Sunday, October 10, 2010

Home....

I have made a home in a few cities but there is one that I still call home even though there are no plans to move back there anytime soon.

Hobart is Australia's southern most city, the capital of Tasmania.  It's small but still a city and it is heaven on a warm spring day.
The red ship is the Aurora Australis, the supply ship for Australia's Antarctic ventures, in dock until the ice melts down south and she can head down for the summer.
This is the historic parliament house. It was orginally the Customs House for the new colony of Van Diemen's Land and had rum stored in the cellars. Now it's home to Tasmania's state government  - I spent a lot of hours as a young reporter holding microphones in front of politicians while they gave glib sound bites or tried to. Now some of the politicians are friends or uni colleagues. How did that happen?
Salamanca with its shops, cafes, galleries and Saturday market is my favourite place -  and it's the best place to people watch, graze and laze on the lawns. 
Spring has arrived at this end of the world and with it all my usual promises to grow spring bulbs next year and start eating mounds of fresh vegetables. Holidays are good for self-improvement or thinking about it.
I worry that we still call Hobart home because we haven't put down roots anywhere else but I know a lot of people like us. Tasmanians are a little like homing pigeons. A lot leave and make a life in Australia's bigger cities or head even further afield but they usually come back for regular visits, often at Christmas time when the Sydney Hobart boats are in dock and the waterfront is littered with street performers, lovely food and wine and sometimes sunshine. 

I try to come back a couple of times a year. My husband asked me this time if anything much had changed in Hobart in the months since he'd visited. No was my answer and he's probably just as relieved to hear that as I was to see that it hadn't.

I hope my children have a pull to a place like this one day too.

11 comments:

  1. A thoughtful post, Ann. One I could have written a year ago before we homing pigeons returned to the roost. I am actually finding new shops, far more cosmopolitan than what we knew growing up. Just yesterday, I found a French-inspired shop opposite Habitat called Chez Moi which I'm dying to visit. There's also a store called Rust & Co on Main Rd, Derwent Park (just before Glenorchy) which is meant to be a treasure trove. Wishbone in South Hobart has delightful French-inspired furniture and I think I even saw yesterday that French Provincial has moved into the site opoposite Casa Monde in Sandy Bay. Oh, and Store & Co in Macquarie Street is divine. There are quite a few other delightful little shops and cafes which we've chanced upon. It has caught me my surprise, I must admit. Keep enjoying your stay. J x

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have heard so many lovely things about Tasmania and I am hoping to get there this Christmas. Having lived most of my life in Victoria and now in Brisbane you would think that I would have visited by now. So all things going well I hope to visit your home town very soon. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ann, I've been to so many places in Australia and the world but I haven't been to Tassie. I must, must, must fix that...and soon!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds so lovely! My parents are actually doing a 6 week trip around Tassie early next year. Can't say the same for us and Sydney though. When we saw it again 2 weeks ago, we were horrified at how busy and crowded it was.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ahh homesick!! Heading to Melbourne in November but unfortunately won't make it "home" this time round. :(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tassie is great isn't it. And so lovely on a sunny spring day. Your photos are just lovely. Of course Hobart is pretty special, my hubby was born there!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for sharing those gorgeous pics! I loved Tasmania, and Hobart is such a beautiful city. Mike and I are always scheming ways to move down there, it's our fav part of Australia, so far :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would LOVE to go to Tasmania. It looks so pretty and unspoilt. I will get there one days with my lads.... gorgeous pictures of yours! A-M xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. We went on a little driving trip around Tassie a few summers ago. Hang on, did I say summer? We camped at lake St Clair for a while and it was FREEZING! I adored Tassie. From Hobart to the far west it was wonderful. I especially loved Stanley - so cute - and while I've seen one platypus in Melbourne in my whole 20 odd years I saw four in Tassie in just two weeks - I love platypuses (yes, 'platypuses' is an accepted plural!). I also must admit evertime we went hiking I was truly keeping my eye out for Tassie tigers - surely there must still be some on the wild west side. It's so sad they're all gone.
    Kristine
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thankyou Ann for inspiring me - Ian and I will be moving down south in December - Wow, it's happening! And I'll get to really experience the Hobart you speak of so eloquently. Looking forward to seeing you down there one day soon,
    Anne xox

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Ann,

    I too refer to a place as "home" that is not the city were I live. I hope my daughter will grow up to have her own "home" whether it's the city we live in now, a place we'll live some time in the future or somewhere she settles on her own...

    Shannon

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to write, Ann x

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails