Tag Archives: Elizabeth St

Straight Up (from the Derwent River?)

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When I find a good thing/place/event, I try to discern a connection with the Derwent River so that I can write a blog post.  A lunchtime restaurant named ‘Straight Up’, where I enjoyed a wonderful vegetarian meal yesterday with a friend, is one such place.  It is located in Liverpool St, Hobart between Harrington and Barrack St and is not in sight of the Derwent River.  But my friend An gave me the clue:  she said the restaurant is located ‘straight up’ Elizabeth St from the wharf on the Derwent River, and then straight up Liverpool.  After the meal, I walked ‘straight’ down Liverpool and turned right into Harrington St, then straight down and through St David’s historic Park and the Parliamentary Gardens to the water’s edge of the Derwent River.

Why is this restaurant ‘Straight Up’ worth mentioning?

Partly because the service provided by the waiters and other staff is fast, to the point, helpful, informative, and obliging. Mostly because the good clean vegetarian food has been transformed into sophisticated tasty dishes. The food is presented attractively but simply so that it doesn’t appear as if Masterchef contestants have been in the kitchen. There is plenty of food on the plate without seeming like it’s a dump from a smorgasbord. And perhaps because my friend and I always seem to be given a seat in the window (yes we have been before and we are working our way through the menu) away from other patrons. The ambience is one of space and privacy so that we relax over our meal.

You can visit ‘Straight Up’ for breakfast or lunch. Reservations are not required, although you may need to wait until someone leaves before you get a table.

More information and photos are available on http://www.designful.com.au/uncategorized/straight-up/,

https://www.facebook.com/straightupcoffeeandfood, and

http://twoclownstripping.com/2014/10/16/straight-up-vegetarian-hobart-tasmania/

I found a ratings page at http://www.eatability.com.au/hobart/cafes/straight-up-coffee-food/ indicating other people think like I do.  Although I might have awarded 10/10 ratings.

A surprising connection, with an earlier stage of my walk, was discovered unexpectedly

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On Stage 2 of my walk along the Derwent River, I hunted for and located on the South Arm peninsula the burial vault of William Gellibrand, one of Van Diemens Land’s first settlers in the early 1800s.  Readers of my blog may recall photos such as:

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After William Gellibrand’s residency, the land at that northern end of the peninsula was named Gellibrand Point. The photo below looks down onto Gellibrand Point.

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This evening I went to a music concert in a church with a powerful and large pipe organ.  While sitting floating in and out of absorption in the romantic organ music, I cast my eyes around the old church. My eyes passed languidly over a plaque attached high on a wall, then swivelled back in surprise. This was William Gellibrand’s white marble memorial plaque.  After the concert I took a closer look.

William Gellibrand burial plaque2

When I read that the plaque came from the Chapel, I wondered which Chapel. The internet has given me the answer.

The short story is that the Chapel was built on the Brisbane and Elizabeth St corner site of Hobart in the 1832, Gellibrand died in 1840 and a memorial plaque was installed in the Chapel. When the new church was built in 1872, the plaque was relocated. Seven years later the organ was installed and since then it has been rebuilt a couple of times. Tonight, the audience of pipe organ devotees were presented with a concert of examples of the work of Moeran, Darke, Lemmens, Delius, Manet and Andriessen.

From the website: https://fergusonandurie.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/26-07-1872-memorial-uniting-congregational-church-elizabeth-and-brisbane-streets-hobart-tasmania-2,  I learned that the current “church was to be known as the ‘Memorial Congregational Church’ in memory of the first Independent or Congregational minister, the Reverend Frederick Miller who arrived in Van Diemens Land in 1830. The very first chapel on the site was funded solely by him at a cost of £500 and opened on the 20th April 1832.”

The website also explained that “The foundation stone of the Memorial Independent Church was laid on the corner of Elizabeth and Brisbane streets in Hobart on the 16th August 1870 and was formally opened on Thursday 7th November 1872. In late July 1872 the stained glass windows for the church arrived from the Ferguson, Urie, and Lyon stained glass company of Melbourne and were promptly erected.”  You can see, on this website, photographs of the colourful glass windows.

A document located at http://www.ohta.org.au/gaz/GAZETTEER-OF-TASMANIAN-PIPE-ORGANSOctober2007.pdf provided the following information about the pipe organ: “MEMORIAL UNITING (CONGREGATIONAL) CHURCH, Brisbane Street. B. 1879 George Fincham; reb. 1936 & enl. 1939 Geo. Fincham & Sons (addition of choir organ). Reb. 1992 Gibbs & Thomson.“

It seems there have been many variations in the church’s name.  Currently this church is known as The Korean Full Gospel Church. The hospitality shown by the Korean pastor, his wife and other Koreans was exceptionally friendly and generous and so I had a rich experience with unexpected findings.