In fact, the last person to be hanged here in Tasmania was killed in 1946!
The building is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 3pm through the Pandemonium Experience. This guided tour and multi-sensory film experience immerses you in the chaos of convict life in Van Diemen’s Land. You will hear the stories, feel the emotions, and walk the footsteps of the wretched souls who passed through this penitentiary.
Admission: $10 adults and $5 children aged 7 -16 (although the stories are rather gruesome, you might want to think about bringing any children who are too young). The guided tour lasts 40 minutes.
You can also take a Hobart Convict Penitentiary Ghost Tour after dark! These night tours take you through the historic site and detail haunting stories from the prisoners and citizens who remember life in the Hobart Penetiantary. And if you’re fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how you look at it), you might even spot one of the spirits that are said to haunt this building. If you don’t have the opportunity to go on a guided ghost tour, then please check out our self-guided ghost tour of Hobart, where you can learn all about the various haunting tales that make up the spiritual history of Hobart.
Admission: $30 for a 90-minute tour. The tours generally run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Be sure to reserve a spot in advance as they book up quickly!
Let’s switch gears for a moment and enter into the beauty of the University Rose Gardens. These fantastical formal floral gardens contain hundreds of different rose bushes, stone sculptures and peaceful places to reset. When they are in bloom, the smell is almost overwhelming.
Continue east, towards the great Tasmanian Cenotaph. There is a pedestrian walking path that runs parallel to Liverpool street that you can use to access the Cenotaph. The Cenotaph is a 75-foot tall granite obelisk. It was made to pay tribute to the Tasmanian soldiers who died during World War One. With spectacular views of the Derwent River, the gorgeous open-air park was chosen as it was once the site of the Queen’s Battery from 1838 until 1923. The image of kunanyi/Mount Wellington aptly looks down over the landscape in a splendid dramatic fashion.
On either side of the pathway towards the Cenotaph, named Soldier’s Memorial Avenue, are rows of great cedar trees. Three varieties of cedars were planted here; the Himalayan cedar, the Atlas cedar and the Blue Atlas. Cedar trees are symbolic of strength as they can endure any type of weather conditions. They are also known for their longevity—a perfect symbolic choice for memorizing these great soldiers.
Along the avenue are 480 bronze plaques placed near the trees. The plaques carry details about the soldiers from their name, unit, place and date of death, occupation and a range of other information about their family, military career and civilian life. It really gives you a peek into the kind of people these lost soldiers were.
The design of the huge Cenotaph obelisk was meant to reinterpret the look of a traditional Egyptian obelisk. But as it was made in the 20th-century they wanted to add an art deco spin, as was the syle of the times. The obelisk stands 75 feet (23 meters) high and is made of stoic grey granite. The pyramidal cap of the cenotaphs is decorated with red opaque glass which is illuminated during the evening to glow red. The effect is a beautiful, yet haunting image in the sky. The inscription at the bottom of the structure reads “Lest We Forget 1914–1919″. On each side of the obelisk are four crests representing the; Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Australian Navy, Australian Commonwealth Military Forces and the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps.
Five minutes up the road by car, or a 20-minute walk, head over to the Government House Tasmania. To access this area on foot, be sure to use the pedestrian crossings along the Tasman Highway whose entrance can be found near the highway underpass at the Cenotaph. Sitting here, looking out at the water, is what appears to be a giant castle! But in actual fact, this 19th-century building, called the Government House, was the residence of Governor Sir Henry Fox Young.
The house was built by architect William Porden Kay in Neo-Gothic style. Kay aimed to make the building resemble the design of a castle but in minature. Although minimal in size, the bas relief sculptures on the facade are wonderfully playful, featuring window mullions, gargoyles, carved chimney pots and lovely window traceries.
The beautiful sandstone facade was made from stone quarried from this very site. The holes where they dug are now used as ornamental ponds. Because the structure has almost entirely been saved from destruction or modern renovations, it remains one of the best Vice-Regla residences in the commonwealth.
Just opposite the Governor’s House, pay a visit to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. This natural wonderland is a great place to learn more about the incredible flora and fauna unique to Tasmania. The garden was opened in 1818, making it the second oldest Botanical Gardens in Australia!
