Hobart

I was relieved to be in Hobart and see people walking about. With 210,000 it's about twice the population of Launceston, and 300 times that of Strahan.

I started off at the museum/art gallery. There was a large variety of things all packed into the building. It's not that it was small or had little to tell about each subject, it was just a very good use of space. Areas of the museum included exhibits about local Aboriginal cultures, civil rights, ships, Antarctic exploration, prison colonies such as Port Arthur, woodcraft, modern art, Chinese art and calligraphy. It was a bit overwhelming.

Though plenty of things in the museum were intriguing, my favorite was probably learning that Aboriginal Tasmanians have a style of basket unique to their culture. They craft water carriers out of large pieces of kelp.

Next up was a walk through the domains and along Soldiers Walk where men are remembered by plaques and trees planted in their names. In 1917 the walk was established. Queen's Domain has since gone through renovations and replanting upon realizing that it would be better to have native trees in the domain.

In the evening I went to a comedy show at the Brisbane Hotel. Some of the comedians were a bit less than funny, but others were hilarious. And the host of the show was spectacular with short bits and banter. There were contests involving Nerf guns and stuffed ducks, a video satire of Frasier, and a few talks with a vampire off stage.

Headlining the evening was Tom Ballard, who won best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year and works for youth radio station Triple J. We made plans during his show to go out afterward (it's slightly awkward to converse with someone while they are on stage) but the place we intended to go was closed. Instead, I just talk to him and a few other people after the show.

In the morning I headed off to the botanic gardens. Most people have places they tend to visit when traveling; I always like to visit parks and gardens. There was an enclosed area with sub-Antarctic plants. Since the 1950s, Australia's Antarctic territory, Macquarie Island, has been a place for scientists to study the climate down under the down under. The cold house in the botanic gardens mimics the Antarctic climate and exhibits native plants.

After the gardens I went to visit the Penitentiary Chapel. In the early 1800s more and more convicts were being shipped to Tasmania and the current prison wasn't large enough to accommodate them all. Plans were created to build a new, larger prison. So the convicts labored to build the sandstone bricks and make their future cells. After the new penitentiary had been established, it was decided to add on a chapel to aid in the convicts' reform. It was believed that they would never overcome their evil habits without Christianity. The chapel was built with sloping pews to accommodate for cells underneath the floorboards. Luckier convicts got the tall cells in the back, others were forced to crouch into the tiny cells near the front.

Eventually, fewer convicts were being sent to Hobart because the government decided perhaps not every rumored thief should automatically be imprisoned. Because the prison needed less space, two sections of it were closed and turned into courts.

The day was an eclectic mix of activities. After the penitentiary, I went to Town Hall for a flower show with gorgeous irises and mixed arrangements. I was amid a group mostly composed of old women and families.

And after the flower show I stopped off at the Lark Distillery for a tasting of their whiskeys and spirits. The staff was incredibly friendly and the small number of customers allowed for a quite personalized experience.