Hobart Town to the nearby hills

Thursday 23rd January, 1834      

'I began my day with a walk to the nearby hills, but these, due partly to the long drought and partly to the sheep that had been depastured there, were completely denuded of all vegetation. In Hobart Town itself European weeds have replaced everything else, and thistle, plantain and yellow chicory are as rampant here as anywhere in Europe. Only in one damp spot, round a small spring, did I find a few plants that were new to me.'

Von Hügel — New Holland Journal p 103  

Walking down to Sandy Bay.

 

Friday 14th January, 2014 

180 years later Hobart would, despite its very particular landscape, be largely unrecognisable to Von Hügel — or would it? Today (Friday) I walked from Sandy Bay up the rivulet until I could walk no further. I then joined Waterworks Rd and continued to the two pretty reservoirs, and on still further joining the pipeworks track all the way to Fern Tree. From here I continued up the now steepening Mt Wellington to 'the Springs'. I turned back to Fern Tree knowing that tomorrow I was to accompany Cate and her family from the Springs to the pinnacle.
Von Hügel's journal records the weeds, already colonising early Hobart, but as he ascends further into the hills and later, up Mt Wellington, he describes how he and his companion Captain Neville,

'were both enchanted by the magnificent natural scenery through which we passed.... I shall never forget the lovely green of the ferns as we sat beneath them, or the sunlight stealing through the tall trees and lighting them up.' (p. 112 & 113)

The following pictures are selected from the photographs I took yesterday. Once out of Hobart, most stone buildings and structures were yet to be made when Von Hügel walked, however a feeling in the landscape might remain. Certainly the transition from European plants to Indigenous flora and fauna was striking, and like Von Hügel I felt a sense of calm and peace on arriving in the damp, minty smelling bush.
After six hours of walking, I was very grateful to Lisa and Michael who, in response to my question as to which side of the road to stand to hail the bus to town, offered me a lift down the mountain!

The very start of the Sandy Bay Rivulet. 

                   

Where the Rivulet leaves the road line. A cobblestone channel banked by concrete.

Cumbungi amongst the weeds, although probably the Northern Hemisphere Cumbungi, a weed amongst the weeds.

Delicious, but a weed nevertheless.

For much of the early stretch of this Rivulet it felt like a British hedgerow.

More fruits to forage.

Inner city opportunities.

More Northern Hemisphere Cumbungi with pink geraniums.

Here the original shape of the Rivulet begins to emerge, nasturtiums and the odd native plant.

More bridges and roads to creep beneath.

Parliament Street Reserve - the first revegetation planting and the first Gorse I noticed.

Waterworks Rd - Fennel growing along the verge with the bush as a backdrop.

An old Mulberry Tree in fruit.

Lower Reservoir - Waterworks Reserve.

Upper Reservoir - Waterworks Reserve

Peaceful bush.

The track returning from the Springs.

Tree ferns shrouded in soft drizzly mist.

Landfall

'....the only part of  sea voyage that holds any charm is the landfall, and the anticipation of fresh sights and sounds.... ' p.96

So says Baron Carl Von Hügel after travelling 1600 miles from Albany to Hobart in January 1834. My own 'landfall' as I approached Hobart was via the air. The small porthole an aeroplane window— less landfall, more bird's eye view.

'Landfall' - Monday 9th February

Like Von Hügel I have arrived in Hobart with a plan — to re-trace his foot-steps as described in Dymphna Clark's 1994 translation of his New Holland Journal. Naturally this means walking through places that might be familiar or recognisable through the descriptions in his journal, but which nevertheless show the markings of 180 years of hard wear.

Von Hügel arrived in Hobart with letters of introduction. Likewise, an old friend introduced me to his niece in-law who walks. So plans are afoot to walk up Mt Wellington with her.

'I began by taking a walk to the so-called Botanical Garden one and a half miles distant, accompanied by Major Deare, Mundy and Capt. Lambert. This is situated on a bend of the Derwent—a glorious site, on which the new Government House is to be built.'  p102.

The gardens of Government House - the 'new' Govt House still to be built when VH visited.

I have been scouting around some of the places Von Hügel wandered when he first arrived. My accommodation at the Art School abuts the shipping yard. The bustle of a working port with reversing trucks beeping into the night and the sounds of huge containers as they are shuffled around under bright lights keeps me company at night.

Sandy Bay Rivulet
rubbish trap filled with aerosol and apples (how Tasmanian!)

Local knowledge has been shared generously, as has transport (Von Hügel travelled on horseback when not walking whereas Meg and Marty generously lent me a car to negotiate and explore my route). An itinerary is taking shape, but not before I head off up the Derwent to visit MONA.