As you head into this long weekend for Hobart’s Regatta Day (thank you Governor Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin for starting that bit of fun in 1838) you are probably thinking about the next long weekend next month, on Monday 9th March 2020: Eight Hours Day. While the February Read more…
On Sept 18th 2019, RSV Aurora Australis will turn 30. Within a year RSV Aurora Australis will be replaced by the RSV Nuyina. Nuyina (noy-yee-nah) means southern lights in palawa kani, the language of the Tasmanian Aborigines. Southern lights are also known as the aurora australis. The naming of both Read more…
Through the warm summer months, Hobartians find themselves keen to spend as much time outdoors as possible. The cry goes up: get as much sun as you can! We are aided and abetted in this project by obligingly long daylight hours, a very long dusk and a cool breeze to Read more…
28th December, 2018 Constitution Dock is famous for its association with the Sydney Hobart Race. It was the final destination from the first race in 1945. The arrival of the maxi yachts in the 1980’s forced the move to Kings Pier Marina – but we still hear the commentators say Read more…
20th December, 2018 Prior to 1840, Christmas celebrations in colonial Hobart were a sober affair, similar to the usual religious observances on Sundays. The festive habits of Hobartians changed in the mid-1840s with the introduction of the fashions of Victorian England. When Queen Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert in Read more…
14th December, 2018 As we have just passed the 180th Anniversary of the Hobart Regatta, it’s a good time to find out some of the more interesting details of what has become a part of our Tasmanian tradition. The Hobart Regatta was Tasmania’s most important public event for more than Read more…
8th July, 2018 The Battle of Salamanca – not a local pub brawl. Salamanca Place, at the foot of Battery Point, was named after the famous Battle of Salamanca in Spain, one of many battles in the Peninsular Campaign (1807 – 1814) part of the Napoleonic Wars stretching over 12 Read more…
26th April, 2018 If you were at the dawn commemoration of ANZAC day in Hobart yesterday, you may have wondered why the monument has the date for WW1 as 1914 – 1919, when so many others use the end date as 1918. This monument was constructed in 1925 to commemorate Read more…