From the eastern shore I caught a bus to Hobart City and then transferred to a 7am bus destined for Bridgewater. At the Glenorchy Bus Mall we waited until it was time to continue … and until more passengers arrived.

This bus travels along the main road via Berriedale, Claremont and Granton suburbs. At 7.32am I was off the bus outside the Grenada Tavern at Berriedale.

Opposite the bus stop I glanced at the vineyards of Moorilla and thought of the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) nearby.

The view, down the road in the southerly direction I needed to follow, is blandly suburban.  At that hour, the road was very quiet.  I guess with school holidays and many adults taking a holiday away from work, there were lots of sleeping bodies in the vicinity.

I crossed the road and headed south on the footpath looking to see how I could get past the houses edging Berriedale Bay and walk closer to the water.  Firstly I reached a parking area with a tall mesh fence partly blocking an area of profusely flowering weeds and Berriedale Bay water from me.

I continued on the main road and turned left away from the highway overpass.

When I reached a service station I spotted a gap to the water and deviated to see whether further access was possible. Looking north over a bramble of free sown blackberry bushes, I could see the vineyards of Moorilla, and the concrete and rusting building of MONA.

Looking south, Frying Pan Island could be seen joined to the land by a tiny isthmus.

It was clear there would be no continual walking access directly along the River’s edge.  I returned to the main road and continued along until I reached the Strathaven Home for senior citizens and Riverfront Motel villas, arriving there about 20 minutes after I had stepped off the bus. I walked through these properties and continued along the foreshore until stalled by a high fence topped with barbed wire – this continued out into the water as a definite deterrent for further progress. Fat rabbits, and gangs of wild hens scattered across the mown grasses. Frying Plan Island can be accessed via the Strathaven Home  and Motel site. In the photo below, the tiny islet in the foreground and southern side of the Bay, almost blocks the rusting verticals which form part of MONA in the distance at the northern side of Berriedale Bay. It is rather difficult to separate these visually.

So I retraced my steps back to the main road and joined the ‘bike path’ established for both cyclists and pedestrians by the joint efforts of the Cities of Hobart and Glenorchy. It was 8am.