Salamanca, Port Arthur, and an Unzoo

Every Saturday morning, the Salamanca Market takes place on the streets of Hobart near the city center and the waterfront. It is a huge market with many booths, selling all kinds of items. We took an Uber to the market, and the Uber driver had a rosary hanging from his rear view mirror and a statue of Buddha on his dashboard. When we asked him about it, he explained that he is Catholic and his wife is Buddhist. That explained the odd juxtaposition. 

When we exited the Uber, we had to work our way through the crowds. Apparently the Salamanca Market is VERY popular. 

Nice backdrop to the market

We strolled down the street stopping occasionally to view the various goods that were on display. There were leather crafts, paintings, clothing - lots of wool items, Ugg boots, jewelry, wooden carvings, pewter items, whiskey and gin distillery booths. Most of the items were made in Tasmania. One booth had a very interesting way of displaying wool hats and scarves.

And a couple of humorous things we saw:

There were also lots of food booths with things such as currants, jams, and a fruit booth right next to a chocolate booth. There were also a few odd things like scallop sticks. It is just as it sounds: scallops on a stick, like a shish kabob. We enjoyed viewing the various booths and some unique items. We made a few purchases before leaving. On our Uber ride back to the hotel, we rode in a Tesla. Joe asked the driver if he was concerned about the range he could go without having to re-charge, basically asking if he had "range anxiety". The driver said no, he doesn't. He said the only people who have range anxiety are those who don't own electric vehicles.

After the Salamanca Market, we took a drive to the Port Arthur Historical Site. The drive was about 1 1/2 hours from Hobart, some of it on the coastal highway with beautiful views of the water. 

At one place, the water near the shore was so crystal clear that you could easily see the sandy bottom, but farther out the water turned to dark blue where the depth was greater. The line where the water turned from light blue or clear to dark blue was strongly delineated. 

The Port Arthur Historical Site is the place of a former penal colony. Such is the history of Australia, as the whole country started when England began sending prisoners to colonize the land. Port Arthur was established as a place for the worst class of convicts, and was known for its strict disciplinary measures. Because the site is very harsh and remote, there was little chance of escape. There are more than 30 historic buildings and ruins on the grounds that you can walk around and view such as the penitentiary, officers' quarters, hospital, an asylum, a government cottage, and a church. There are also some beautiful memorial gardens and government gardens containing colorful flowers. Because the site is located on the harbor, there was a harbor cruise included as part of the tour. 

View from the Harbor cruise

Also on the Harbor cruise, looking out toward the Southern Ocean. The closest land mass is Antarctica.

After leaving Port Arthur, we stopped at the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo. I suppose that needs an explanation. The Unzoo claims to be the world's first such project. It is billed as a showcase for Tasmania's unique animals and plants, and especially the famous Tasmanian devils. The Unzoo states that the difference between them, an Unzoo, and a zoo, is that at the Unzoo, you can view the animals and plants in the natural, bushland habitats, whereas a zoo is a park displaying live animals kept in cages for people to view. An interesting feature of this Unzoo is that while the animals (mostly kangaroos and Tasmanian devils) were not in cages, there was one caged display where a human was behind bars. In most zoos, there is a placard next to the caged animal with the name of the animal and a few tidbits about it. Next to the human behind bars was a placard that said "Human" with a little information about Homo sapiens. Very interesting that they thought it was okay to put a human in a cage but not animals. 

Our first stop at the Unzoo was the "Birds of the Bush" where an Unzoo worker was giving a talk about unusual Australian birds. At one point he was talking about ravens, and mentioned that a group of ravens is called a murder of ravens. He said that when a raven is dead, a group of them gather around to inspect, and he said that is called a murder investigation. 

The Unzoo advertises mostly that you can see Tasmanian devils in the wild. We walked around awhile looking for the little devils, and finally found one, half asleep in his cave. 

Apparently the Tasmanian devils are an endangered species, so they are trying to save some of them to preserve the species. I would have to say that the Unzoo was underwhelming. 

Apparently we weren't the only ones who found the Unzoo underwhelming.

After returning to Hobart, we attended Saturday evening Mass at St. Joseph Church and then headed back to the hotel.

St. Joseph's Church