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 THE aroma of Huon pine permeates the cabin below deck on the Norfolk.
Here in George Town's Bass & Flinders Centre, it's possible to explore the nooks and crannies of this wonderful replica wooden sloop.
Back in 1798, the original His Majesty's Colonial Sloop Norfolk carried explorers George Bass and Matthew Flinders to what is now George Town. In the absence of Google maps, their mission was to find out whether Van Diemens Land was an island or not.
Two hundred years later, Bern Cuthbertson sailed the replica around Tasmania in a re-enactment of the famous explorers' voyage.
At Mr Cuthbertson's request, George Town became the replica's home and the Bass & Flinders Centre was created to house it.
After arriving at George Town and investigating the Watch House, a pamphlet called the Heritage Trail is enlisted to assist my wander around ye olde George Town.
The water of York Cove is just a block away so I amble towards a seaside path. Witches hats indicate some path upkeep and I check if it's all right to proceed: "It'll cost you a carton,'' smiles a worker, and I think about what a bonza country we live in.
The warm exchange is in contrast to a chilly southerly that whips across York Cove. I'm also walking the pamphlet out of order, and missing a few historic sites like Gray's Hotel and Macquarie Court.
The scenic route does take me past Thelmara Cottage, built in the 1840s to house workers on the cable link with Victoria. But I'm off the grid, so turn right as the path reaches Elizabeth Street, across the road from the Pier Hotel, and find myself at the Bass & Flinders Centre.
The centre has much more than the Norfolk, with all manner of wooden craft including replica whale boat The Elizabeth, a locally designed and built Tamar class dinghy the Melanie and a replica of the tiny rowboat Tom Thumb, also used by Flinders.
Curator Tim Cory says there are plans for a cafe in an upstairs area, which has a wall display celebrating Launceston mariner Ken Gourlay's solo voyage around the world in 2006 and 2007.
For some reason, a cat nearly steals the show, and he's not even real. A replica of a cat sits aboard the deck of the replica Norfolk. With white blazes, it fits the description of Matthew Flinders's famous cat, Trim, born a year after the circumnavigation of Tasmania.
Flinders loved his cat and wrote a biographical tribute to him when in prison in Mauritius, where the poor feline is suspected to have ended up in some slave's cat sanger.
Tangents are typical of any historical inquiry - there's a big past out there - so I depart the Bass & Flinders Centre and try to straighten up the visit with a wander to Regent Square. Here's a big patch of central park land, testimony to Lachlan Macquarie's lofty vision for a town that might one day become a thriving city.
A central rotunda and what might be called an exercise park are two noteworthy features within the sea of grass. The new interactive exercise boards - with various pedals and handles - offer advice on staying active and seemed to be aimed at senior citizens.
The instructions on one leg stretcher finish with a quote from Herm Albright: "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.''
Armed with a positive, and presumably annoying, attitude, I make for the car and drive down to Paterson's Monument, a bayside obelisk celebrating Colonel William Paterson's 1804 landing in the HMS Buffalo.
Although cold, it's a clear day as pelicans rest on a grassy outcrop at the mouth of the Tamar. It's easy to see how Macquarie was enchanted by Outer Cove, or George Town as we know it now. It's a town of striking beauty. |
