Australia

Little Australia

/ mikeosbornphoto / 27 Comments

This island state sitting at the foot of vast Australia has a charm and mood all of its own – at times familiar to this Briton who took a road trip there recently. We took in main cities Hobart and Launceston, the stunning east coast and the changing character of its north side and interior.

If you’re tempted to go to Tasmania armed with your camera, here are a few reasons to go south…

  • Its coastal landscape is second to none, including gold and orange rocks
  • If you’re lucky with the weather, the sky is an amazing azure, thanks to a lack of European pollution
  • The towns and cities have a beguiling mix of colonial and contemporary architecture – and unique charm
  • Its clarity is great for night photography – and a chance to catch the Southern Lights

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Swansea
Launceston
Freers Beach
Launceston
Launceston
Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart
Freers Beach
Penguin
Burnie
Bicheno
Hobart
Launceston
Bicheno
Swansea
Swansea
Penguin – the town where they make numerous appearances
Ross
Bicheno
Swansea
Swansea
Hobart
Ross
Oatlands

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Playground of art

/ mikeosbornphoto / 14 Comments

Waterfront platform

Travel to one of the most southerly places on Earth, and you’re in for a surprise.

The Museum of Old and New Art – MONA – has made its home overlooking a bay near Tasmania’s capital, Hobart. It’s the baby of wealthy art collector David Walsh, who made his fortune from gambling.

If you’re expecting a stately trudge around an Australian Tate Modern, think again. You don’t even make it inside the doors and the outlandish architecture of the surrounds are a beguiling delight, with rusty metal ramparts and even an elaborate chapel tucked away on site.

Getting to grips with the collection is a novelty as you’re handed an iPod to navigate your way around floors of exhibits which dazzle, challenge and quite simply entertain, from water spouts which spurt out randomly generated words to the pungent-smelling cloaca, which mimics every part of human digestion.

There is also a room dedicated to artworks where “parental discretion is advised”. Hard not to make a beeline for that. It’s not all titillating and subversive at the museum, but interesting it most certainly is.

After the art, there’s the inevitable gift shop and raft of cafes. Outsized beanbags are scattered across the lawn where you can lounge and reflect, while noticing a wealth of quirky details in every corner of the grounds.

Walsh may have put his cultural playground in a distant place, but if you make it there, this experience has to be high up on your list.

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Tassie old and new

/ mikeosbornphoto / 9 Comments

There were beautiful beaches and stunning blue skies, but Tasmania fuelled my great love for architecture and capturing it in photographs.

Now many people claim that Australia is a new nation and has little history to speak of. Judging by the buildings around the island, there is a decent timeline which can be easily detected today.

Second city Launceston noticeably oozes with facades from the colonial era, which have been preserved and often sit happily over modern shops and offices.

But hurtle to the present day and there are plenty of stark, impressive and contemporary lines gracing Aussie’s smallest state alongside its past. Here are just a few I collected on my travels…

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Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art
Launceston’s ornate Ingles building in the city’s central shopping area
A solid brick building on close to Hobart’s waterfront
A beautiful Launceston house built in 1835 which was opposite our hotel
The wonderfully plain Uniting Church at the old town of Ross in southern Tasmania
The Makers’ Workshop in Burnie, north-west Tasmania
Launceston’s colonial Customs House
Cruise terminal, Hobart waterfront
An old facade in central Launceston. The hotel was founded in the 1820s but ceased trading 50 years ago
Entrance to old wooden church at Swansea
This motor garage in Launceston has long gone – it now has a KFC beneath it
Ornate window frames in central Launceston

Southerly seaside

/ mikeosbornphoto / 10 Comments

Anchored shellAustralia’s island state of Tasmania sits to the south of that vast land mass, a hour’s hop by plane from Melbourne.

Tassie is about the size of Scotland or West Virginia, and packs in an awful lot of coastline. We drove from the coastal capital of Hobart up the east coast, passing through seaside towns with familiar names like Swansea to the ochre rocks of Bicheno.

Our travels also took us to the north, stopping at Beauty Point and stunning Freers Beach at Port Sorrel. The tide was out and there wasn’t another soul there – apart from hundreds of sand crabs scuttling around.

The towns are comfortingly sleepy and old-fashioned, while the coastline is beautiful, especially under a cobalt blue autumn sky. If you’re going to Tasmania, don’t stray far from the seaside.

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Hobart craft