“It’s a by-product of the NBN”, I was told by the woman running Lime Designs, an arts/crafts gift store at Salamanca Place. When I asked her what she was weaving the small basket with, she told me she had literally hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres of telephone wire at her home. The wire was one of the by-products of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network. As the wire was replaced by optic fibre, it was being discarded, and she was one of the eager people willing to make something with it.
Sue and I spent the day sight-seeing around Hobart, starting off looking at some of the galleries in the centre of Hobart, and having lunch at the Cascade Brewery, ahead of going on “Louisa’s Walk”, currently voted on Trip Advisor the best tourist attraction in Hobart. I think that assessment is probably a little over the top, as Hobart has much to offer, but it’s definitely pretty good.
Instead of walking around Hobart and pointing at things and recounting facts about them in a fairly stock standard way, the tour takes the form of simple street theatre to recount the story of just one woman who came to Tasmania as a convict. As we chatted afterwards, the male actor told us it was the idea of his mother and her partner who were also semi-professional actors around Hobart who had the idea of creating some sustainable work for actors who would otherwise find it hard to make a living in a city of its size.
And why street theatre? One very obvious reason is there’s not a lot to see at the Female Factory, what was once home to up to 5,000 female convicts. Indeed, the historical records at the space document it was only recently the buildings were “restored”, having previously been used as goods yards, and even as a tennis court for a number of years. Unlike similar convict buildings here in Sydney, or even the male equivalent, Port Arthur in Tasmania, there’s really only the facade that remains.
After a return to our hotel for a little relaxation, we spent the evening at Sing A Long Sound of Music, an event organised by Tasmanian Gay & Lesbian Pride. As the name applies, we were all encouraged to sing a long and to interact the much-loved film. As both Sue and I love the film, it was a perfect way to finish up the day. Great songs, a terrific story, lots of laughter.
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