Tag Archives: aboriginal

Shag Bay industrial history

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In earlier posts I directed your attention to the online magazine Tasmanian Geographic .  The latest issue contains a well-researched and lengthy article, ‘Early Recycling at Shag Bay’, on the early industrial history of late 19th and early 20th century of Shag Bay.  Thanks to authors, John and Maria Grist, I now understand more about what I saw as I walked past the detritus scattered around this Bay. I strongly recommend accessing their article for its historical photographs and the fascinating content. Thanks John and Maria – much appreciated.

My long term blog followers may recall the name of Shag Bay but unless you know this part of the Derwent River, its location will remain a puzzle.  Shag Bay is a small inlet on the eastern shore between Geilston Bay and Risdon, and is mostly easily accessible on a dirt track from the Geilston suburb end. My posts from walking around Shag Bay include:  From Geilston Bay to Risdon on Stage 6 of my walk along the Derwent River yesterday ; Reaching Shag Bay as I walked along the Derwent River; The Shag Bay and Bedlam Walls area covers much loved and used aboriginal land of the Moomairremener people ; and Along the northern side of Shag Bay and onwards along the Derwent River.

To help you to remember Shag Bay, here are a few photos I took way back very early in my trek from the mouth the source of the Derwent River.

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Aboriginal inclusion

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My last post explained how someone or some people made their destructive marks on a culturally significant site. In so doing they were showing disdain and attempting to wipe away part of Tasmania’s aboriginal heritage.  Their act sits in stark contrast to a November 2015 document, which was reported in the media a few weeks before the vandalism, that promoted inclusion rather than exclusion.  Refer The Mercury article of 11 April 2016.

ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) produced a report Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia with many recommendations.  These included:  ‘The term “wilderness” should be retained in the property name, while future dual naming is strongly encouraged to reflect both the Aboriginal heritage and the relationship of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community with the property’;’The “Wilderness Zone”, as currently used and interpreted, should be retained in the zonation of the TWWHA, while explicitly providing for Aboriginal access for cultural practices as an integral part of the management of the zone’, and ‘The State Party should support and consolidate the emerging joint management of the TWWHA with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community’.

The vandal or vandals who defaced the rock art are obviously out of step with growing community attitudes of support for aboriginal heritage and understanding of the values inherent in special sites.

Information additional to yesterday’s posting

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I am grateful for the extensive comment provided by one blog follower, which puts my last posting into perspective.  I recommend you go to the website and read the information.  I will be interested to read any comments offered by others.

Possession of aboriginal lands by European settlers and the government of Van Diemen’s Land

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John Wadsley’s Brighton, Central Highlands, Derwent Valley and Southern Midlands Councils Joint Land Use Planning Initiative – Stage 2 Heritage Management Plan of July 2010 reports: ‘After the initial period of European settlement from 1803, a large influx of free settlers and pastoralists in the 1820s saw a major expansion of European influence and land grants in the central and midlands areas of Tasmania. Settlement along the Derwent, Jordan, Clyde and Ouse rivers forced local Aboriginal bands from traditional hunting grounds and increased tension between settlers and tribal groups. Conflicts flared in a number of areas, with local farmers and vigilantes attacking Aborigines and retaliation by tribal groups attacking road gangs, stockmen and homesteads.

In 1828 Governor Arthur declared martial law against Aborigines after failed attempts to divide Aboriginal lands from the “settled districts” to reduce the number of attacks by tribal groups. By 1830 the number and frequency of attacks by and on had reached such a level that Arthur decided to launch a full scale military operation against the indigenous population in the southern Central Highlands, southern Midlands and south east areas. This became the so-called “Black Line” which was intended to round up Aborigines and move them from the settled districts. By 1831 some hundreds of Aborigines and settlers had been killed over land occupation and dispossession of traditional tribal lands. The Aboriginal population in the Midlands and Central Highlands was by now very small, probably less than 100. Many traditional hunting areas had been cleared of tribal groups allowing further expansion of pastoral activities. The so called “conciliation” process under George Robinson eventually saw the remaining Aboriginals moved off their traditional lands to Flinders Island by 1834, and then to Oyster Cove in 1847.’

