Day 19 Hobart

The weather this morning was a vast improvement over yesterday, but still fairly cool for this time of year.  Jeri was still wearing 3 layers.  Our first  order of business was the Saturday morning Salamanca Market.  One of the main shopping streets is closed to traffic for a bout a ½ mile and vendors of all kinds set up booths to try to help you part with your money.  They did a pretty good job with Rhonda and Milt, not so well with us.  I’m not sure how busy it normally is, but the last Saturday before Christmas has to be about their busiest (since I believe they have no Black Friday since Thanksgiving is not one of their federal holidays).  There were crafts, food, flowers and fruit, stall after stall.  At the 2 hour point, Milt cut Rhonda off,  and I think that the vendors decided to close down right after this.

From here, we hopped into the car for a 20 minute drive (the alternative is a 30 minute boat ride from our hotel direct to the museum) to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art..We had heard quite a bit about this museum from a variety of people, but no one gave us (nor could they possibly) a true and accurate description of what we were about to encounter.  We found the incarnation of the statement,

 “ There is a fine line between art and insanity”.  This entire museum was one of the most bizarre places we’d ever seen.  It makes the Dali museums to which Brendan took us  over the years look remarkably tame.  As you approach the museum, there are a few hints as to the workings of the mind of the creator, David Walsh.

                                             

The museum sits on a site of  one of Tasmania’s first vineyards established in 1948 by an Italian immigrant Claudio Alcorso.  The property was sold to David Walsh in 1995.  In 1999, he opened the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities.  In 2005,  he began construction of the present museum, 4 stories, 102,000 sq. ft.  His vision for the museum was that “art be discovered, not shown, so that the connection with the viewer is built fro personal experience rather than something imposed”. Outside the entrance is a tennis court that you have to cross to enter, and a trampoline which guests are encouraged to use.  

You enter on the ground floor and descend 4 stories to the 3^rd basement level to pick up an IPod touch loaded with an app for the museum..  As you walk around the museum, this will know where you are and give descriptions of the various “art” works.  For me, that was the highlight.  Some of the more seriously deranged works included a computer assisted suicide machine, a chocolate casting of the remains of a suicide bomber, a nude painting of a male with female genitalia, and some very bizarre porn that is projected on the ceiling with large bean bags below for the audience to lie on.

But the most incredibly bizarre exhibit is the Cloaca Professional, a real eating, digesting, and defecating machine. This is the 11^th or 12^th iteration of his machine.  The artist consulted with engineers, plumbers and gastroenterologists to get it just right.  The machine is fed at 11 am and relieves itself at 2 pm, like clockwork. The room that housed the machine smelled horrific but after sitting a while waiting for defecation, we sort of got ten used to it.  Finally, the machine “moved its bowels” and the anticipation anxiety was over.

We decided to take a break for tea, after which Jeri and I decided we had had enough and went outside by the tennis court to enjoy some Tassie sun.  Rhonda and Milt went back for a walk around the last level.  Rhonda thought that this was by far the best of the 4 levels, but Jeri and I just couldn’t bring ourselves to go back in. We were itching to get to Mt. Wellington to get in a hike before the weather deteriorated.

Mt. Wellington was to be Milt’s 49^th 4,000 footer (elev. 4170’).  I’m not sure if it counts if you drive to the top, though.  I would have to say that driving for me was harder than hiking.  Mt. Wellington is only 10 miles or so out of Hobart, but 6 of that is up a very windy, very steep, and very narrow (1 ½ lanes) road that would have been kinda’ fun in our Audi driving on the right, not so much fun in an SUV on the left.  The views (glimpses for me) were stunning, though. One of the Bruny Island guides suggested the Zig-Zag Trail from the parking lot at the top of the mountain, so we decided to give it a try.  The trail was beautiful with breathtaking views the entire way, and perfectly maintained.  There were a number pretty flowering bushes and plants to add to the scenery.  Initially, the sky was pretty clear, but after an hour of walking, the conditions began to deteriorate with the cloud ceiling dropping below the summit putting us in fairly dense fog.  Fortunately, the trails are so clear and well marked that it would have been very difficult to get us lost. We made it back to the parking lot in one piece, and headed back down the mountain road with another 4000 footer under our belts.

Tonight we dragged Rhonda for Indian food.  The restaurant (Annapura on Salamanca Street) was great but a bit spicy (I sweated profusely all through dinner).  We were hoping that we weren’t going to need an ambulance for Rhonda.  She wisely stopped eating the hot stuff, and the waitress was very apologetic about the level of seasoning and brought  Rhonda a much milder dish which she said was excellent.

Tomorrow, the Hobart Botanical Garden and the drive to Triabunna, our stepping off point for Maria Island National Park.