It’s raining outside and the clouds are are covering the ears of the hills. Mount Wellington has disappeared from view. Cars are flashing their windscreen wipers. Today is not the day to take stage 10 of my walk along the Derwent River. Alas.
Two weeks have passed and I am yet to plod along a new stage of my walk along the Derwent. Unfortunately a number of commitments and inclement weather have kept me off the path but for the followers and other readers of this blog, I hope to be walking later this week or early next week and lodging new stories onto the blog.
History
Meanwhile a little history of the fabulous location at Berriedale where my last walking stage finished and the next stage starts needs to be provided.
Moorilla is an estate producing wonderful wines from the vineyards that sit around MONA (Museum of New and Old Art) in the northern suburbs of the Greater Hobart Area. Details about these good drops can be found at http://www.moorilla.com.au/. In addition, the world famous Moo Brew Brewery operates from the site. Read more at http://www.mona.net.au/mona/moobrew
Claudio Alcorso
The estate and vineyard was originally established by entrepreneur and Italian textile merchant Claudio Alcorso in 1947. Read more at http://www.moorilla.com.au/winemaking/history/. Claudio Alcorso was well known for setting up Silk and Textile Printers Ltd. at Derwent Park, a suburb in the City of Glenorchy in the Greater Hobart Area. He was also a patron of the arts. For example, in 1947 and other years Alcorso commissioned selected Australian artists to design new fabrics and then these were printed on silk, wool and linen. The artists included William Dobell, Hal Missingham, William Constable, Russell Drysdale, James Gleeson, Francis Lymburner, Adrian Feint, Jean Bellette, Donald Friend, Margaret Preston, Justin O’Brien, J. Carrington Smith, Loudon Sainthill, Frank Hinder, Carl Plate, Margo Lewers, Douglas Annand, Alice Danciger, and Desiderus Orban. Tasmanians may recognise that our Jack Carrington Smith was recognised in this list of celebrated Australian artists. Their designs were displayed in substantial national exhibitions and helped to create a design shift nationally and were part of a global development in the design of fabrics. Have a look at http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19470821&id=fgNVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=25MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7284,3275402 to see some of the fabrics.
Alcorso sponsored the Alcorso-Sekers Travelling Scholarship for Sculpture with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and helped bring some of the most controversial art to Australia in the 1960s and 1970s.
You can read a transcript of a short interview with this wonderful man at http://eprints.utas.edu.au/16629/2/alcorso-transcript.pdf. Alcorso’s autobiography The Wind You Say. An Italian in Australia – the True Story of an Inspirational Life was published by Angus & Robertson in 1993.
Handing over to David Walsh
Alcorso sold the property to David Walsh in 1995 who, in concert with the current wine maker, has continued the open-mindedness of the original owner with a search for, and presentation to the public, of new and exciting and beautiful objects and experiences.
Stacks of wonderful photographs of Moorilla and MONA can be seen at https://www.google.com.au/search?q=moorilla+images&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XreGVP8Lg4PyBcWxgTA&ved=0CDMQ7Ak
Since MONA opened to the public a few years ago, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have poured into Tasmania and made the pilgrimage. It offers a feast for all the senses and no-one leaves the estate unchanged.
Just remember the estate and MONA are closed to the public every Tuesday.
Some readers have despaired for the lack of a running map which shows precisely the tracks where I have walked. I and others continue to try and solve the problem.
Meanwhile, for those who are unaware, I do create a location map with each posting. The map is static and simply pinpoints one place but at least it is a guide to where I was during that leg of the walk. Sometimes if a location is not within Google maps then I cannot show it as the main location. For example I wanted to include a map with the McCarthy’s Point location but was limited to the two bays either side. This was problematic when the posting had nothing directly to do with the bays either side – but I chose one just to give readers a guide. When I want to pinpoint the Derwent River, the map highlights the southern suburb of Kingston. Ahhhh I sigh.
There is another unfortunate matter. I now realise that those readers who are ‘followers’ by automatic email do not get direct access to that location map. For interested readers, when you receive the email you need to click onto the heading of the posting and this will take you to the website. At the bottom of the posting on the website is a link which you click to open the map.
I realise that this is a tedious and tiresome process, but it may help some readers to orient themselves better.
The 9th walk took place on 25th November. I loved every part of the day but a number of highlights stand out.
Earlier postings provide more information on these highlights or you can email me for further information
Please note; anyone choosing to walk this stage needs to be aware there are no public toilets. However, a number of businesses have toilet facilities to which you may be able to gain access.