Aboriginal history associated with Meadowbank Lake

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Hydro Tasmania acknowledges aboriginal history was apparent in a cave that is now beneath the waters of Meadowbank Lake in central Tasmania.

In 1977, J Stockton wrote a paper A Tasmanian painting site which adds to the information provided by the Hydro.  The paper provides some background on the submerged cave and indicates that other caves exist with similar markings and ochre residues.

I do not know where these caves are and I wouldn’t want to visit and disturb them even if I knew their location.  Therefore, Chantale’s photo below, showing the north western end of Meadowbank Lake as it receives Derwent River water travelling downstream from Cluny Dam, is simply a picture of one part of the Derwent River system and it is not intended to relate to the location of the caves. I have included it simply to remind readers how part of Tasmania appears these days; that is, with all the signs of European settlement and land control.

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Aboriginal Cultural Walks in Tasmania

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Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service provides information about an Aboriginal Cultural walk, the Needwonnee Walk, in the very remote southwest of Tasmania.  In addition, information is provided about a cultural walk at Lake St Clair – here. The Tiagarra Walk in Devonport on the north-west coast of Tasmania, is introduced on this website. Last weekend I visited Devonport and went to walk in this Mersey Bluff area before learning that the site was closed.  Alas.

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However, I was born and grew up west of Devonport where I could look out at Bass Strait during those early years of my life.  Standing and listening to Bass Strait with the onshore breeze blowing into my face brought back many memories.  This felt right. This was my place. I knew my place.

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Watch this video to hear the sound of the Bass Strait waves lapping the stony shore near Mersey Bluff.

Journalist David Beniuk reported (Sunday Tasmanian 1 November 2015) that a survey of Australian holiday makers found ‘more than a third of domestic tourists would consider an Aboriginal cultural walk on their next trip to Tasmania.’ He went on to say ‘The results have buoyed the proponents of a four-day trek through the traditional homeland of Tasmania’s Aborigines from wukalina (Mt William National Park) to larapuna (Eddystone Point) in the North East.’

The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania is seeking funds to build huts based on Aboriginal building practices, and to set up the walk as a commercial operation.  The walk would include traditional stories, bush tucker and premium Tasmanian produce.  I like the concept of a four day walk because it provides sufficient time for walkers to forget their city or other lives and immerse themselves in the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of the land.

Yam Daisies

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Thanks to information and photographs supplied by blog follower, Ma from Melbourne, I will be more alert for the plant and flower Microseris scapigera or Microseris lanceolata known by indigenous Australians as Yam daisy or Murnong. Ma told me these plants would provide nourishment as I walked.

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The photo above is located on http://www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/?product=yam-daisy . As the flower continues to open, the similarity with our common dandelion becomes obvious, and a number of websites suggest the dandelion head is similar to the seed head of the Yam Daisy.  It seems perfectly understandable that this plant may be referred to as the native dandelion and it explains why, when walking in our bushland affected by the intrusion of exotic plants, the possibility of misidentification exists. From Wikipedia I have learned that ‘the Tasmanian form is markedly smaller than the mainland Australian form’.

According to http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/visiting/exploring/aboriginal-trail  ‘This small perennial plant … has a radish-shaped tuber, which is renewed each year. In the spring the plant forms a yellow flower-head like a dandelion, and in the summer the leaves die off and the tuber becomes dormant. The tubers were cooked in baskets in an earth oven, producing a dark sweet juice which was much liked.’

The Yam Daisy has offered a traditional source of food for indigenous Australians. Wikipedia claims the tubers were ‘prepared by roasting or pit baking; the taste is described as “sweet with a flavour of coconut’.  Sounds yummy to me! The website http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/botanic-gardens/pubs/aboriginal-plantuse.pdf tells us that the ‘Yam Daisy was a most important staple food. Women dug the roots with digging sticks and then roasted them in baskets in an earth oven. Digging for roots turned over the soil and thinned out the root clumps, two ways of encouraging plant production. Aboriginal people didn’t take the lot or there’d be none left for next time! Aboriginal people believed that the roots of ‘murnong’ should not be collected before the plants flowered. This was probably because during the drier winter period before springtime flowering, the roots would not be fully developed.’

