End of an era

After a few false alarms and more comebacks than John Farnham (just joking guys), the wonderful Village Antiques of Franklin has finally closed its doors, going out with a bang of the auctioneer's gavel. The Bowmont building which housed the store has been sold and lovely new owners have moved in - more on that later I am sure. After viewings on Friday and Saturday, a good crowd turned up on Sunday for the huge auction of remaining stock, held in the old evaporators factory on the Franklin foreshore. We popped in and out during the day and missed out on the few items we had our eye on, but never mind. I could see just how much work had gone into it by owners Shane and Jane and some trusty helpers. Luckily for Franklin, they are not going far, just a short way up the hill. Now, who wants to buy the huge evaporators building and be part of the exciting renewal of Franklin?

Franklin History Walk

A couple of months back, beautiful timber plinths started appearing along the main street of Franklin. Then slowly, plaques outlining the history of each building were attached to them all, as well as to the walls of street-fronting buildings like our own new home, the former Commercial Bank of Australia building.

Today, the Franklin History Walk was officially opened, with a launch at Abbey on Main (former Methodist church, now accommodation) and a display of snippets of Franklin history. The walk is a project of the Franklin Progress Association, funded by a Tasmanian Government community infrastructure grant, and clearly took a lot of work from the Franklin History Group and others in the local community. It's a fantastic addition to the village and hopefully will encourage people to walk the full length of the main street as well as along the river banks, where a series of waterside panels explain more about life on the water.

A lovely booklet outlining the town's history and including a map listing all the points of interest along the walk is available for only $2. In addition to the white settler history, the booklet pays respect to the traditional and original owners of this land, the melukerdee people, as well as today's Tasmanian Aboriginal community who are the custodians of this land. I picked up one copy today, but think I'd better keep a few more handy for visitors. Come on down sometime for a stroll. It takes about 1.5 hours to walk the whole thing, depending on how fast you walk and read I guess!

We bought a bank

It's exciting times for us, as we look forward to moving into The Old Bank in Franklin next month. It's a building we've admired over the years, as much for the huge shed immediately behind it with so much potential as for the very solid brick building that is part of the village streetscape, and heritage registered for that reason. One night over pizza at the Aqua Grill, David raised the idea of buying it. It was on the market again after selling to a lovely couple a few years back. Before that it housed a Naval Museum which we visited with my parents some years back.

As much as David and I love all the beautiful old homes in Tasmania, when we first moved here our choice was to move into a newer house, for a few reasons. We were bringing a (small) house full of modern furniture with us from Sydney, such as a huge glossy white bookcase that wouldn't fit into an older home with low ceilings and cosy rooms. We couldn't afford to replace everything. We also needed to get back to work immediately and couldn't spend time renovating. I really admire the lovely renovated farm houses and historic homes we've visited here over the years, but I'm not sure I could do it myself. And so many older homes on the market at the time seemed so draughty and dark, with lots of wood panelling and small windows. So we bought an almost new colourbond home on 9 beautiful acres up in the hills, where we could move right in with all our existing stuff and get straight back to work. Almost nine years on, we're thrilled to now have a little piece of local history to take care of.

People keep asking us what we're going to do with the Old Bank. To be honest, we don't know. There are so many possibilities, lots of ideas floating around. So to start with, we'll be moving in and doing exactly what we are now - working a corporate job (me) and running a business (David). We'll have a mortgage again, so we can't go crazy! It will be a significant lifestyle change for us, living on the main road in the village. I'll miss the sun first thing on winter mornings, the silence and delicious tank water. I have to sell my chooks. But we'll be right across the road from the river! We'll have bin night! We can walk to buy a coffee, a pizza or a cider! There's a bus stop at the door, hardly any garden and so many rooms! It's time for a change and I'm looking forward to it.

