Yearly archives: 2018

Hobart's Elizabeth St around 1910 ... real estate prices have come a long way
Yep, Hobart beat Sydney from 2002 to 2017 … see here. Hard to believe but the story says so. Hobart started from a smaller base, but Sydney is well down the list despite its spectacular prices. Hobart has of course registered strong price increases over the past year, and its […]

Which city’s real estate increased most from 2002 to 2017?

It's nuts ... a thief strikes in Tasmania's rural area
Tasmania has a terrible crime problem in the rural area. Some of the criminals are lone operators, and some travel in gangs. They know what they want. Whole fruit trees are stripped just as the peaches, plums or apples ripen. The thieves often strike the night before fruit is due […]

Tasmania’s crime problem

Old mate had trouble staying in his lane
The Geeveston Wheels in the Park car show is well worth a visit each Jan/Feb. We didn’t make it this year, as we decided to go camping. We also missed the big rowing regatta at Franklin. We did however get a car show of our own the day before the […]

Whoaa! Geeveston Car Show

Heat wave in the Huon Valley
Howabout this heat? The picture is our friend’s thermometer today, located in the shaded cool end of their verandah in the supposedly cold and damp Huon Valley. Hot it may be, but the nearish Grove and New Norfolk BOM weather stations clocked records of 40C+ back in 2013, so it’s […]

Heat wave for Hobart, and a new record

Rental demand tops nation in Hobart’s cheaper suburbs … http://www.news.com.au/national/tasmania/new-data-spotlights-huge-demand-for-hobart-rental-properties/news-story/8f782fad547e25059388187393274169 Some of those old fixer-upperers might be worth a look …

Hobart rental demand ‘tops nation’

Hobart has come a long way since 1837. Real estate is once again on the up. Picture: Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office: W.L Crowther Library
Details here. Hobart prices are rising while other Aussie cities fall. Perhaps this is because Hobart is cheap. Or are there other factors at play? The rental market is strong, and it’s a great place to live, getting warmer every day …

Hobart prices rise while others fall

Waldheim was built by hand by Gustav Weindorfer near Cradle Mountain in 1912, long before there was a road in to the area
The history of tourism in the Cradle Mountain valley is a happy-sad story. Gustav Weindorfer was an Austrian immigrant who married Kate Cowle, a Tasmanian woman 10 years his senior. Gustav and Kate built a timber chalet called Waldheim (meaning “forest home”) in 1912, hoping to open the stunning Cradle […]

Cause of deaths of Gustav and Kate Weindorfer (nee Cowle)

What do the brackets signify? Insignificance?
Having just done a weekend road trip from the south to the north, and back, we had a chance to relive some Tasmanian roadside quirks. We like the weird use of brackets around some place names on some road signs. What do the brackets signify? Insignificance? Yes, we could ask […]

Brackets on Tasmanian road signs

It is last year’s news now but still worth a mench … if your boat sinks, don’t leave it, as it might trigger an expensive police search. Details here. Best to let the police know you just had a bit of bad luck, or you might have to pay.

Don’t leave your half sunk boat

The 2016 view from the Ferris Wheel ... where was it in 2017?
What happened to the Ferris Wheel at the 2017 Huon Show? It was there in 2016, when we took the piccy. Yes, there were other great rides in 2017. But the Ferris Wheel is a family thing. Memories are made. It was windy in 2016, we thought the wheel might […]

It’s not fair