Women digging roots of yam daist State LIb of Vic

The drawing above by J.H. Wedge (1835), showing women digging roots of the Yam Daisy, is held in the collection of the State Library of Victoria. You can see a detailed drawing of a digging stick at https://www.anbg.gov.au/aborig.s.e.aust/roots.bulbs.html.

According to https://tasmanica.wordpress.com/tag/yam-daisy/ ‘… the Yam Daisy (Microseris lanceolata) or ‘Murnong’ as it is known by tuber hunting aborigines on the mainland, has a convoluted history. This makes it a subject of ecological and evolutionary interest to biologists. Its closest relatives are found in western North America. Based on morphological and chromosome studies, the Yam Daisy probably came about by the hybridization of two American species followed by long distance dispersal – quite a distance I might add. So it goes that aborigines were eating foods of American origin way back. This marvellous feat of intercontinental dispersal has been confirmed more recently by studies using DNA extracted from the chloroplasts (cpDNA) of American and the Australian/New Zealand species of Microseris (Vijverberg et al. 1999).’

In my walks along the Derwent River, I have seen these Yam Daisy flowers from time to time. Of course, next time I will look at the plants more closely.

Searching for aboriginal history along the Derwent River; rethinking my approach

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Thanks to the clarity of writing in Greg Lehman’s chapter ‘Telling us True’ (Manne, R Ed. 2003 Whitewash On Keith Windshuttle’s Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Black Inc. Agenda, Melbourne), I am rethinking my approach to ‘discovering’ and reporting on the ‘true story’ of aborigines living along the Derwent River prior to European settlement.

Whitewash book cover

Greg explains “In Aboriginal English, the word ‘true’ has a very specific intent, but a rather elusive meaning. ‘Aw – true!?’ will be a familiar phrase to anyone who knows blackfellas. It is a question of authenticity and at the same time of an apprehension of reality. The phrase encompasses much of what it is to communicate within a cultural space inhabited by Aboriginal people. This is a space within which ‘fact’, ‘reality’ and ‘certainty’ are secondary considerations to the act of communication. ‘Having a yarn’ is more governed by the protocols of respect, trust and companionship than by the imperative to explore the veracity of a statement. Rather than listening with an expectation of photo-accurate observations of a subject, hearers of a ‘yarn’ listen for meaning, nuance and metaphor. And only by knowing the person speaking – or at least her family – are you likely to get more than a minimum of what is really being said. For us, the ‘truth’ is made up of countless, contradictory, ironic and provocative elements, woven together into an allegorical, sometimes fictive documentation of what it is to live our lives.”

One implication of this comment is that all ‘facts’ cannot be known nor understandings developed in one meeting. Talking with people takes time and, of course, further chats take more time.  So I feel encouraged to slow down the process of my investigation to allow for a bigger picture to emerge, when I reach the research stage of listening to oral histories.

In addition when I read this comment, I was reminded that depending on our personal backgrounds and experiences we always ‘know’ or believe something to be true and we often then say ‘it’s a fact, I saw it, smelt it, felt it’, etc.  However, experience with friends, colleagues, relatives and strangers let us know that any of our truths is likely to be different from another’s. For example, when police ask two eye witnesses at an accident or crime to detail what they saw, their true stories will be different, even if similar.  So I am left wondering what aspect of aboriginal history can I ‘discover’ and report on without making an interpretation.  Will such a job be possible?

When Lehman added “The historic event, which contains real acts; the archaeological site, containing real artefacts; the human life, containing real experience, are just snapshots in history.  They are in themselves meaningless.  Without an observer or an interpreter, they have no life, no implication for the present and no wisdom for the future. The space between these snapshots is a vacuum that necessarily fills …” I can see that weaving a story around any ‘facts’ in order to make connections will be problematic if I hope to present a ‘true story’.

Further along in his chapter, Lehman notes “…sources of ‘social understanding’ are usually referred to by sociologists as authority and tradition.  But it is an error to consider these as fixed or providing a constant benchmark of truth …” Earlier postings in this blog indicate the start for my research project is the printed and written word of Europeans. To rely on this ‘evidence’ alone would be to forget that any ideas and comments represent limited points of view, and that any ‘truths’ would necessarily be fashioned from particular experiences and the constraints of the colonial environment. Lehman’s comments remind me that caution is required.