Once inside, your first stop should be at the Tasmanian Section and Fern House to the north of the entrance. Some of the most important Tasmanian plants include the Huon Pine, Deciduous Beech and the Eucalyptus Regnans. The fern house is absolutely spectacular, with aromatic towering ferns swaying overhead.
Further north, you will find your way to the Subantarctic Plant House. Due to the cooler climate that Tasmania receives, this garden contains Australia’s only Subantarctic Plant House. This plant house aim is to ensure the conservation of all the precious Tasmanian plants, including the unusual King’s Lomatia shrub.
For some aromatherapy treatment, walk over to the luscious herb garden, filled with everything a chef would need to infuse their food with fresh bursts of flavour. Near the herb garden, you’ll find the historical “Arthur’s Wall.” In 1829, newly installed Governor George Arthur wanted to install a heated wall to protect his imported plants from frosty winter weather.
These heated walls were all the rage in English Gardens. There were made with bricks and had an internal hollow channel built inside. The heat and hot air from coal-fired furnaces would travel along the stone surfaces, protecting the plants and keeping them warm. But unknown to Arthur until his first winter in Tasmania, the weather never dropped cold enough to implement the use of the walls. England saw much colder temperatures than here in Tasmnia, a fact Arthur would only discover after he had had the walls built at great expense. The walls were only used once or twice before being put out of use. Still, the technology is fascinating to study as it still stands today!
One of the best things the Botanical Gardens does for the community was to open their spare beds to be used as a community garden. This is where those in need can grow their own food with the help of knowledgeable staff.
I adore the fantastic French Memorial Fountain. This fountain was built in 1972 to commemorate the bicentenary of French exploration in Tasmania. The sculpture is made out of Tasmanian Huon Pine, and its abstract shape is meant to represent the shape of the bow and sails of a French ship.
Located on the northeastern side of the garden is the beautiful Japanese Garden with its iconic red wooden bridge sprawling across the peaceful waterfalls. This area of the park was designed by Kanjiro Harada, a landscape architect from Yaizu, Japan, Hobart’s sister city. Just as in Japan, depending on the season, the colours shapeshift and seems to change the entire atmosphere of the garden. There is never a wrong time to come here. In Spring, you can see the cherry blossoms; in summer, you’ll watch the water lilies bloom. Fall brings dazzling red maples and even in the winter, the waterfall never stops flowing.
Admission: Access to the gardens is free, but you can leave a donation of your choice if you want to continue to support the gardens.
Opposite the gardens is the imposing Tasman Bridge. The bridge is home to two pedestrian walkways. While the bridge itself is made of a simple concrete structure, the views of the Derwent River and the city of Hobart sprawled out in front of you are what is worth the journey up here!
To end the night off, head over to the historic suburb of Bellerive. Bellerive is just on the other side of the Hobart waterfront. If you’ve already dined along Fisherman’s Wharf, this little jaunt over to the east side of the peninsula is totally worth exploring. Bellerive was settled in the 1820s, and it is one of the most historic areas of Hobart. The area was initially called Kangaroo Point, but the name was changed to Bellerive, meaning beautiful riverbank, in the 1830s. Don’t worry if you don’t have a car; Uber services this area and is a great way to get around.
Hooked on Bellerive is a total hidden gem. Although it’s small in size, located on a literal floating pontoon, the interior is a gorgeous blend of nautical design and modern aesthetics. The glass windows along the water’s edge make you feel like you’re dining right on the water, and the windows even open right up on hot days. The food is as traditional as can be with a small menu consisting of fried fish, scallops, oysters and calamari served with a side of chips and salad. The wonderfully friendly staff here makes you feel like family, and it’s honestly worth the journey to see a neighbourhood outside the centre of Hobart.
Heading back to the main downtown area, you’ll get a beautiful view of Hobart at night as you cross back over the Tasman Bridge. The lights of the city dancing off the dark water is a sight to see and another reason to come on over to Bellerive. Hopefully, you enjoyed this tour and discovered some of the unique natural features of Hobart and learned a bit more about the dark convict history that haunts these shores.
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