MOT Tour Day 54 - Mawson's Hut

Those that know me know that some days I just have to get through. This was one of those days. They don’t happen often anymore but they still happen.

Picked up our Big Red Bus - our transport into the city - at the Botanical Gardens again this morning. It saves me having to drive in traffic and costs less than $4 a day for parking.

Visited Mawson’s Hut Museum which is housed in a replica of Mawson’s Hut which was built and established by the Australian born in England, Douglas Mawson and his men in Antarctica in 1912. He was a geologist and explorer and it has to be said, adventurer. His work and the work of his team in 1912-13 paved the way for much of the important work that has been done in the Antarctic since. Follow the link for more information.

The reconstruction of the replica, complete with many items which were authentic for the time, has been meticulously done and provides much of the feel of the original, except for the howling winds which have an average daily speed of 130km/h. It was also a lot warmer outside the replica in Hobart today, despite their being a cold 25km/h wind from the west and a top temperature of 16C.

Best of all, two volunteers are on hand to answer questions and engage in discussion, both of which they do very, very well. Sue spend a long time inside the museum talking with one of them.

Sue

I find Antartica memoirs and novels fascinating so today we visited The Mawson Hut which is an exact replica, located near Constitution Dock, Hobart. The place is run by volunteers and our entrance fee of $12 goes to help restore the original hut on Antartica. Restoration started in the 70’s.

The most fascinating part for me is a side expedition to the east of the Mawson Hut/ base camp undertaken by three men. Mawson, Ninnis and Mertz. December 1912. Ninnis fell to his death with many of the huskies and supplies falling with him and Mertz became sick and died. Mawson abandoned the exploration and hauled his sled, having eaten the dogs for meat, back to the base camp just missing the ship home by a few hours. Fortunately seven remained waiting and hoping that the three men would return. The ship had supplies for another winter so those supplies were left with the remaining seven. Mawson was in poor health by the time he returned. He was the sole survivor.

A volunteer was in the mess room and sleeping quarters and answered questions and elaborated on information that was around the walls. He suggested the best day to visit is Fridays as a volunteer who has spent 38 years on and off in Antartica tells great yarns.

We wandered along Constitution Dock and had lunch from a floating fish and chip shop.

After lunch we returned to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery we ended yesterday with. Lots of Museum stuff, none of which really captured my attention but that was likely a mood issue not an exhibition quality one. There were a couple of galleries of art, mostly banal portraits of dead guys who looked like they were auditioning for the mortuary. A couple caught my eye but nothing exciting. There was a girl shooting laser beams from her eyes and another belching up smog. I meant to ask Sue if they were any good or important or I should understand them but I forgot by the time I had taken the next step.

I went downstairs to the cafe and let Sue get on with browsing. It seemed the kindest thing for everyone.

The Hope and Anchor

We crossed Davey St and had a drink at the oldest continuously licenced pub in Australia, The Hope and Anchor. Sat by the open fireplace, with its three unlit logs and enjoyed a Guinness but not much conversation. It’s rare that a Guinness doesn’t make me want to sing but even my thoughts were off tune.

Back out in the now sunshine, it was up to the Elizabeth St Mall: shops and cafes and one very talented busker, which was the highlight of my day. He played a wonderful classical piece of music on his violin. In an alley, we went looking for street art but found only five kids pretending at rebellion and a big chalkboard which was still trying to free Julian Assange or save the whales or stop something else. No art.

Click here for today's photos

From there, we just wandered through Hobart’s shopping precinct, to no apparent end. I was grateful the bus timetable offered hope.

Caught the bus after I waited in the cold and Sue was smart enough to come in from the cold and wait in the information centre.

Day ends.