Hobart's History Comes Alive

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I had seen a clip from the documentary series Convict Women in which I had a small part, when it was filmed here in 2010.  The film clip plus the stills are very good and I look forward to seeing it when it is aired presumably on SBS?

I played, ironically enough considering I spend most of my time playing Louisa the convict woman, the Matron in the Dublin prison before the women got shipped here.  If you blink you’d probably miss me and my little part may have got cut anyway but I caught a glimpse of me playing an extra in the street scene in the trailer.

There is a good still of the  Iron Collar which we demonstrate on Louisa’s Walk you may like to view this particularly horrible form of punishment?

The Iron Collar a Cruel Form of Punishment for Convict Women

The last week or two has been glorious, springlike weather.  Our warmest day was 22 degrees last week! It makes our job at Louisa’s Walk very much more pleasant which goes without saying.  We have had a few exciting things happen just lately so this blog post will be a mixed bag of information.  A couple of weeks ago some students from the Film and Television School at the Launceston Polytechnic campus came down to  film Chris and I for a television program screening this Sunday on Southern Cross T.V at 5 p.m.  The students have been given the task of providing a five minute spot on this program which showcases some things to do around our state.  Today, we received the DVD of the footage they shot and it’s very good indeed!  It will be great to have this aired on Sunday and to get Louisa’s Walk and the fascinating Female Factory World Heritage Site more coverage.

Last year I landed a part in the film Convict Women produced by an Irish film company. My scenes were shot at Shene the amazing homestead just past Pontville whose Gothic stables provided the backdrop to the “Dublin” based part of the film.  I remember it was a very hot day and we borrowed the Louisa’s Walk umbrellas from my car to shield actors and crew from the hot sun!  Today I received a link to the film and was able to see some still shots which include the Iron Collar – just Google Convict Women and it should come up for you. I am not sure when the documentary series will be released here but I will let you know via this blog.

Today I got our Tourism Award submission into the graphic designer (Paul Noble at Noble Ink) who will work his magic on the document and thrash it into submission.  To all tourism operators out there who are entering the Tourism Awards this year – good luck!  It’s an awful lot of work and being such a small 2 person business we haven’t got spreadsheets and other data to glitter and impress but we do our best with Louisa’s Walk and continue to be very proud of our number one position on TripAdvisor.  Today, we also had our site visit.  It went well despite having only two visitors in the audience but, those small audiences can be so intimate and we enjoy the different dynamic.

We are almost at the point of being able to cast another Louisa to take my place during the busy summer months.  Chris has had  a substitute for some time but we have had trouble finding someone to replace me.  We have two actors interested in the role and I do hope that very soon we will be able to report that she is cast!

Meanwhile enjoy some of the beautiful images of Spring offered by the Cascade Gardens right now.

Spring Teases us into Her Beauty

A Magnificant Magnolia at the top of the Cascade Gardens

Camel Riding Along Cable Beach in Broome.

As any tourism operator will tell you, running a tourism business isn’t easy.  Potentially we are available 365 days a year (although we do take Christmas Day off!)  In reality of course we take other days off, if we burn out we have nothing left.  To that end we make sure we take at least two weeks off every year, usually during August the quietest month for most tourism businesses down here in Tasmania.  This year we went to Fremantle, Perth, Broome and Darwin.  I had never visited Western Australia and Chris had always wanted to see Broome.

The weather in Fremantle and Perth was ordinary to say the least but we hadn’t shed our Tassie coats and scarves yet so we were fine.  As we only had a weekend we elected to do a Triple Tour, which involved a ride around Fremantle on a tram- like bus with commentary, a cruise on the Swan River up to Perth and a ride around the city, also with commentary, on a double decker bus.  It’s nice to be a tourist for a change!  This lightning tour gave us a good overview of the two cities.

Back in Freo (it’s what the locals call it) we visited the Fremantle Market for supplies for dinner.  We loved it – such a great atmosphere and wonderful fresh produce.  We used TripAdvisor to f ind out what other travellers thought were the best places to visit and where to eat and the recommendations didn’t let us down.  A visit to Fremantle Prison the next day was definitely a highlight of the stay.

Then it was off to Broome.  Nothing had prepared me for the warmth and the beauty of Broome, we would definitely visit again just to unwind at this time of year.  Perfect weather, 30 degrees every day, beautiful beaches and plenty to see and do with a strong artistic community too.  I fell in love with Boab trees!  My family had given Chris a camel ride for two along Cable Beach for his birthday (I love gifts like that, experiences beat things hands down in my opinion).  We rode with The Blue Camels and it was indeed a memorable  evening – see the photo.