My 10th walking stage will start at bus stop 33 in Berriedale and then will continue south towards Lutana.
More serious rain was threatening as I sat at the point, and rather than return to the Berriedale Caravan Park and then locate the Main Road seeking a bus, I decided to investigate whether it was possible to walk up the hill and arrive on the Moorilla estate at MONA (Museum of New and Old Art) by the ‘back door’.
Earlier in the day others had warned me that MONA was closed to the public every Tuesday. As a result, I was somewhat concerned that even if I was able to access MONA property, by the time I reached the Main Road perhaps the exit might be gated and locked and I would need to retrace my steps. But I am glad to say the day had a happy ending. There were no gates or locks and my exit was simple and easy.
But before then, I continued my voyage of discovery.
It was very easy to wander up the hill from Cameron Bay. Firstly, I came upon a shed with the sign MONA ROTA and beside it a helicopter pad was laid out for the transport of special guests.
The hills behind Berriedale were almost invisible with shrouds of rain and I knew that a heavy downpour would be around me very soon.
Therefore, I was very pleased when I spotted a large concrete pipe, the sort which is used for drainage when major roads are being built. The pipe offered me perfect protection from the wind and rain. While standing inside, I discovered that the pipe was part of an art work, Worm Mound. A number of pipes like it were placed around a tepee located in their centre and then a high mound of rich soil provided a thick cover. Grass seed had sprouted and the mound seemed almost ready for a haircut. What I liked particularly was the long roots that had been inserted in the mound and which hung and draped inside the mound around the tepee.
I have visited MONA many times but I had never walked to this part of the property. The Worm Mound was a strange but uplifting find.
When the rain calmed a little, I ventured out with my umbrella firmly in hand and walked to the open concert area. As the rain re-intensified, I noticed the rich red transparent door of one of the tall wooden ‘art’ buildings was open. I went inside and sat and listened to the dialogue which formed part of the art experience. Previously I had not made the time to do this and so the experience was most instructive. A meditation space. In future I will be interested to visit the other similar structures built in the concert area to see if the voice and messages are the same.
Eventually I connected with Moorilla’s main thoroughfare and walked down to the Main Road at Berriedale. Bus stop 33 is located near the entrance to the Moorilla/MONA experience and I didn’t have to wait long for a Metro bus numbered X1 to transport me to Glenorchy and onto Hobart city.
I left Moorilla/MONA at 4pm, half an hour after leaving the point where the southern end of Cameron Bay met the Derwent River. On a fine day and without any distractions the time required to pass through the property might have been 10 minutes.
I never had the intention to simply pass through this refreshingly invigorating complex with its thought provoking and startling exhibitions. Besides, I had planned to reward myself at the end of this stage 9 with a glass of their award winning wines. Alas. That pleasure was not to be – on this occasion.
Before leaving Lowestoft Bay, I looked up through the rain showers to see three Pelicans fishing on the water.
A temporary stop under a gazebo offered no respite from the off and on again rain nor the fierce wind bursts. By 3.15pm I reached the start of the Berriedale Caravan Park. I followed the road through from Lowestoft Bay to Cameron Bay and was accompanied by a very persistent duck.
I was worried s/he might follow me home but after a few hundred metres the duck dropped off the pace.
Before long I was walking away from the Caravan Park on the gravel road towards the Berriedale Sewage Treatment Works. What a pong hung around this area!
I hurried past the fenced-in nasal offender and around a barred gate designed to prevent vehicular traffic. The sign warning fishermen to be careful indicated to me that public access was acceptable.
By 3.30pm I reached the point where the southern end of Cameron Bay meets with the main flow of the Derwent River. I sat above the water’s edge, admired the views and contemplated where I had been and considered how much further I could travel on the 9th stage.
Wandering down the track towards Lowestoft Bay, Berriedale’s Caravan Park and the headland with MONA were visible.
Eventually at 3pm, I reached the northern end of the Lowestoft Bay and could see the Bay stretching around to the Berriedale Caravan Park.
Once on the open mowed green parklands, clear walking tracks were easily accessible.
The most amazing discovery of this 9th stage of my walk along the Derwent River was a significant memorial to the dogs that had been part of Australia’s fighting forces.
Three different components constituted the memorial.
This memorial was so unexpected; a remarkable series of features the like of which I have never seen before. How many readers knew it was there?