“Disbelief in a single, privileged truth is what frees us from the power of prejudice.”  I hope I can remember to question every idea that I read, and all those which come to mind. In addition, I hope I will always consider the impact of my written words.

The scope of my research into Tasmanian aboriginal history

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My last post generated lots of interest so this post should clarify my intentions.

Principally, I plan to gather information about the aboriginals who frequented the area along the Derwent River, from the mouth to the source of the River. My research aims to collect and collate reliable and authentic information about the life of the indigenous communities prior to European settlement in Van Diemen’s Land/Tasmania.  In so doing, I hope to be able to understand the value of the River to early indigenous peoples, as well as the way the topography influenced their lives.

This study will not consider –

  • interactions with new settlers, convicts or any other non-indigenous person
  • the effect of European settlement on the lives and practices of the indigenous community
  • the history of mainland indigenous peoples

I suspect I may be challenged to present a ‘before and after 1803’ scenario of the situation for aboriginals.  Others have researched and written on this aspect generally although not specifically focused on the Derwent River, and I am seeking a fresh perspective which is not encumbered by conflict with European settlers in early Van Diemen’s Land.

The periods of history about which I want to collect information, are –

  1. before European settlement
  2. at the moment of European settlement in 1803
  3. some years after 1803 to later in the 19th century – this is deliberately loose to allow for non-indigenous people many decades later who have a first-hand experience, to contribute any information they have about any authentic aboriginal practices – but I will only be looking for those indigenous practices which do not seem to have been altered as a result of European settlement.

This quest will occur intermittently because it will compete with the priorities of my other projects and commitments.

Commencing research about the original aboriginal communities living and walking along the Derwent River

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In earlier posts, I acknowledged the original aboriginal custodians of the land over which I have walked: refer to https://walkingthederwent.com/2014/08/21/acknowledgement-of-country-to-the-moomairremener-people/, and https://walkingthederwent.com/2014/11/10/the-paredarerme-people-the-original-indigenous-owners-of-the-land-along-the-derwent-river/.

My last blog posting referred to a book telling the story of a walk from the mouth to the source of the Yarra River in Victoria on mainland Australia.  Many steps of the author’s journey were associated with aboriginal stories past and present and this made me wonder what could be learnt here in Tasmania around the Derwent River. The history of aboriginals in Victoria and elsewhere on mainland Australia, is very different to that in the isolated island state of Tasmania.  Around 10,000 years ago, when the sea rose to form Bass Strait, Tasmanian aboriginals were cut off completely from their relatives on the mainland of Australia.

From the 1870s, for the next 100 years, the official Tasmanian government line was that the entire aboriginal population had been exterminated. No full blood descendants of the original indigenous peoples have survived however there is a sizeable minority of population in Tasmania now who proudly declare themselves as descendants from specific aboriginal ancestors.

During these cold winter days, I have started research seeking to understand the lives of indigenous bands and tribes which roamed the land from the mouth to the source of the Derwent River.  My starting point is my belief (which may be found to be incorrect) that, prior to European settlement in Van Diemen’s Land (later renamed Tasmania),

  • indigenous peoples had a significant history with activities, practices, laws, dress, property that are unique as a collection, although individual aspects may be common with mainland indigenous peoples.
  • indigenous peoples had a perfectly functioning tribal family system
  • indigenous peoples had a perfectly functioning interaction system with other tribes
  • indigenous peoples had a perfectly functioning communication system with other tribes
  • indigenous peoples were thriving

Most historians, anthropologists, sociologists, other researchers and various document writers have introduced ‘facts’ and conjecture about the nature and impact of events subsequent to European settlement, and I suspect this has been to the detriment of understanding the original situations of indigenous people.   As a result, I suspect at least some people who identify currently as having Tasmanian indigenous heritage, focus more with the outrages of the past 200 plus years than with the life of their ancestors, pre-European settlement. I wonder whether historians, anthropologists, sociologists, other researchers and various document writers (almost all of whom were original settlers in Van Diemen’s Land, are the descendants of the non-indigenous peoples, or are in some other way, non-indigenous) have presented a clear picture of the nature of the original indigenous peoples without the shadow of events post-settlement in 1803. Considering the political activism of some of the descendants of the original indigenous populations, their attempts to censor studies and dispute evidence, and their destruction of ancient artefacts, it may not be possible to create a clear picture, however I plan to try (and it may take time).

