Tag: Hobart

Daily Prompt: Rivulet

via Daily Prompt: Rivulet

The Hobart Rivulet

Hobart Rivulet Underground.jpg
By JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

 

This photo, which was not taken by me, is of a section of the Hobart Rivulet which runs under the CBD.  The stream rises on the slopes of Mount Wellington and makes its way down through Hobart to empty into the Derwent.

In the days before European settlement it was the main source of water for the local indigenous people, the  Mouheneener. Later it also served the settlers but over time it became dirty and polluted by the industries that set up along its banks such as sawmills and tanneries. Eventually as the city grew a large part of the rivulet was diverted and became an underground stream. There is a spot in Elizabeth Street Mall where you can look down and see it through a grating.

In the early 2000’s when we first came to live in Tasmania the Hobart City Council was still running a tour of this part of the Rivulet. I believe it has since been discontinued for OH&S reasons but Naomi and I, along with a friend of hers did take the tour back then.

We entered through a tunnel on the Royal Hobart Hospital site in Collins Street. At this point the Rivulet is  above ground and during winter when there has been a lot of rain you can see the swirling waters which have been known to spill over the concrete channel they are contained by.

I have to admit that I do understand why the tours were discontinued. It was not an easy walk as it was necessary to step or jump over the water to cross from one side to the other. I was a little nervous about that even with the help of the guide and I certainly would not be able to do it now. However, I was fascinated to see this little known part of the city as we walked underneath the mall, the Myer Centre and the Spotlight store. We finally exited the tunnels near Harrington Street. I wished I could have taken photos myself but as the light was poor and I had to concentrate on not slipping on the damp surface it didn’t seem like a good idea. There was a lot of graffiti so obviously the place received a lot of unofficial visitors however as I hate graffiti when it is just tagging I would not have wanted to photograph that.

A few years later the Myer Centre was partly destroyed by fire and when the store was eventually rebuilt a breach in one of the underground walls one wet winter caused a collapse which flooded the site closing it for some time.

It is possible to walk the upstream section of the Rivulet through South Hobart. I haven’t done this as yet although I have visited the Cascade Brewery which uses water from the Rivulet in its beers.  I have included a couple of links if you would like to learn more about this unusual part of Hobart.

Links:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/going-underground-in-the-hobart-rivulet/7676134

https://www.greaterhobarttrails.com.au/track/hobart-rivulet-park/

http://tastrails.com/hobart-rivulet/

https://www.cascadebreweryco.com.au/our-history

 

 

 

 

Snapshot Sunday: Reflections

Reflective window .

I don’t have a new photo today so here is one of my favourites from last year. I took it for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge originally because I liked how clearly the ship was reflected in the window. The ship? Ovation of the Seas of course.

Snapshot Sunday: Wrest Point & Tasman Bridge Hobart

As it is the Australia Day week end I decided to post a few pictures taken in Hobart our capital city. Vanda and I celebrated with a typical Aussie barbecue. We didn’t have anything fancy but we enjoyed our chops, sausages and salads. We forgot to take our bottle of Fronte with us though. Vanda thought I had picked it up and I thought she had it. We had to wait until we got home for a drink so we just had a cuppa instead. It was a warm day but we kept cool under the nice timber shelter sheds built around the barbecues. We didn’t have much trouble with the flies but the ants were there in abundance. We had to watch our plates carefully. It was a lovely way to relax and much better than having to go to work! Here are my photos.

Snapshot Sunday: Cascade Brewery Hobart

Cascade Brewery, Hobart Australia’s oldest operating brewery.

This photo was taken last month when I visited the brewery with my friends Gillian and Bruce.

https://www.cascadebreweryco.com.au/

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2017

The Sydney Hobart yacht race has been run and won again although not without controversy. It was a speedy race this year starting as usual at lunchtime on Boxing Day  with the first yachts reaching Hobart at nightfall of the 27th. In fact I think five yachts arrived inside the record time set by Perpetual Loyal in 2016

As always Line Honours was hotly contested by the big maxi yachts including previous winners Wild Oats XI and  Infotrack   formerly Perpetual Loyal.

The controversy was over an incident between Wild Oats XI and Comanche in Sydney Harbour at the start of the race. I was watching on television when this happened and as Wild Oats XI tacked very close to Comanche the two came very close to colliding. Comanche raised a red protest flag almost at once as they were forced to change course. The race commentators explained that Comanche would have had right of way and that Wild Oats might do what they called penalty turns to avoid being given a penalty later. My understanding of this is that it is similar to where in motor racing if a car gains an advantage by cutting a corner while overtaking they must give the place back to the other car. However, as far as I know Wild Oats XI did not do this and the two big yachts raced each other all the way to the Derwent sometimes one leading and sometimes the other. In the Derwent River as often happens Comanche could not get enough wind and Wild Oats XI sailed past her to reach the finishing line twenty-six minutes ahead of her rival.

Commanche was declared line honours winner after a protest .
Wild Oats XI first to arrive in Hobart this year but penalised for an incident in Sydney Harbour

The next day there was a three hour hearing and the judges found that Wild Oats XI was at fault in the incident back in Sydney Harbour and gave her a one hour penalty. Of course that meant that Comanche now found herself the Line Honours winner. Guess Wild Oats XI should have done those penalty turns.

The initial provisional result was reversed to give Cooney a first line honours victory with his new boat in a record time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, bettering by 4 hours 15 minutes, 56 seconds the previous benchmark set in 2016.  – http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/2017/day-3/ldv-comanche-secures-line-honours-and-the-race-record/

I decided to make my visit to the yachts on Friday as the weather forecast was better and many yachts had arrived by that time, several more arrived while I was there. It is always nice to see them sailing in. They drop their sails after passing the finish line and before entering Constitution Dock they do a lap of honour past the shed at Princes Wharf where they are applauded by the patrons of the Taste of Tasmania before being directed to a berth and handed the traditional slab of beer.

Hartbreaker passing the Taste of Tasmania
I was standing near the families of these guys as they passed by Elizabeth St Pier.

I always follow the same routine at the dock. I walk out on to the temporary pontoons between the lines of yachts. It is usually very crowded and there are a lot of obstacles to taking photos like people with prams, crew members moving luggage or gear,  small children with ice creams, men with cans of beer standing around near their yachts and of course other photographers. The pontoons are quite steady to walk on but I confess that I like to stand near a bollard when taking a picture because I feel more secure that way.

I like to photograph the Line Honours Winner and the overall winner on handicap if it has been decided by the time I get there. This year’s overall winner was Ichi Ban a yacht that I usually try to photograph as part of a group of familiar names that I like to look out  for. Helsal 3 is another of these.

Helsal 3
Chutzpah
Ichi Ban, this year’s overall winner.

Yachts with unusual names, interesting colour schemes or those from overseas are also ones that I like to photograph. My favourite this year was “Occasional Coarse Language”. Very appropriate on  a racing yacht I imagine.

There was quite a bit of activity on the yachts too. As many had not long arrived there was a lot of unpacking, cleaning and stowing of gear going on so I was able to get some pictures of that too.

I found this name amusing.
A yacht from New York
St Jude

After my walk I bought some lunch at one of the food vans set up nearby. I finished up the day by visiting the Taste of Tasmania over on Princes Wharf but I’ll write about that elsewhere.