When I turned around for my last look northwards from McCarthy’s Point across Connewarre Bay and the main body of the Derwent River, the Cadbury factory was sunlit. I found it difficult to believe I had been there only 1 ¼ hours ago because of my experiences with new vistas since then: now the Cadbury factory seemed so far away.
The walk from McCarthy Point moved along a pretty trail, well-trodden by others. It made for excellent walking.
The vegetation was often lush and overgrown with free sown exotic plants.
Before reaching Lowestoft Bay in the distance I was puzzled by … was it a woman washing herself in the garden.
Of course on closer inspection this clearly was not the case. First impressions can be so wrong!
I thought the concrete blocks flanking ‘her’ feet were rather special element of the installation of this sculpture.
Closer to the water’s edge in front of this property stood a flag pole. This Australian flag was protected from the wind by nearby trees. Considering the gale that blew around me all day in every nook and cranny it was extraordinary to have a moment of calm here. Perhaps winds don’t blow here. Perhaps the flag always droops.
In the photo above, across the Lowestoft Bay a section of the Berriedale Caravan Park is visible.
But before I reached the Bay, I surprised a clan of rabbits happily resting on the leaf strewn path ahead of me.
I had the feeling they were not used to pedestrians on a weekday and were most put out as they scurried off to hide.
The track from Windermere southwards was not signposted but with hunches I found a well walked and easy informal track, the start of which was rather obscure.
More black swans swimming.
I loved the tall stand of pine trees which featured on one part of the track to Connewarre Bay.
This was my first view of Connewarre Bay with the backdrop of prominent Mount Wellington.
Once near the houses with their lawns extending to the water’s edge, I came across a wonderful piece of rustic furniture to be enjoyed by walkers such as myself. The wood’s soft grey weathered tones were immensely attractive.
Further along, I came across a large family of what I think were Eurasian Coots – black feathered with white bills. My books suggest these birds are found on fresh water lakes and swamps. The Derwent River, at this distance from the sea, apparently still has a saltiness from the daily tidal flows. Perhaps my identification is incorrect. Anyway this family weren’t sure whether to scurry from the shore onto the water and ‘escape’ from me or not.
I continued walking around the Bay towards McCarthy’s Point.
It took half an hour reaching McCarthy’s Point from Windermere. I loved the view across the Derwent River towards the suburb of Otago Bay with Mount Direction behind.
After leaving the Cadbury’s factory I wandered down the hill with brolly up mostly choosing the pathways left of Cadbury Road that were closest to the River. Occasionally there were single file tracks that descended to the River but I preferred to continue in the direction of the open and exposed Windermere Park. As I descended onto the flatter lowlands I had my first resight, since walking on the eastern shore, of the Bowen Bridge further south. In the distance I could see the tops of buildings that are part of the Nystar industry on the western shore opposite Risdon. Soon after arrival on the low parkland around 1.45pm, I walked past a fenced area designated as Windermere’s Passive Stormwater Treatment Wetland – this was attractively landscaped and so I thought it was a shame the fence was so ordinary by comparison. Black swans paraded across the blown waters of Windermere Bay. A new war memorial was in the process of construction.
Further across the lowlands, duckboard paths meandered over the water logged mud and water grasses. Finally I reached the impassable Faulkners Rivulet, a tiny stream with water from the mountains. Clearly others had rock hopped across the Rivulet but the rocks were slippery with green mosses and I was not prepared to slip, get wet and maybe sprain a body part. Instead, I walked up to the Main Road and was able to cross a 19th century simple but handsome sandstone bridge.
I looked back across Windermere Bay to the white edifice of Cadbury on the slight rise in the distance.
Not far along the Main Road from the bridge, I turned left at Windermere Beach Road at 2.07pm. Walking down this suburban street I was constantly amused by the free roaming ducks that were making a temporary home in various front yards, or simply taking a walk along the street. (I remember a house in which I lived in Darwin had ducks on the property, and their disturbing inclination to do their green business on the front door step. I wondered if these ducks had similar bad habits.) I smiled when one street was signposted Teal Street. Ducks were everywhere.
Something new. At the T junction of this road with Curlew Parade, the green shapes on the street corners between slabs of concrete pathway, out of which grew trees, was noticeably even and weed free. Artificial grass turf. I wondered if the City of Glenorchy Council had installed it or whether a frustrated local resident had paid for it. Looking around, straggling weeds and grasses was the norm for the public areas along these streets. I found the fake lawn to be highly attractive.