Trees co-operating with themselves to create completely connected and supportive communication systems

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I will be heading out into the wilds of the Tasmanian bush later this year when I walk near the more inhospitable edges of the Derwent River through old-growth forests; I will be walking away from any tracks and be remote from civilisation.

On this basis, it was with interest I read the article at http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/05/20/4236600.htm. New research about underground communication has extended 30 year old research which introduced the practice of above ground communication between plants in forests.  There is talk of ‘mother’ trees.

Some readers might consider this is a crack pot viewpoint that has come out of the inclinations of green politics with which they don’t agree.  So I checked who the researchers were, their affiliations were and whether any funding might be seen to skew their research findings.

Leading this research is an academic at the University of British Colombia, Professor/Dr Suzanne Simard who works in the Faculty of Forestry.  Her research is grant funded by a neutral body, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada – so that the research findings are not created to support any organisation which wants a particular outcome.  At her university, Simard leads Terre WEB (the Terrestrial Research on Ecosystem & World-wide Education and Broadcast project) a Masters and PhD degree level training program that focuses on effective communication of global change research.

You can watch and listen to Suzanne talking in a video as she walks in a forest: go to http://www.ecology.com/2012/10/08/trees-communicate/.  She offers a simple but extraordinary explanation of the process.  Takes less than 5 minutes to watch.

Why are these wetlands called Murphy’s Flats? Who was Murphy?

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Thanks to http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=17347  I know that “Murphys Flat Conservation Area historically formed a portion of the property locally referred to as Marsh Farm, which was established through an ambitious land reclamation endeavour begun by Governor Arthur in 1824. The property was hailed as an agricultural “show place” throughout Tasmania and was one of the earliest land reclamations in Australia.”

The site http://www.derwentestuary.org.au/assets/NIE_-_wetlands.pdf provides the information that “In 1997 we nearly lost 40% of these wetlands when a farmer started draining the 66 hectare marsh known as Murphy’s Flat.”  This action was the catalyst for various tiers of government to step in and fund the process to purchase the land and retain it as a conservation area. The area known locally as Murphys Flat was acquired on 1 May 2001 by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.

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The 2010 Management Statement at (http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=17347) is informative.

“Murphys Flat Conservation Area is located within a wetland complex on the southern shore of the River Derwent beside the Lyell Highway between Granton and New Norfolk. The area has been recognised as being particularly species rich, with expansive areas of marshes, underwater grasses, tidal flats and reed beds that provide habitat and breeding areas for large populations of fish, platypus and waterfowl. Murphys Flat Conservation Area comprises 25 to 30 per cent of remaining wetlands in the River Derwent. It is listed within both the Directory of Wetlands of National Significance and the Tasmanian Geoconservation Database.

Birds are particularly abundant in the reserve due largely to the diverse habitat. The vicinity is well known for its large population of black swans and it is a likely hunting and foraging area for five significant bird species including the wedge-tailed eagle, white-bellied sea-eagle, swift parrot, masked owl and great crested grebe. The secretive, little-known Australasian bittern is also known to occur there.

Murphys Flat Conservation Area serves as a nursery for the sandy flathead and also provides important shelter for other juvenile native fish. Backwater areas of the reserve are of particular biological significance with unique botanical assemblages and an abundance of gastropod molluscs.”

Until the early years of this century, “Murphys Flat was used as a dump site for domestic rubbish, garden waste and for overburden from road and earthworks. As a result, the area of wetland vegetation communities has decreased and its condition has been further compromised through the spread of weeds, largely from this source.” Now a weed control program has been instituted. “The vision for Murphys Flat Conservation Area is that it will contribute significantly to regional biodiversity and geodiversity in the upper River Derwent estuary, provide water quality services and research opportunities and be a vehicle for increasing public awareness of wetland values.”

In addition to the natural history and situation, Murphy’s Flat has a cultural history.

Firstly, the site is reported to have been on a travelling route for two Aboriginal tribes (http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=17347).

