My recent travels have involved seeing and meeting people.
One man asked me about
Hobart.
This is what me memory tells me I said to him.
Hobart is on the edge of the world. It is a melange of suburbs. The suburbs merge gradually into surrounding native bush and farms. Everybody lives in and loves their own house with a small front garden. All are unique. Different colour, style and gardens. Views of either the river or mountain mean high status.
The streets around the houses coalesce and become bigger and bigger and become major arteries draining and feeding the CBD. In the CBD the roads clog and traffic slows. All around the world people complain about traffic and Hobart joins them and contains people sitting in their cars complaining about the traffic.
The docks are the centre of Hobart. They are a delightful mix of working boats, pleasure boats, wandering tourists and socialising locals. And sea kayaks and seals. And a tempting view of the mountain. All tourists look at the mountain and want to go up it. Unfortunately the road up is becoming busier and struggling to cope.
Hobart is both united and divided by a river and a bridge.
The river widens and becomes beautiful looking beaches containing cold water.
There is a memorial to those who lost their lives when the bridge was destroyed by a boat in 1975. No memorial to the designers, builders and renovators of the bridge.
In Hobart we always want teams in national leagues. We don’t need to win or prove we are better. Just that we can play the game with them. That we are just as good. Not dumb, stupid, inferior or inbred.
Many of us support a Melbourne based team in the AFL. We don’t support those interstate based teams.
Mona: A new modern art gallery arising due to one man.
Full of modern art from around the world which is all the personal preference of one man who rapaciously took money from gambling addicts, around the world, who were not as clever as him. Very little modern local art displayed.
Mona also runs some festivals during the year. They have not arisen organically from the local community. They have been bestowed upon us.
We love Mona because it brings tourists, tells the world that we are sophisticated, not two headed bogans, and sells good coffee. We love Mona so long as we don’t have to explain what the exhibits mean.
Us Hobartians are notorious for being Nimbies. Whatever is proposed will attract protest.
A healthy democracy smells of feedback. I personally love people complaining about me and telling me Hobartians don’t complain about everything.
This is what me memory tells me I said to him.
Hobart is on the edge of the world. It is a melange of suburbs. The suburbs merge gradually into surrounding native bush and farms. Everybody lives in and loves their own house with a small front garden. All are unique. Different colour, style and gardens. Views of either the river or mountain mean high status.
The streets around the houses coalesce and become bigger and bigger and become major arteries draining and feeding the CBD. In the CBD the roads clog and traffic slows. All around the world people complain about traffic and Hobart joins them and contains people sitting in their cars complaining about the traffic.
The docks are the centre of Hobart. They are a delightful mix of working boats, pleasure boats, wandering tourists and socialising locals. And sea kayaks and seals. And a tempting view of the mountain. All tourists look at the mountain and want to go up it. Unfortunately the road up is becoming busier and struggling to cope.
Hobart is both united and divided by a river and a bridge.
The river widens and becomes beautiful looking beaches containing cold water.
There is a memorial to those who lost their lives when the bridge was destroyed by a boat in 1975. No memorial to the designers, builders and renovators of the bridge.
In Hobart we always want teams in national leagues. We don’t need to win or prove we are better. Just that we can play the game with them. That we are just as good. Not dumb, stupid, inferior or inbred.
Many of us support a Melbourne based team in the AFL. We don’t support those interstate based teams.
Mona: A new modern art gallery arising due to one man.
Full of modern art from around the world which is all the personal preference of one man who rapaciously took money from gambling addicts, around the world, who were not as clever as him. Very little modern local art displayed.
Mona also runs some festivals during the year. They have not arisen organically from the local community. They have been bestowed upon us.
We love Mona because it brings tourists, tells the world that we are sophisticated, not two headed bogans, and sells good coffee. We love Mona so long as we don’t have to explain what the exhibits mean.
Us Hobartians are notorious for being Nimbies. Whatever is proposed will attract protest.
A healthy democracy smells of feedback. I personally love people complaining about me and telling me Hobartians don’t complain about everything.
My experience is that if something is good and worthwhile it will eventually get up. It may have more boxes to tick than elsewhere but who cares.
I remember reaching the end of our conversation. His reply was memorable. He ignored everything I said and asked me if the bushfires are anywhere near Hobart.
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