Hobart, Tasmania: whaling harbor, Antarctic gateway, mountain city

Hobart has an unusual claim for a city of its size: it is where Amundsen sent the telegram announcing that his party had reached the South Pole, and where the first wireless messages from Antarctica were received. The Wikivoyage guide's overview shows a harbor city built on whaling, Georgian sandstone and a mountain, with an Antarctic past.

Hobart's central business district and Mt Wellington from Constitution Dock. Photo: Andrea Schaffer from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0.

History

Colonel David Collins founded Hobart in 1804, making it the second oldest city in Australia. It grew out of a penal settlement at Risdon Cove, 8 km upriver, which was founded in 1803 and abandoned five months later for the present site. In the first half of the 1800s a whaling boom fed a surge of maritime support industries. Whaling ended in the late 1800s, but Hobart kept its boat-building and ship-supply trades, which made it a natural staging post for the heroic age of Antarctic exploration: Dumont d'Urville, Mawson, James Clark Ross, Borchgrevink and Amundsen all paused in the Derwent River on the way south.

In December 1911 Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition got a rousing send-off from Sullivans Cove. A few months later Amundsen brought Fram into Hobart to telegraph the King of Norway that his party had reached the South Pole, then announced it from the sandstone steps of the General Post Office. Later Mawson's party sent the first wireless messages from Antarctica to a receiving station on the Queens Domain.

Weather

The guide describes a mild temperate oceanic climate. Summer highs average around 21 degrees Celsius, nights range around 13 in summer and 5 in winter, and it recommends warm layers all year ("always bring a jumper"). The lowest temperature on record is -2.8, and snow at sea level falls on average only once every 15 years, though Mount Wellington is often snowcapped in winter and about 10 degrees colder. Hobart has the second fewest daily hours of sunlight of any Australian city on average, at 5.9, yet the most hours of daylight in summer: 15.2 on the solstice. Rainfall averages around 50 mm a month all year.

What to see

• Historic buildings. Hobart has over 90 buildings classified by the National Trust, about 60 of them along Macquarie and Davey streets, many Georgian or Victorian. Salamanca Place is a row of sandstone warehouses built for the whaling trade, now restaurants, bars, galleries and craft shops. Battery Point, named for a battery of guns placed there in 1818, kept its Georgian architecture thanks to a green ban in the 1970s. Parliament House, opened in 1840 as a customs house, serves as the Parliament House of Tasmania. The Shot Tower, built in 1870, is 48 m of sandstone with 259 wooden steps to a view of the Derwent. Constitution Dock, in Sullivans Cove, is the finish line of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, which starts on Boxing Day each year.
• Convict history. The Cascades Female Factory operated from 1828 to 1856 to reform female convicts and keep them away from the "temptations" of Hobart, and is one of 11 penal sites in a group the guide describes.
• Museums. Many have an Antarctic theme, reflecting Hobart's role as gateway to East Antarctica. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is described as among Australia's best, "eccentric" and of mixed visitor opinion, with an adult feel. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, established in 1843, combines natural history, art and a herbarium. A replica of Mawson's huts recreates conditions at his 1911 base, and the Maritime Museum of Tasmania holds the state's largest collection of maritime artifacts.
• Nature. Mount Wellington, called kunanyi by Tasmanian Aboriginal people, rises to 1,270 m, with views from lookouts along the road up. The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, established in 1818, hold 6,500 species, including a Subantarctic Plant House. Mount Nelson offers a lower lookout, and the Queens Domain is reliably full of parrots.
• Aurora. Hobart is one of the more accessible places to see the Southern Lights; the guide says a K-index above 6 gives a good chance.

Cascades Female Factory. Photo: Barrylb, CC0.

The sandstone facade of Parliament House. Photo: Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0.

The zig-zag path towards kunyanyi / Mount Wellington. Photo: OlorinFiresky, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Salamanca Markets. Photo: Nick carson at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0.

Getting there

Hobart International Airport, 15 km northeast of the city, is the main airport for southern Tasmania; despite its name the guide says it had one international route, to Auckland, and the rest are flights from Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. A shuttle meets every arriving flight and taxis take around 20 to 25 minutes.

Sources

• Wikivoyage contributors, "Hobart", Wikivoyage, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changed here: shortened to an overview, with listings, prices, opening hours and phone numbers left out; photo credits as in the captions, each under its own licence (Andrea Schaffer, CC BY 2.0; Barrylb, CC0; Jorge Láscar, CC BY 2.0; OlorinFiresky, CC BY-SA 4.0; Nick carson, CC BY 3.0); rewritten in hubnx's own words.