Hello family and friends, as promised here is my walking tour from my house to school.
This is my flat. There are 4 units where I live, each vastly different from the next. One day I'll put up pictures of the inside.
These are my neighbors, you can probably see the vast differences.
Looking up the hill, some quaint Hobart homes.
Looking back down the road, you can see the ocean. About a two minute's walk down you get to a beach and a dog park, as well as the local rowing club. On a sunny day this part of the bay is filled with sailboats and rowers.
Further down my street.
Also on my street. This house has one of the most friendliest, furriest cats I've ever seen. My roommate tries to convince it to come home with us every time we pass. She is yet to be successful, thank goodness.
This is the entrance to Nanny Goat lane, right at the top of my street. Nanny Goat lane is the quickest way to get to the main campus, and for most of our friends to walk to our house. I love the hand painted sign at the entrance, but the other week I stumbled across Billy Goat Lane and they used the exact same painting. I thought they could have made a bit more of a distinction between a boy goat and a girl goat.
Looking down Nanny Goat. There are 37 shallow steps up a steep hill, and trust me, I count them on days when I have to hike up it with groceries.
All houses along to the main road.
As soon as you hit the main road, you see this place, where it says "Make a Sea Change Here." One of the biggest mysteries in my life to date is what it means to "Make a Sea Change." There are no other signs of information, no phone numbers to call or hours of operation, or even any entrances that look like their meant for the public. Friends and I speculate what it Sea Changes are, and some are steadfast that it is an exclusive real estate agent that specialized in beach front property, and others insist that it's where sailors go to get their gear weatherized. I guess we'll never know.
Right across the Sea Change Building, St. Ive's Hotel.
A house I think Mom would like.
A palm tree.
The Gattonside Bed and Breakfast.
Our friendly neighborhood service station. If I had a car, this is where I would service it. The one time we had a rental car, we filled it up here.
Bob and Tom own the service station.
This is Kookaburra antiques, about a 10 minute walk from my house. It's got a great collection of antique books, that my roommate and I just like to go in and hold, because they have that great old-book feel.
This is looking down the street. I'm standing on a median, with Kookaburra Antiques to the left, and the fuel station to the right. And this street is the main road in Battery Point, my neighborhood. Even from this shot you can see a heritage museum, a milk bar (a.k.a. a lolly shop, a.k.a. a candy shop) and another antique store that mysteriously is never open.
This is a sign for people like me who still aren't used to cars whipping around from the other side. Don't worry though, I am a very cautious and assertive pedestrian.
I imagine there is some fantastic historical background to Portsea Terrace, but I haven't learned it yet.
About 15 minutes from home, right at the bottom of the street from Kookaburra Antiques is the most famous street in all of Hobart, and possibly Tasmania. This is Salamenca place. On Saturdays there's a huge market selling everything from fresh Tassie vegetables, to Aboriginal crafts, to second hand books. And on the street are great little restaurants, pubs, and art galleries. I haven't explored much of the long, historic street, but I've found a couple favorite places.
This is looking the other way. That cream building on the left is the Salamenca fruit market, it's a great place to stop and get a little something for dinner on my way home. Lately I've been frequenting the 'tater section, since Hannah and I are very skilled at making fries, boiling them, baking them, and mashing them. My next task is to make good scalloped potatoes.
Authentic Australian signage.
The Parliament Gardens. Behind them is the parliment building.
And now we've come to the harbor. This little section is the prime place to catch a boat heading just about anywhere. This little one strait above is a water taxi, and at the end of the day it fills up with people taking it to the other side of Hobart, returning from their day at work.
On the other side of the street from that little inlet is this little cafe. I like how squashed in it looks, but then one day I went inside and it was actually quite spacious.
The sandstone building in the middle, with the red trim, is the Customs House Hotel. It was one of the first pubs in Hobart, and it's first customers were weary sailors and recently freed convicts. The clientel has gone up considerably.
This is the Telegraph Hotel, which was made the same time Custom House Hotel went up, but has gone through more dramatic renovations. The Telegraph hosts "Uni night" for University students, and you can find a $5 plate of parmisan chicken.
This is where we hit the "Cruise District" where you can book cruises to about 50 different scenic and historic locations around Hobart. This line has the nicest, biggest boat, but it's winter so it only leaves the harbor on Sundays. I expect during the summer this area will be bustling with activity. See the purple door with the two purple "C's" above it? That's for the cruise to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Cadbury Chocolate originated in Hobart, and I have seen more places to buy Cadbury Chocolate than I've seen fire hydrants. Or drinking fountains. Or rain gutters.
This is the Aurora Australis. It sails to Antarctica about once every never, because I haven't seen it leave the harbor yet. You can even see in this picture that it's a little out of the water, the line of darker red is where it normally sits. It will probably be quite the sight when this ship rolls out. It typically goes on 6 week voyages for scientists and Antarctic laborers to explore the great unknown. This ship can smash through up to 1.5 meters of ice, can house up to 116 passengers and three helicopters (thank you aad.gov). It's named after the southern lights, the south pole equivilent of Aurora Borealis.
The Cartella, a cruise ship.
Fell's Historic Ferries, offering twice the amount of tours with half the cost! This ferry line specializes in offering light meals and snacks during 1-2 hour excursians. The ferry wasn't docked at this point, so I assume it was out on it's Lunch route.
This is some prestigious, tall wooden boat, who's name I've forgotten. I think it's one of the tallest, or the most wooden ship, or the tallest wooden ship, or something.
A store to pick up supplies. You might be able to see the line of Crocs hanging in the doorway, a must for Aussie boats.
Prestigious, historic building. I think it's just office space now.
Mako's seafood! I've only gone here once, but it was delicious. All down the row on this side of the wharf there are about 5 different take-away sea food restaurants, but this is the only one you can sit down in.
The Harbor.
Tricked out Police Boat.
The "Karina B" I don't know what it is about this boat that I like so much, but it's one of my favorites.
More boats and "Mures" an upscale seafood restaurant.
Sculpture of Penguins. For awhile these penguins were wearing jackets, but one day they dissapeared.
Seals.
The Quarantine center. This is where they put people with Swine Flu.
Just kidding!
Actually it's where they put all things that are banned in Tassie. Tassie has really strict bans on all foods, since it's an island that's extremely vulnerable to foreign species, like. There are also no fruit flies on this island, so they try very hard to keep it that way.
Historic buildings. See on the side, where it says I X L jams? That's because right to our left is...
The old Jam Factory! Also known as University of Tasmania's center for the arts. From the pink building all they way down is the art school. I think I'm going to try to write an entry devoted entirely to the art school, because it is so neat on the inside.
This blue building next to the Art Building is just cool. On the bottom story is a coffee shop called "Jam Packed."
So we've made it! All the way from my house to the art school. It's about a 25 minute walk, but I've made it in 20 before. I hope all of my 3 readers are doing great, and there's more to come soon!