We reluctantly left Broome where we had been staying at a lovely little B&B called Chez Marguerites very close to Cable Beach.  Our hostess was Carolyn and she had thought of everything in the beautifully equipped flat.  We tended to eat lunch out every day but have other meals at home as we were usually too tired after a day of sun, sand, swimming and sightseeing to think about going out in the evening.  We wished we had booked longer because we could take that sunshine for at least another week.

Off to Darwin for just two nights.  The only place we had managed to book was Melaleuca on Mitchell which was a backpackers – well it was okay for just 2 nights!  We met up with a very dear friend there and it was great to touch base with someone from home.  The aspect of Darwin that most impressed me was the way they have connected their wharf and waterfront areas with the CBD.  It’s done with clever walkways and glass fronted lifts.  Down on the waterfront there is a stunning wave pool. This in no way detracts from the working port itself.  We both felt that Hobart town planners, who haven’t yet managed to solve this problem of how to connect our CBD with the lovely waterfront, could borrow some design ideas.

So, now we’re home and have already performed a couple of Louisa’s Walk shows.  The weather has been kind enough to turn on a bit of sun and it has stopped raining.  For the first time for many weeks we have seen the mountain without a generous mantle of snow – it’s melted to a fringe now.  We were thrilled to be texted by a friend this morning who alerted us to a great photo and article about us in today’s Weekend Australian.  It’s a brilliant article and can only serve to bring us even more visitors in the coming season.  Book early!

Ask any tourism operator and they will tell you that times are hard.  The strong Australian dollar and more austere times in general, have meant a tightening of the market there is no doubt.  Because Louisa’s Walk is such a small operation, it hasn’t really impacted on us that much but, even so, we have been grateful for the number of local schools who have finally discovered us.  June was a pretty thin month tourist number wise but we took plenty of primary schools on our Primary School Performance.

Without exception middle school- aged children find Louisa’s Walk engaging – it is after all storytelling and who doesn’t enjoy a good story told well?  What the children may not realise is that they are absorbing facts as well!  We were very thrilled yesterday after taking a group of tourists on the full length version of Louisa’s Walk, when a mother doubled back and told Chris that her son was autistic and that this was the first time he had paid attention for two hours solid!

Today, we had the pleasure of sharing Louisa’s story with Lauderdale Primary’s two Grade Four classes.  We had set off from our home in Blackmans Bay with some trepidation as the wind was blowing a gale.  However, when we arrived at the Cascades car park there was hardly a breath of wind and we spent a really enjoyable hour with the students in gentle sunshine.  They had gone to a lot of effort to dress up and look the part and were very well behaved.

After we came out of character at the end of the story Chris had to explain why we had to tell students not to touch the walls.  He explained that the Cascades Female Factory is now a World Heritage site and that we must leave no footprint if possible.  Respect for our past is something that is growing in Australia as we build our history.

Lauderdale Primary School's Grade Four Classes Enjoy Louisa's Walk

Some Lauderdale Students with Chris in their Costumes

It is the annual Festival of Voices down here in Hobart; a wonderful event that fills our snowy city with song in all sorts of unexpected places.  I say “snowy” -  for the most part of this week, Mount Wellington has been snow capped and closed for cars and there has been snow down to the 300 metre level on some nights.  It’s winter!

The Festival of Voices annually lifts the doom and gloom of winter  as many choirs sing at events staged all over Hobart.  Some friends of ours described arriving at the airport a few days ago, when a Flash Mob Choir suddenly started singing “Restless” while they were waiting for their baggage!  Lovely, unexpected and wonderful!

Today, we took the Berwick Youth Choir on Louisa’s Walk.  They had booked some weeks ago.  The weather forecast for  today looked dire and ranged from pouring with rain earlier on in the week, in the long range forecast, to gale force winds.  We set off in a gale from our home in Blackmans Bay.  Several other audience members had also booked on for the day and our numbers were up to 23 (just about as busy as we like to be).

The choir were already waiting for us under the Spanish Sweet Chestnut trees which stand in front of the Cascade Brewery.  The other audience soon joined us and we were off.  Somehow the wind just dropped, the rain kept away and for the most part it was bright and sunny.  What a relief!  We had a wonderful show.  Even with such big, Summer numbers the whole group were absorbed into Louisa’s story.  The children were young enough to involve and so they rang the bell and helped with the washing just as we always do when we have children on board.

As we were walking back up to the top of the Cascades, some of the choir fell into step with me.  I asked them about all the different places they had performed during the Festival and then I asked them if they would like to do an impromptu performance for Louisa’s Walk?  Yes, they could and they would!

After we came out of character and finished our performance, theirs began and they enchanted the remaining audience with their version of Botany Bay.  Lovely!  So special!

