Lake St Clair, Tassie

November 2, 2023

A beautiful cool sunny day in Hobart. After breakfast and a short business call, I got the bus to Richmond. Hugely expensive 30 min trip…seniors price $2.40. The last time I visited Richmond was about 40 years ago with Angie, when we did a road trip around Tassie.

Richmond is famous for its bridge, which is Australia’s oldest bridge still in use. It was built in 1823 by convicts from sandstone quarried at Butchers Hill and hauled by handcart to the bridge site. Village folklore says the bridge is haunted by several ghosts including Grover, an official flagellator, killed by convicts and thrown over the bridge in retaliation.

The ducks near the bridge were an amazing colour!

Next stop Richmond gaol, constructed by convicts in 1825. It was part of Governor Arthur’s system of police districts. The last transported convicts arrived in Tasmania in 1853. The gaol became a watchhouse and in 1861 it was placed under the control of the newly-formed municipal police. The building was last used as a gaol in 1928.

Above are examples of a solitary cell and a mantrap

Above is the flagellator yard and the oven in the kitchen where bread was made.

Onto the model village of old Hobart town, constructed on a scale of 1:16. Apparently both Sydney and Hobart town were initially part of the diocese of Calcutta in India! It wasn’t until 1836 that the first bishop of NSW was appointed and 1842 before Tasmania had its own bishop.

The buildings in the first picture were on “Hunter Island”. The Hunter island warehouses today include the hotel where I am staying!

Couldn’t leave Richmond without attempting the maze (which angie and I did , oh so long ago). To make it fun,the organisers gave you a list of animals hidden in the hedge maze ( it also helped you work out whether you had been to that part of the maze before). The organisers assured me that NOONE ever got lost in the maze, and I left that record intact. And I found sufficient animals to not blot my copybook

Tonight we are having dinner at a restaurant which specialises in fresh Tassie seafood. Yum