Red Sun...

... there was a fire somewhere in Tasmania when this picture was taken (about a week ago now).

Bruny Island: Barnes Bay (Part Two)

A continuation from yesterday, here are some more photographs of Barnes Bay.

A rusty boat shed lock.

Bruny Island: Barnes Bay (Part One)

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I went to Barnes Bay with some family and friends to celebrate my mother-in-laws birthday. I had a great time taking photos! Enjoy!

(And come back tomorrow for some more!)

One of the many boat sheds along the beach.

Looking up: this tree is reaching out over the edge of the cliff.

Still looking up.

Bruny Island Fare

As I have told you, my husband and I went camping with a bunch of friends on south Bruny Island from the 27th of December, 2009, until New Years Day, 2010.

While we were there, we partook in some freshly caught seafood (though let it be known we didn't catch any of it, we only ate what others caught):

Abalone... it was cooked a bit fast, I think, so it was a bit tough, but you still feel super special eating it because you know how expensive it is!

Crab. This was cooked to absolute perfection. Delicious!I think if you spread the legs out it would have been close to 2 feet (60cm) from leg tip to leg tip. Slightly bigger than the ones you find under the rocks around rockpools!

There was also flounder once or twice (which I helped to get on one night! They are freaky!), but that stopped after a midnight shark scare that actually left one of the guys knocked over in mid-thigh depth water (thankfully I wasn't helping that night).

While eating the freshly caught seafood, I couldn't help but think of the Aboriginal tribe that used to roam Bruny Island and how they would have eaten the very same things that we ate during that camping trip. 

I wonder if they considered Abalone a delicacy like we do?

Sunset

Last night the sunset was simply gorgeous. Having a new camera, we simply had to try out the 'sunset' function. My husband took these pictures. Stunning, don't you think?

Chess Board at Franklin Square

Chess Board at Franklin Square
Originally uploaded by kathytakesphotos

I logged into Flickr today for the first time in over a month. Imagine my surprise when I had a message saying that this photo of mine had been shortlisted to go in the Schmap Hobart Guide, which gets published at the end of January.

This photo of the chess board at Franklin Square is one of my least favourite photos of those I have on Flickr, but it will be interesting (and exciting!) to see if it gets chosen!

Bruny Island: An Overview

Bruny Island is a beautiful place and it has quite a lot of significance in Tasmania's history. 

Captain Cook landed on it at Adventure Bay, on the east side of South Bruny. Lots of other explorers also visited (or at least tried to) Adventure Bay: Abel Tasman, Tobias Furneaux  (who named it) and William Bligh.

A globe at Adventure Bay.

 

The island itself and the channel of water between it and mainland Tasmania are named after a French explorer, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. The channel is called the D'Entrecastreaux Channel.


Truganini, the most famous of all the Tasmanian Aborigines, came from a tribe which lived on Bruny. 

At the south end of Adventure Bay. The water was beautiful but FREEZING!

 

Bruny Island is made up of a north island and a south island, which are joined together with a narrow isthmus, called "The Neck". So original! North Bruny is less than half the size of South Bruny. Here's a map so you can take a look. On it you can also see Captain Cook's landing place.

An artistic shot of the lighthouse... the person in the front seat was trying to ruin the photo but I love how it turned out.

On Cape Bruny, which is way down south, is a very old lighthouse: The Cape Bruny Lighthouse. It was built in 1838. When it was first in use, there were no roads on the island. To get supplies to the lighthouse boats would land at Jetty Beach (now a camping site in Great Taylor's Bay - look for the green 11 on the map). Supplies were then carried overland to the lighthouse on a track that became the first road on Bruny. Now, it is probably the bumpiest!

The lighthouse is no longer in service, but it remains a popular tourist attraction, which is understandable because it really is a gorgeous lighthouse in a stunning location. 

Saint Davids Park III

You've seen the entrance and found out it is a cemetery. Now it's time for some pretty pictures!

The main walkway through the park. The trees make a shady tunnel to walk under.

In the shade of the trees are many plants, though not many of them are flowering at the moment. These Hydrangeas are one of the few plants curently in flower.

These steps connect the park with the memorial walls (see yesterdays post).

Stone, sunshine and flowers. I love this photograph.

For me, Hobarts most attractive feature is its joining of old and new. Here, a gazebo and the Conservatorium of Music (University of Tasmania) somehow look good together in the same shot, despite the differences between them.

The gazebo. It is humble, but has been stood on by famous characters (Humphrey Bear) and people (George from Playschool). Quite a few classical musicians have also played their instruments on here. Not quite as exciting as Humphrey Bear and George, I know, but it does sound beautiful.

One of the walls that borders the park.

Usually, there are people dotted all over the grass. When the Christmas Carols were held here, the park was overflowing with people. It was great!

Another entrance to the park, this one is diagonally opposite to the one with the lions. We will be leaving the park through here. Beyond is Sandy Bay, which we will have to explore some other time!

I hope you've enjoyed our three-day exploration of St. Davids Park! If you're in Hobart, come here with some lunch and a frisbee, and see if you can find someone in the cemetery with the same surname as you!

Saint Davids Park II

So, St. Davids Park is a bit more than just grass, trees, a gazebo and lion statues.

It's a graveyard!

'Cemetery' might be a better word.

There are two types of graves in St. Davids Park. Memorial, and - for lack of a better word - tombs. Here is a 'tomb':

This is some of the writing on it:

I love how the sun is hitting it.

Here's another 'tomb':

In it are (or, were... the coffin is from 1859!) the remains of a man named James Kelly. I wonder if he was related to Ned?

Slightly seperated from the rest of the garden, down a flight of stone stairs (you'll see them tomorrow!) are walls with memorial plaques on them.

I didn't look at the plaques themselves (I had to meet my husband at the hairdressers and was already running late), but I'm sure I would have recognised at least some of the names.

Regardless of whether I'd recognise any names or not, the wall is very picturesque!

Saint Davids Park I

On Monday we had a mosey through Franklin Square. Today, we are going to be just a couple of blocks away from there, at St. Davids Park.

But we're not going inside - not yet! Today we're just getting to the entry... one of my favourite parts of St. Davids Park.

Look at the following two photos. The first one I took on Monday (the 23rd of November, 2009). The following image is a lantern slide and was probably taken between 1890-1920.

Lantern slide of by James Backhouse Walker, from here.

My photo is taken from further back, but you can see the same building in both. Whether or not the trees are the same is a different matter! You will notice that the entry lions aren't there.

The main entry to St. Davids Park. When the wisteria is in bloom this archway is utterly breathtaking.

The lions were not a part of the entry of park until 1988. Before that they had been stored at Port Arthur. Originally, the lions stood over the entrance of the Bank of Van Dieman's Land. They were carved in 1884 in a tent on the footpath. Interesting stuff! There's more here.

The closer you get to the lions the cooler and weirder they look. The eyes are a bit freaky.

Fairly self-explanatory.

This lion looks a little freaked out. Perhaps the branch infront of its face scared it?

I've always thought of St. Davids Park at a little oasis - a good place to have lunch and throw a frisbee. So what I realised after walking through the gate on Monday surprised me... and now I can't think of the park in the same way.

What did I realise? Check back tomorrow to find out!