Botany Bay sung by the Berwick Youth Choir

It’s July 6th today, past the shortest day of the year.  How does the saying go “As the days lengthen the cold strengthens”?  We had to cancel Louisa’s Walk yesterday (quite rare for us).  The forecast temperature was only 9 degrees.  I can do cold, I can do light rain but add in a howling gale and I’m out of there!  As I looked out of my window in the pleasant beachside suburb of Blackmans Bay, at 9.30 yesterday morning, we had all three and the trees were bent double. Now, we like Louisa’s Walk to be memorable but for all the right reasons and getting soaking wet and frozen to the bone is not a good memory!  We reluctantly cancelled our bookings for the day and, apart from one lady who was leaving that afternoon were able to re-schedule people onto other performances.

Today dawned sunny and clear and we had 13 booked on for our eleven o’clock performance.  We rugged up extra well as, despite the sunshine, it was still only forecast to be 9 degrees again.  As we approached Hobart however and turned the corner to head up to the Cascades, the sky looked ominous and the mountain was shrouded in snow cloud.  We had disappointed people yesterday though and we weren’t about to do it again.  Several audience members were already waiting for us outside the iconic Cascade Brewery building.  I was glad to see beanies, scarves and gloves!  Before long, all thirteen people had arrived and still the mountain lowered and threatened snow.  “We’re either all incredibly brave or incredibly mad”  Louisa quipped as she handed out umbrellas and off we went into another of our popular performances, quite sure we were in for a soaking.

Just under two hours later, hardly a drop of rain had fallen, though there was some light sleet just as we entered Yard One of the Female Factory.  The sun had shone just about non-stop and no-one looked remotely cold.  It was a great show and a great audience.  Comments in our guest book ranged from “Awesome” to “Fantastic”.  You never can tell what Hobart’s weather will do.

A Snow Shrouded Mount Wellington

Competition is a strange thing isn’t it?  We’re really proud of being the top listed Hobart attraction on the TripAdvisor web site (and if you don’t know about TripAdvisor then you should – it’s a great travel web site that gives traveller’s honest reviews about places they’ve stayed and things to do).  For the last three years, Louisa’s Walk has been the number one rated thing to do in Hobart on TripAdvisor.  It brings us heaps of visitors – so much so, that we’ve decided to stop all hard- copy advertising this year.

With sixty reviews – most of them glowing and some so good we want to frame them (!) we have been fairly confident about staying at number one.  However, there is a new kid on the block; MONA the Museum of New and Old Art which opened last January, is hot on our heels and do you know, we don’t care a fig?  MONA is an amazing place, controversial, inspiring, beautiful  – what more can I add?  Chris and I feel so proud that, thanks to the generosity and vision of David Walsh (MONA’s founder) Tasmania (that teardrop on the bottom of the world) has a museum/gallery to equal anything you would find in Europe.

Today we took out just two on Louisa’s Walk (winter numbers sometimes necessitate that).  The other half of their party was off to MONA.  The day will come, quite soon we expect, when MONA overtakes us as the number one attraction on the TripAdvisor site and we shall hooray and drink a glass of champagne with the best of them!

Louisa’s Walk started with just us, a NEIS grant and our creativity.  We are so proud of what we have created and so grateful to you – all those of you who have bothered to leave a review on TripAdvisor or our own site to tell us what experiencing Louisa’s story has meant to you.

To be overtaken by a multi-million dollar enterprise like MONA, won’t bother us at all, in fact we will feel very proud that we are up there with such vision and innovation.  I find it interesting that two such diametrically opposed ventures, one so expensive and the other so “smell-of-an-oil-rag” should be vying for top position.  What does it say about people’s responses?

We know that Louisa’s Walk touches peoples’ souls and spirits and that’s good enough for us.

I had intended writing a blog post about the beautiful Autumn colours that  South Hobart and, most particularly, the Cascade Gardens, are displaying at the moment.   This is still true, however, the Autumn hues were rather eclipsed last week by some very early winter weather.  We had snow down to the 500 metre level!  Louisa broke out her sherpa grade, merino long johns, several layers of thermals and generally looked like the Michelin Man she was so rugged up!  Even Chris, who is so much tougher, consented to a thermal and his bluey and gloves.

Our numbers have dropped dramatically since Easter and we are back to those lovely, personal numbers that people who  come on Louisa’s Walk during the off season, so enjoy.  Some people are looking for perfect weather to enjoy the Walk but it just isn’t possible!  If you are well rugged up you will get much more of a sense of what it was like for  those convict women of long ago, than if you come on a mild, sunny day.  We don’t go out if it’s absolutely bucketing down but if there’s a bit of rain around, we provide you with big umbrellas and you will stay dry (we get wet!)

