From 1803 they came from far-away lands, many against their will, men, women and children. Found guilty of often petty crimes like stealing bread to feed a starving family, transported to Van Dieman’s Land, a British penal outpost at the bottom edge of the world.
Hobart is the second oldest city in Australia to Sydney, but there were other families already occupying the land. The semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe with culture and land management dating back some 35,000 years, one of the least technically advanced groups of humans on the planet at that time.
As Hobart and the surrounding settlement spread and grew, conflicts with indigenous tribes increased along with relocation and disease. Truganini, considered the last full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian passed away in 1876, along with much of the culture and history as the remaining mixed blood-lines were assimilated or integrated into European ways.
(No disrespect intended).
Because of it’s relative geographical isolation, Hobart has only experienced a few surges in growth and remained a relatively small city retaining much of its original convict hewn sandstone Georgian and Victorian buildings.
Said to be the deepest sheltered harbour in the southern hemisphere, it is home to the Australian Antarctic Division, last port of call for French expeditions to Antarctica, a popular destination for US Navy vessels and of course, the finish of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
With the increased ease of global travel, in the last few years Hobart has been discovered by the rest of the world and is currently experiencing a building boom. A height limit has been put on buildings, most of them accommodation for tourists and international University students however, it is at risk of losing it’s quaint old-world charm, the very thing tourists come to see and most locals love.
Shared bike and walking tracks meander along the foreshore through most of the suburbs beside the River Derwent. Hobart has many parks and reserves to be enjoyed.
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