By 2.15pm I reached the Knights Point Reserve with sombre heavy clouds indicating major rain was on its way. The drops on my umbrella were the start of something stronger to come.
The track continued along behind Windermere Beach before trailing around a headland southwards.
After walking around the Claremont Golf Course for an hour, the option to enter a building rather than continue being battered in the windy environment seemed like a good idea. Five minutes later I arrived at the Visitor Entrance of Cadbury, paid $4, and wandered into the Visitor Centre at 12.30pm.
Once upon a time, behind-the-scenes tours of the plant and equipment were possible. People have told me that bins of chocolates were placed around the manufacturing premises and visitors were encouraged to help themselves. These days, presumably for hygiene and safety reasons, tours of the factory are no longer offered. Instead, on offer is the play of a short DVD and a guide who talks to the images on the film and then answers questions from visitors. In addition, the guide offers a taste of pure Cocoa Mass and the Crumble – one being bitter and the other more palatable. I was pleasantly surprised that Cadbury supports the international Fairtrade movement in relation to their purchase of cocoa beans.
The public section of the premises includes a café for coffee and cake, a shop offering merchandise ranging from T shirts to mugs and much more, and another large room stocked with all Cadbury, Fry and Pascall branded confectionary at discounted prices.
My visit allowed me to sit for a while and simply stop, relax and watch people salivating and stocking up with kilos of chocolate.
At 1.30pm I stepped outside, unfurled my umbrella to catch the rain spots, and started again on my walk southwards.
The first sign which greeted me alerted me that only members and their guests were welcome on this property.
I stood wondering whether I would simply walk away or investigate further. The peninsula, which the Claremont Golf Course occupies, covers many acres but most importantly it causes the Derwent River to deviate dramatically from a straight path. As such I felt I needed to walk around the edge of this substantial piece of land so I would feel that I had truly walked the length of the Derwent River on the western shore.
I sucked in a deep breath and, feeling less than classy with my wrecked wild hair, I walked into the Golf Club house.
“Can I help you?”, I was asked by a man who appeared seemingly from nowhere. Briefly I explained my walking the Derwent project, registered that I had read the ‘private property’ sign, and asked if there was any chance I could have permission to walk the perimeter. I was amazed that the answer was yes on the basis that only a few people were playing and they were mostly located in the central area. The answer was yes on the condition that, if I did not return within an hour, he would come looking for me.
I thought I would cover the edge in half the time. How wrong I was. The time was 11.28am as I stepped out to follow a vehicular road on the northern side of the peninsula and it was 12.25 as I returned from the southern direction north to the Club house to show I had returned unscathed.
Starting out:
Northfacing view:
Eastfacing views in which I could identify traffic on the East Derwent Highway:
Golf course views (in second image notice the players on the course):
Near Dogshear Point at end of green:
The views from Dogshear Point and then further around on the southern side (note the first image looks back to the area where I scrambled through spiky roses and brambling blackberries on the eastern shore, the second image shows a delightful placid bay slightly south west of Dogshear Point and the third and fourth images remind me that Mount Wellington is again looming over my walk):
That walk was a beautiful, sweet smelling, bird song filled but scary experience. The golf members were generally playing in the centre but some were working on holes closer to the edge. Initially, while on the vehicular track, there was a hill separating me from the course so I couldn’t see the players and their balls and so I had no idea whether I should duck. We all know how balls can be hit into the rough, and the day was exceptionally windy which I imagined could send a ball even further off course than a player might intend. Sometimes I was walking in the rough and sometimes I was walking on fairways and on the bright coloured manicured greens of specific Holes. The golf course has been designed in part to finish at the top of cliffs overlooking the Derwent River and sometimes there was no way I could walk the edge without being on the actual golf course. I was always looking around me to be sure that when a player was about to hit their ball I could see where the ball was travelling to. Rather unnerving.
I wouldn’t be prepared to walk on this golf course again with players out and about. However I am glad to have had the chance to find new vantage points to see up and down the Derwent River and beyond. I wouldn’t recommend others follow in my footsteps (even if permission was given to you) despite the pleasures of the experience.
Towards the end of my walk around the Golf course, I passed a copse of trees one of which had a sign attached. Who was Molly?
The Cadbury confectionary factory is located just over the fence from the Golf course and the closer I walked to the fenceline the more prominently it showed itself through the trees.
Then the Claremont Golf Club house came into focus.
This leg of stage 9 of my walk along the Derwent River was over. It was time to explore the Cadbury chocolate factory.
