Day 1
By the numbers
1 train
1 plane
2 cities
10kg main bag
12.24kms
16,228 steps
I will include the day before I leave for my trip away as there was some things that happened in the pre trip. I took the train to Brisbane after work, which was pretty uneventful and I was worried about a storm, but I am unsure if it really hit. The hotel was quicker to find than the last time I was here as it was likely I knew where I was going.
Setting everything out I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with many issues, but a tech one appeared when I sat down to check my computer. Turns out my keyboard decided to not work properly and do random letters. Means I couldn’t use logins, well type them. I had checked it several days ago and the batteries and terminal were wet. I thought it would be fine once batteries were replaced, but obviously not. I did wipe down the area and thought nothing of it. Since it doesn’t work, I did a click and collect order in Hobart.
Enough about the tech issues, I had never been to Hobart before. I was last in Tasmania in 2000 visiting Launceston, but that was about it. This time I am doing my own journey there.
Sorting out the flight through the app was pretty easy for Qantas as they had sent me a text to checkin and was pretty easy to get through the bag drop as all you had to do was press some buttons and then go through security. That was where I had a little panic attack as I went through, but my bag somehow hadn’t. I thought someone had taken it as my wallet and my phone were in there. The first thing that had appeared was my laptop, but that had been behind my bag. The security scan for me was a body scan that found an open pocket as I had to be patted down. I don’t follow instructions as I was confused. Once my bag made it through I was happy again and headed for my gate where I had an hour wait. There was a coffee along the way and boarding the plane for Hobart. There was a little bit of a wait for some late passengers, but we did leave Brisbane.
Landing in Hobart didn’t take that long as the plane landed several hours later and the weather hopping off was warm and sunny. It wasn’t actually cold at all and the sniffer dog didn’t even stop for my bag that had a museli bar inside, which was really good. No one checked to see if I had been jabbed or tripled jabbed either, so the rules must have been relaxed. The bus did drop me off within a couple of minutes from the hostel where I am staying. Turns out the lady who checked me in thought I was staying one night until I told her til Saturday and she did seem unorganised, or head wasn’t all there. Then the rooms didn’t have keys, but used an app to let you in the hostel and your particular room. So long as the phone stays charged that is and isn’t dead flat by the time you get to what you are doing. They had been only using the new system that week, so I was a touch worried until it worked for me, so I am unsure what happens if the app logs out. The first job I had was to pickup my new mouse keyboard combo from JBHIFI up the road and was around a 5 min walk away. Now I have things that work, so from now on I guess I remove the batteries once I return home.
After sorting out my backpack when I returned to the room, I left again for a wander of the Hobart streets as I was exploring the docks area. Just across the road from where I am staying is the Maritime museum and the Tasmanian museum and art gallery. So lucky me and I will be there after my boat tour unless I have any other ideas that grab me. There are a few historic buildings that include a Jam factory that we all know as IXL Jams. I had seem that at work amongst the Jams, but never knew it had begun life in Hobart of all places in the 1800s. That was pretty cool. I knew there were several cemeteries in the area that I wanted to explore and one was located on a school ground, so today was the only day that I was willing to even entertain that idea. If it had been during the week, I couldn’t get away with taking photos near a school.
I was able to make a beeline right to the Campbell Street primary school where there was once an early cemetery that included convicts. The headstones are long gone, but I have no idea if the graves still exist. The route took me past the Hobart hospital and several sights that included the old historic Hobart Convict penitentiary that was a goal, court and execution grounds for male convicts. Something that I came across on my way back towards the constitution docks outside the hospital was the Hobart Rivulet. Turns out this feature is a waterway that runs to the Derwent River, but flows through the city from Mount Wellington. There is a walking trail to follow for that and I think I will follow that in several days to the Cascades Womans Factory.
I found another ex cemetery that is now a park in the city, St. Davids Park still has the graves there, but most of the headstones are now along a wall with very few grave markers left in their original location. I will have to have a better look at this place, though I ended up heading towards Salamanca Place where I was thinking of getting food as it was a historic area that was basically gentrified. By this time it was just after 6pm and I found a nice pub that had chicken Parmy, so I stopped to charge my phone while waiting for my food. It was not yet dark, but I was getting hungry and hadn’t had much for lunch other than plane snacks. After I ate, I decided it was time to return as I was getting tired and worn out after a long day on the road.
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