Then, according to Kelvin Markham at http://www.km.com.au/tasmania/ch14.htm “Four miles beyond Granton stood a derelict grey stone house, known to all and sundry as The Haunted House. No one can tell why it received its name, though it is popularly (and wrongly) supposed to have been the country seat of early governors. The haunted house was originally the Golden Fleece Inn, licensed on 22 October 1824 to one Henry Fitzgerald. It did not long cater for travellers and in 1837 was on the market. This building was also called Addington Lodge Villa at one time.”

Add Lodge drawing -UTAS library

The image above is a drawing of ‘Addington Lodge Colonel Arthur’s Marsh Farm between Bridgewater and Sorell Creek Derwent Valley’ / ‘The Haunted House on the Granton New-Norfolk Road’ by artist A. T. Fleury c1931 – from the collection of Linc Tasmania

Photo of Addington Lodge

The photograph above is of ‘Addington Lodge, Granton, apparently a former residence of Governor Arthur’ – from the collection of Linc Tasmania

The National Library of Australia (http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/30094484?searchTerm=Anthony+Geiss) offers the information that “Addington Lodge was named after Mr. J.H. Addington, the Secretary to the British Treasury at the time. It was constructed by Governor Sorell to serve as a country house in 1820, a year after the construction of the Hobart to New Norfolk Road. The lodge was a double storey brick house with an architectural style typical of a late Georgian villa with symmetrical doors and windows and a wide fan-lit front door. The lodge was renamed the Golden Fleece Inn and opened to the public after a Mr Barker sold it to Mr. Henry Thomas Fitzgerald in 1824 having owned it for 4 years only. Addington Lodge at Murphys Flat became a popular half-way house for travellers between Hobart and New Norfolk and earned an unsavoury reputation.”

If remains of this house still exist they are now obscured from view by the lush vegetation  growing across the wetlands.  I saw no sign of it as I walked past Murphy’s Flat.

To give you some idea about the look of the wetlands from the Highway, the photo below shows the landscape when I looked back over the road just walked.

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The wetlands looking toward the road yet to be walked.

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Along the kilometres (Murphys Flat Conservation Area is approximately 2.7 kilometres long and 550 metres wide at its maximum width) of Murphy’s Flat Wetlands, the vista consisted of subtle variations of the following:

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When I walked, most of the landscape between the Lyell Highway and the smoothly flowing Derwent River seemed impenetrable. I can only imagine this is a very safe place for water birds and fishlings to breed, and for native grasses and other plants to re-establish.

This posting started with a question which I have been unable to answer. I cannot discover who Murphy was. Regrettably.

Murphy’s law is a commonly heard saying which is typically stated as: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  I wondered if the land now known as Murphy’s Flat had been purchased for the purpose of grazing animals and growing crops without due checking, and then found the wet soggy land to be useless in the days when preservation of native flora and fauna was not considered – I wondered if someone bought the land without really checking how it was and having spent all their money decided Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. BUT according to the definitive book The History of Murphy’s Law written by Nick Spark, this adage was named after an American aerospace engineer Captain Edward Murphy who said as much around 1950. The naming of Murphy’s Flat at Granton seems to have preceded this ‘law’ so the area must have been named after a local – but who was it?  More research required.

Map of Murphys Flat 20150413_095018

Google maps cannot locate Murphy’s Flat so I have attempted to indicate the location this posting has referred to.  Within the hand drawn oval above, the Murphys Flat Conservation Area sits contained between the Derwent River and the Lyell Highway.

The ebb and flow of the Derwent River against the Alum Cliffs

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I made a 25 second video of the seemingly gentle movement on the surface of the Derwent River as it moved backwards and forwards to and from the Alum Cliffs, as seen through dry forest. It was rather hypnotic and I can now see the video would have been more powerful if longer.

To see South of Hinsby Beach with waves on the Derwent River Tasmania go to : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdnLETfiRWA

Public art works along the Derwent River – Taroona’s Chiton

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From a background in the visual arts industry I have a passing interest in the different kinds of public art that adorns reserves, parks and other edges of the Derwent River.

There have not been many sites with public art works and less with any of merit or real interest visually (in my unhumble opinions). Some of these might be claimed to be community craft works suggesting a second tier of relevance and importance.  During the Stages of my walk along the Derwent River I have not been seeking such art works but when they have appeared before me, I have taken some note.  This is my way of saying that I might be missing some works of art and that the ‘expose’ which I expect to write up over coming weeks may be incomplete.