Old pulp mill site at Port Huon

Just before you reach Geeveston, heading south on the Huon Highway, there is a left turn down a road that for the first few years that we lived here, was blocked by a barbed wire gate. We wondered what was down there. Then a short 1960s era promotional (propaganda?) film shown one night before the monthly Classic Movie in the Franklin Palais explained it all... the site used to be a pulp mill run by Australian Paper Manufacturers (APM) and a deep water port used to ship wood pulp to Sydney. Built in 1962, at its peak the mill employed 170 people, but it was never a financial success and it finally closed for good in 1991. See this paper by Huon Valley local John Young for more information.

Recently, we noticed that the gate has been open, and on a Saturday pilgrimage to Geeveston for sushi from Masaaki a couple of weeks ago, we drove in for a look. There is stuff piled around everywhere. By 'stuff', I mean huge chains, cement anchors, fishing nets and ropes, vats, pipes, platforms... just random aquaculture and other industrial bits and pieces. But the quantity of it just lying around is quite amazing. Plus a large abandoned building. The site is currently used by local firm Mitchell Plastic Welding.

Also on the site are remains of the Kermandie Experimental Pulp and Paper Mill that operated from 1927-30. Last year, the Geeveston Archives and History Society opened the site to the public. There is a very informative sign explaining what used to be there and tours can be arranged.

Christmas Eve on the Nancy

The MV Nancy is a Tasmanian river ferry, a beautiful piece of living history based here in the Huon Valley. Built in 1917, she has had a long and colourful life, falling into disrepair in the 1990s before being rescued, restored and finally donated to the Living Boat Trust here in Franklin. With my parents visiting us this week, we thought it would be nice to book a tour and asked a few friends to join us for a Christmas Eve cruise. With sparkling wine and some snacks in hand, we spent an hour and a half in the evening sunshine in the peace of the Huon River, finishing with a trip through the Egg Island Canal. Very special. You can book it for up to 12 people. We all loved it, I highly recommend it. But see for yourself...

Independence Day in NYC

At 3am on the fourth of July for the past 19 years, lawyer and historian James S. Kaplan has led a walking tour of lower Manhattan, explaining New York's role in the American revolutionary war. He calls it his 'personal fight against historical ignorance'. When I realised I was going to be landing in New York late on the third of July, I stumbled across an event listing for this tour in the Time Out guide and thought "why not"? It's unlikely I will be in the US on this important day again. My knowledge of American history is pretty poor and I was keen to know more. So I booked my $20 ticket online, and after only three hours sleep, hopped in a cab from my hotel down to City Hall to join around 40-50 other people strolling behind James with his megaphone along the empty city streets in the early hours.

Promoted by the Fraunces Tavern Museum, the walking tour passes historical sites of significance in and around what is now the financial district. Many people know about the role that Boston and Philadelphia played in the war for American independence, but relatively few have heard the fascinating tales of what happened in New York. The tour concluded at 7am by laying wreaths on the graves of revolutionary war heroes Alexander Hamilton, Marinus Willett and Horatio Gates, in the Trinity Church Graveyard. Then back to my hotel to sleep for a few hours, so I could enjoy the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks later on.

Jane Franklin Memorial Museum opens

It was entirely fitting that Mrs Frances Underwood, wife of the late Governor of Tasmania Peter Underwood (beautiful tribute to him here), officially opened the Jane Franklin Memorial Museum and Gallery in Franklin today. In her speech, she drew comparisons and contrasts between Lady Jane's experiences as wife of Tasmania's Governor Sir John Franklin, and her own experience in that same role over recent years.

Vice president of the history group, Alan Cato, gave a lovely speech about Franklin and the importance of its past to its future. Dr Alison Alexander, author of the book 'The Ambitions of Jane Franklin', arrived in period dress and also said a few words about the determined Lady Franklin, who purchased land to establish the settlement of Franklin. A beautiful piano that belonged to Lady Jane stands proudly in the corner. Another clever history group member Jane Walduck has made a reproduction dress of Jane Franklin's from a photograph.

