Isn't That Like Narnia? (25-28/02/09)

WEDNESDAY 25TH FEBRUARY

Today we left Wynyard and headed south to the capital of Tasmania, Hobart. We have one night in the city, after which we head to the stick, Campania to be exact, to visit a friend of Louise's who she stayed with four years ago.
In Tasmania nearly all the main roads head to Hobart, so getting there was rather easy. The main road between Launceston and Hobart is through endless fields and part large mountain ranges. It’s a beautiful scene and a pleasant drive. There’s also very little traffic until you reach Hobart so this adds to the plus side of travelling large distances.
We arrived at our hostel around 18:00p.m and went straight out. We’re only in the city for one night so to help our next visit we did a quick recce of the area ready for the next time. We walked through the town and as it was 19:00p.m most of the shops were closed and the area was pretty desolate. Hobart isn’t a 24 hour city.
We went back to the hostel and with very little to do because we were leaving in the morning to head to the sticks, we sat and had a few drinks. Firstly we had to get some beer from the bottle shop. The bottle shop we went to was a drive-through. If that’s not the most irresponsible way to sell alcohol then I don’t know what is.

THURSDAY 26TH FEBRUARY

We checked out of the hostel at 10:00a.m and headed into town, hoping we would see a little more than last night. The town centre reminds me of a small city in England; maybe Nottingham, so all we did was wander and buy some essentials and waited for a call from Jo; she is going to be our host for the next few days.
Around 16:00p.m we got a phone call from Jo and headed out into the sticks. Louise and Jo worked together in England and it has been four years since they’ve seen each other, so it will be a little strange for them both. We have to get there first and this involves Louise listening to me whilst I navigate. This doesn’t happen and we miss the turn-off and end up going 10 miles the wrong way, before we get lucky and find a sign saying Richmond, which is the town before our destination of Campania. It has the same name as a region of Southern Italy, but it sounds like a place that C.S. Lewis would have used in one of his Narnia Chronicles.
After an hour or so we got to Campania and headed straight for the local (and only) pub to meet Jo. I eventually got to meet Jo and put a face to a name after years of Louise’s stories. If I’d have compiled an e-fit and written one paragraph about her, I would have been more than 80% right. In between stories and beer we all got (re)acquainted and had a good night. We went back to Jo’s house and had a barbecue Aussie style and met her boyfriend Luke and permanently pissed housemate Mick. A few more light ales later and we retired to bed, a little light-headed and relishing a decent night’s sleep.

FRIDAY 27TH FEBRUARY

Today we’re off to Port Arthur. Port Arthur was the former convict settlement where the British government sent reoffending British and Irish criminals. It was also used for rebellious prisoners from other jails in Australia and was the strictest and most secure prison in the British Empire, based on an ideology of Pentonville prison London. The building’s in the national park have been maintained very well and most of them you’re able to enter and explore the history a lot deeper; all of them we went to had good and relevant information on what had happened and when.
After a long day at PA we went back to C.S. Lewisland and met up with Jo and her cousin Matthew; a 6ft 6in giant of a man, and headed to the casino in Hobart: Australia is obsessed with gambling, the casino here is the meeting point for most people on a weekend so you can’t get away from it.
We spent the whole evening at the casino; me and Louise had AU$50 each, I lost and Louise more than doubled up. The rest of the night was spent watching sport and drinking before heading back out to Campania.

SATURDAY 28th FEBRUARY

We visited Salamanca market; it’s set by the harbour in Hobart and is supposedly one of the things Hobart is famous for, even though I’d never heard of it before. We walked around the market looking for tat and tit-bits that might brighten up our home (if we ever go back). There was a nice picture of the harbour with Mt. Wellington in the background (we didn’t go up Mt. Wellington as it was foggy during our stay.) that we decided to purchase for a very reasonable AU$4.
Across from the market, moored in the harbour, was the environmental anti-whaling conservation ship, the Sea Shepherd Steve Irwin. It had just come back from Operation Migaloo, where it had been in the Australian Antarctic Territory trying to intervene Japanese whaling fleets who were hunting Humpback and Fin whales. We went on an hour long free tour, where our guide explained what they had done. The expedition itself was very successful with the ‘Steve Irwin’ holding the Japanese catch to 500 less than previously. Almost the entire crew are volunteers and so it is a very commendable job that they do.
I’m not a hippy or a massive conservationist, I don’t mind where my food comes from to a degree, as I’m not rich or well-off in the slightest and I don’t have the option. My opinion is it’s only people that live in Royal Berkshire and Surrey who can afford to eat free range organic food. You don’t see hoards of people who live on council estates throughout Britain marching on Downing St. with petitions against supermarkets’ treatment of battery chickens. No it’s just celebrity chefs with a few million quid in the bank who can afford eggs at £10-a-dozen. Less well-off people just want to eat, so battery farms are the order of the day as far as that’s concerned, until the governments do something to change the price-fixing as far as moral shopping is concerned.
The early evening we went for fresh fish and chips. Absolutely delightful. We were joined by Jo’s twin brother Luke and their cousins Matthew and Libby and a couple of other relatives, though unfortunately I can’t remember their names, but I do know they were sound.
We headed back to Campania and spent the next five hours getting drunk and playing pool with the locals. Apart from that I can’t remember much as it was late and I’m afraid I was very, very drunk (read this in the style of Rowley Birkin QC the incoherent retired barrister from The Fast Show).