The latest siting was at Taroona Park and it struck me as most unusual. At the motor vehicle carpark/entrance was a large concrete sign with sculptured limpet-like shell structures (man-made) stuck on. While these constructions showed some similarity with limpets, they were not quite limpets. So with recent Googling, I have attempted to turn up more information. The Variegated Limpet Cellana tramoserica which is common in Tasmanian waters looks like:

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Photo courtesy of: http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/c_tramoserica.html

This does not look like the limpets on Taroona Park’s entrance structure seen below.

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These attachments were surprisingly large; perhaps 30cm or more in length. The strong grey uniform like colour smacked of an armoured uniform and made me wonder about aliens and science fiction possibilities. I had trouble making connections with reality.  The website at http://www.molluscsoftasmania.net/Locality%20pages/Taroona%20Beach.html lists all the molluscs at Taroona Beach, however the Propilidium tasmanicum (Tasmanian limpet) and all the other shells seem to have no physical similarity with the constructions that I saw.  Strange. Very strange.  Artist’s licence at work maybe?

But Google lifts up amazing results. Through further researching I located the answer at http://taroona.tas.au/environment. “It is said that the word Taroona is the local Aboriginal word for the chiton, a marine mollusc found on rocks in the inter-tidal and shallow sub-tidal regions of our beaches.”  So my idea that the sculptured relief referred to limpets was way off the mark.  At the website listed immediately above, the image provided of the chiton is comparable to those on the Park’s entrance block, even though the colour wasn’t accurate.  Regardless, it certainly commands attention.

A deviation from the record of my walk along the Derwent Stage 11 – today was Australia Day!

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Around the edge of Australia, and across inland towns and communities, celebrations are taking place today remembering the start of European settlement in Australia – not that it is expressed as such, rather as a day to celebrate being Australian (Orstrayan – as our accent seems to be saying these days). The day, quite reasonably, antagonises the descendants of the original land owners, our Australian indigenous community, because the day seems to be about being from other countries and not inclusive of the people who were already living here at the end of the 18th century.  Today celebrates the first ‘white’ settlement but not the start of invasion of the lands of those aboriginal peoples who had lived on this land for thousands of years. So it is a day of division across Australia. However, since people with an aboriginal heritage are in the minority in Australia’s population, non-aboriginals go ahead with their barbecues and other family and social events treating today as a public holiday which is their right.  More cross culture chat is needed.

So with that opinion as background, instead of walking to the Bellerive Boardwalk for the annual community Australia Day breakfast and ceremony for new Australian citizens, I decided to try out the Kingston (Kingborough) Australia Day celebrations which were centred on Kingston Beach.

Thousands of people across streets closed to traffic and the endless beach, playing beach volleyball, creating extraordinary structures in sand, and all sorts of other family and activities made the area a hive of activity.  The day’s temperature was comfortably mild for summer, the water so clear, all manner of water craft glided along, swimmers braved the cold water, and happy dogs led their owners on their leashes.  It was an extremely comfortable place to be.

I didn’t take any photographs (more is the pity because Kingston Beach was such a colourful location today) –  you may have read my blog in the area on an overcast non-people day at https://walkingthederwent.com/?s=kingston

The photos I took at that time included:

Sign and river Kingston Beach

Please try and create an image in your mind of sunshine and colour, and of lots of happy relaxed people of all ages and sizes and backgrounds playing and walking on this beach today.

Whatever out ethnic background, Tasmania’s natural sites are incredibly beautiful – and all the better for being so easily accessible.

Today our national Prime Minister released the names of people who have won prestigious Australia Day Awards in recognition of valuable contributions to Australia’s wellbeing and growth and substantial achievement in one or more specific areas.  Today, many Australians are aghast at our Prime Minister’s approval of the English Prince Phillip as a Knight of Australia. Many of us are perplexed and cannot name his contribution to Australia and achievement for Australians, other than in the most general and cursory terms. We have many amazing people in this country, so this announcement of a foreigner getting a special national honour has stopped many in their tracks.

Another opinion can be read at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prince-philip-awarded-knight-of-the-order-of-australia-by-prime-minister-tony-abbott-20150125-12xzk8.html – ‘some people worried that this was an Australia Day hoax’.