So, come on enjoy Louisa’s Walk for what is left of the Autumn and on into our Winter.  It can’t be any worse, or colder than last week and we survived!

Beautiful Autumn Colours

Winter Comes Early to Hobart!

This term has been a busy one for us at Louisa’s Walk – our Primary School performance has become really popular with schools.  We recently took a school whose pupils were described as having “learning difficulties”.  They were of secondary school age but we gave them the Primary School performance as, in consultation with their teacher, this was the level she felt they were capable of accessing.

Afterwards, one of the most telling comments from one of their students was “This is how I learn!”.  Well, we as you know if you read this blog, are passionate about this way of teaching/experiencing history but to hear this from a 14 year old was magic!

Last week we took St John’s Primary School from Richmond,  on the Primary School version of Louisa’s Walk. Their teacher, Chantel Mitchell, had previously come on the full version many months before and ever since, had determined to bring her class.  Chantel had invited some of the parents from  the school to attend also and we were delighted to have 12 parents on the show too.

The buses arrived in good time and everyone looked so good!  They had nearly all made the effort to dress up and it makes such a difference when everyone is in costume.  Chris and I did our customary scout around to make sure the route was clear of obstacles and distractions only to find that, at the place where we start (at the trash trap) Hobart City Council was busy clearing it out.  There were tip trucks, front end loaders, diggers and just about everything that could possibly distract boys in the 6 to 14 year old bracket (and probably a lot of girls too).  We did a quick re-think about where to start and took the beginning down a bit from the distractions.

We had a fantastic Louisa’s Walk, Primary Performance, the children were the most attentive we have ever experienced.  A later email from Chantel said that she was so proud of her students but, she said, it was because we had them eating out of our hands.  Well, thank you Chantel but I think a lot was down to you and your fantastic students.

A word about the trash trap – it’s the structure part way down the Hobart Rivulet which catches the “trash”; the boulders, the branches and sundry other rubbish that comes down off the mountain in the floods.  Before the construction of this edifice, the Cascades Female Factory and, further on down into Hobart Town, used to flood on a regular basis.  The trash trap catches anything that may contribute to building a dam wall.  Once-a-year the Council diverts the sluice gates so the stream dries up and they send in the diggers and the tip trucks!  The whole structure is cleaned out and ready for another year of saving the citizens of Hobart Town from flood!

My brother, John, has recently been over from the UK for a few weeks.  He had never visited Australia before and it was the trip of a lifetime for him – he also happens to be profoundly deaf.  Naturally, I wanted to show him what I do for a living  and whilst he had visited this web site and seen the photo gallery he needed to come and experience Louisa’s Walk for himself.  But, while  Louisa’s Walk has some visual action, it is largely narrative and we knew that most of that would be lost without the capacity to hear.

A few years ago we remembered taking a deaf person on Louisa’s Walk and they brought along their own signer, it had seemed to work well.  Soon before John’s arrival I contacted Gordon Melsom at TasDeaf and he arranged to book two of their signers to come and interpret a special Louisa’s Walk for Hobart’s deaf community.  The special Show on April 16th was advertised in their newsletter Signpost.

Prior to the show, the two signers, Priscilla and Ali, came on a Louisa’s Walk so they could familiarise themselves with what may be expected of them.  They were both enthusiastic about signing something so theatrical and different from their normal commissions.  I also took John along, to one of TasDeaf’s meetings, one rainy, Tuesday morning and met around a dozen of Hobart’s deaf community.  It was eye-opening for me to be the different one; the only hearing person in the room!  Fortunately, being with John again had brought back my own ability to sign and I had been encouraging John to teach me a new sign every day.  I found I could communicate quite well and greatly enjoyed being able to improve my signing – everyone was so helpful!  John is familiar with British Sign Langauge (BSL) of course but it is not so different from AusLan.

The Saturday of the special Show arrived and, as we had only a few booked on from the deaf community, we decided to throw it open to the hearing community as well.  We ended up with around 26 in the audience that day – one of our bigger shows!  Priscilla and Ali had decided to each take one of our parts so Ali signed all Chris’s dialogue and Priscilla signed mine.  Once we had started, it didn’t feel much different from a normal Show, we immerse ourselves so deeply into our roles, we were only dimly aware of the signer beside us.

Thanks so much Ali and Priscilla, you did a wonderful job and it must have been tiring keeping up with the flow of dialogue.  My brother certainly enjoyed it and voted it up there with MONA (which he loved, I guess because it is so visual).  Anytime the deaf community want to arrange another special Louisa’s Walk we have certainly proved that it is accessible and enjoyable for you.  A good story is appreciated by all!

We Ponder the Story We Have Just Heard.