The museum is located in the former St. John's church hall, purchased a few years ago by fifth generation apple grower Naomie Clark-Port. Indeed her ancestor John Clark is credited with building the hall in the first place. Naomie is also the joint owner of Frank's Cider, named after her grandfather Frank Clark. The museum and gallery space is shared with a soon-to-be-opened cider bar and cafe. I am looking forward to enjoying a Frank's Cider there and taking a slower look around the museum soon. It features history of the apple industry, the Franklin waterfront, reclamation, egg island canal, local families, war history and much more to come.

The Cartela arrives

Today a very special guest arrived in Franklin, on the last section of her journey from Hobart. The Cartela is a 100+ year old steam ferry, the oldest continuously licensed ferry in Australia. She needs significant restoration work. And where better to access those skills than here in Franklin, where love of wooden boats of all shapes and sizes runs deep.

One friend we spoke to remembered going on 'booze cruises' on the Cartela in his youth. Also present in the crowd waiting to greet her today were one man who had worked on her as a skipper and deckhand for some years, and another who cut the tree for her current mast. What an amazing piece of history. She looked wonderful sailing up the Huon River on the TV news tonight. Once berthed, we were allowed on board for a look around. She even has a resident parrot, a.k.a. Trevor the chief engineer. Follow the Cartela's journey back to health here on Facebook.

Planted

Two blueberry bushes, two plum trees, two cherry trees and one peach from Woodbridge Fruit Trees are the latest additions to our little orchard. Which so far has produced not one piece of fruit. Well, except for a few apples that Baerli ate direct from the tree long before they were ready. That's why they are now fenced.

As I dug holes for each of the trees, I pulled out fragments of glass, ceramics (like pieces of plates or tea cups with blue patterns on), pieces of rusted iron, slabs of 'cement' or more accurately rocks with mortar... almost every hole I've dug here has uncovered similar bits and pieces. I wonder where they came from? As far as I know this land was just forestry before. We have found an old forestry 'road' going up into the bush behind our house. Luckily, I know a few local history experts to ask.

Steaming

My dad reckoned this was one of the best experiences he's had in Tasmania, and other people we know had similarly high praise. And last week when we finally took a trip on the West Coast Wilderness Railway, it didn't disappoint. Steam locomotive number 1, which pulled us up the mountain, is 118 years old. The railway was originally built and used for transporting copper from the mines at Queenstown and uses a rack and pinion system on the steep sections. The wet winter weather provided an authentic west coast Tasmanian experience for our trip. As the rain dripped off the trees, it wasn't hard to imagine how tough life must have been for the men building and working on this railway more than 100 years ago as well as for their families living up there. However, we did the trip in style, staying warm, well-fed and comfortable in the beautifully restored carriage. At present, the journey runs return from Queenstown, but later this year there are plans to re-open the full length of the railway to Strahan. We'll have to go back and do it again sometime after that.

The cleanest air in the world

I took a very deep breath. And a few more. It seemed the thing to do at Cape Grim on the north west coast of Tasmania, which lays claim to the cleanest air on the planet. Scientifically measured by this baseline air pollution station.

When the wind is blowing from the west, it has travelled more than 16,000km across the Antarctic Ocean to reach land again. And when it rains (which is often), the entrepreneurial Cape Grim Water Company bottles it, claiming to be the purest water on the planet - and again it's been measured. A work colleague once told me he'd seen this water in New York restaurants for more than $20 a bottle. Marketing genius. I have tried the sparkling water and it is lovely. No doubt about it.

We visited Cape Grim during a half day tour of Woolnorth, the large property on the north west tip of Tasmania owned by the Van Diemen's Land Company. We saw stretches of green pasture feeding dairy cattle (Cape Grim Beef is now mostly raised elsewhere in Tasmania), historic farm buildings, wedge tailed eagles soaring, large flocks of Cape Barren geese and the 62 turbine wind farm operated by Hydro Tasmania. It was wonderful to get up close to one of these amazing structures providing clean energy to many households. Just an awe-inspiring sight and sound.