Hobart – Feb. 15th – 18th

Officially I was in Hobart for four days, but for three of those, I did day trips to Bruny Island, Tasman Peninsula, and to Mt. Field National Park.  See the other listings for those locations.

Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city founded in 1803.  In the 1820s, tens of thousands of Britian’s criminals were sent to Hobart to alleviate the overcrowding in the jails.  Along with them came soldiers to watch over them as well as whalers capitalizing on the numerous whale in the nearby waters.  Mt. Wellington is 1270m (4166ft) tall.  It’s home to what’s called the most difficult half marathon in the world which starts at sea level and goes all the way to the top.  The road was closed for tree work the day I tried to drive up so this is the best view I got.  I’ve heard a couple of times that they are trying to get people to call it by its native name, Kunanyi, now instead of Mt. Wellington.  There are also talks of putting in a cable car to the top.

One in four convicts brought to Tasmania was a woman and they were sent to what they called a “Female Factory.”  Between 1788 and 1853 about 25,000 women were transported to Australia for their crimes and about half came to the area of Hobart.  The Cascades Female Factory open in December 1828.  This was a particularly poor location as it was at the base of Mt. Wellington making it very damp and dark.  The ladies were separated into classes (based on their crime and behavior) and they were given jobs and privileges based on their class.

MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) at $75 million dollars is one of Tasmania’s top attractions.