From the Cadbury factory, the Bournville Road curved around towards the Claremont Bowls Club. The houses that I walked past were all interesting architecturally and represented diverse styles deemed suitable for past employees of the Cadburys confectionery manufacturer (which operated in Claremont from the early 1920s). It seemed to me to be a row of history.
At the end of the road was a carpark for the Claremont Bowls Club through which the Derwent River beckoned me. I walked down the hill until I reached an impasse of fence and vegetation. I walked along this barrier and was able to recognise the eastern shore suburb of Old Beach.
The Derwent River stretched northwards and I was surprised to realise I had walked so far south already that the Bridgewater Bridge was no longer in sight.
Mt Direction was clearly visible.
And just for the record, I didn’t stop for a bowl. There were more exciting discoveries to be made next door at the Claremont Golf Club.
The intersection of Harbinger Lane and Ferry Road at Austins Ferry marks one corner of Weston Park. At 9.56am I turned left and walked across the Park parallel to Rusts Bay, crossed a single lane wooden bridge and rounded the Shoobridge sporting fields all the while enjoying the pleasures of dogs walking their owners along the edge of the Derwent River.
The photo below shows Shoobridge Park on the northern side of Beedhams Bay.
I was amused and somewhat puzzled watching a Pied Oyster Catcher picking for worms on the sports oval, and not bothered by an interested German Shepherd. What happened to a little fear? What’s wrong with oysters?
I had an easy walk on mowed grasses to Beedhams Bay and was delighted when a White Faced Heron flew onto the path ahead of me. Slender. Petite. Soft grey.
At 10.10am I crossed the railway line following the tracks of others but there are no official paths. The Main Road was again to my right with the railway line to my left. Native Hens were feeding ahead and noisy plovers let them know I was coming. Black swans floated on the Bay. I noticed bus stop 40, and realised 1 ¾ hours had passed since I started today’s trek from bus stop 47 in Granton South.
While at Beedhams Bay I was in full view of three mountains: Mount Direction on the eastern shore, and Mount Faulkner and Mount Wellington on the western shore.
I stopped for a morning tea break at 10.18 in a gazebo at the southern end of Beedhams Reserve. Despite some protection from the elements, the food was blown off my spoon before I could transfer it to my mouth. My hair thwacked back and forwards at every angle across my head creating an interlocking mesh.
The photo below shows Beedhams Bay looking northwards across it.
My maps indicated that the nearby building sunk low in the earth was a scout hall but I couldn’t see signs of identification and the building looked locked up and unused. Foot tracks emerged from the area and crossed the railway line that cut through between packs of houses on either side. There was no evidence of being able to continue to walk close to the Derwent River so I walked up above but beside the railway line until I reached a road crossing at Bilton Street in Claremont.
A local government bike and pedestrian path from Hobart reached its conclusion next to the railway line on the other side of the road. To my surprise Claremont Plaza, a multifaceted shopping village and other organisations, was located in the block diagonally opposite. This was a sensible location to make a toilet stop since there are no public toilets available during my 9th stage of the walk along the Derwent River.
By 10.46am I had returned to the rail/road crossing ready to continue the walk. I followed Bilton Street around the curve until its T junction with Cadbury Road and turned left. On the other side of the road, the lovely red brick unused old Claremont School stood boarded up.
The road turned uphill and passed the Bilton Bay Reserve (10.49am) and the entrance to the Derwent Waters Residential Club – an estate signed as private property thereby denying my access to the River’s edge (10.56am). I continued walking on Cadbury Road flanked by tall pine trees thrashing in the wind, past the Cadbury Sports Grounds (11.05am), past the Cadbury Visitors Car Park (11.08) and turned left onto Bournville Road. I knew I would be returning to have a closer look at the Cadbury chocolate confectionery manufacturing factory so I proposed to walk to Dogshear Point first and then be rewarded sweetly later.
Leaving the Austins Ferry jetty I passed two metallic standing fish which supported an information panel about local fishes.
Past this sign and amidst trees in the distance the sandstone blocks of James Austin’s Cottage were visible. The interpretative panel indicated that James Austin died on Christmas Day in 1831 (did he choke on something like a threepence from the pudding I wonder?), and is buried in St David’s Park in the centre of Hobart – as I walk through the wharf and Salamanca area of Hobart’s CBD in a few weeks’ time, I will make a detour to see if I can locate his gravestone.
I walked away from James Austin’s tiny cottage at 9.55am and continued my journey southwards.
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Walking the Derwent River 