On Thursday we drove down to the South Arm Peninsular and visited Opossum Bay. It is a beautiful bay with great views across the water to Mount Wellington. Like many such places in Tasmania it has become a popular spot for beachside holidays and retirement. Unlike many Australian beachside settlements the housing is not flat but tiered up the dunes, the resulting vernacular architecture is like a cross between Australian beach culture and Greek Island chic.
Beach House, Opossum Bay, Tasmania.Beach Hut, Opossum Bay, Tasmania.
As I was walking up and down the beach admiring the view and looking at the houses I noticed something. A lot of the gardens had a row-boat or a tiny in the garden. In many cases the boat was almost new and in good condition. The boat represents a dream to spend time in this beautiful spot and go out on the water fishing – an antidote to the stress and bustle of the world many of us live in.
Garden Rowing Boat #1
After a while the boat doesn’t get used that much, time commitments probably prevent the owners getting out to the beach house as often as they like. Slowly the garden plants start to encroach upon the boat.
Garden Rowing Boat #2. Over time and with lack of use the boat starts to be covered by the shrubs and bushes in the garden. Opossum Bay, Tasmania.
Eventually the holiday or retirement dream of spending time at the beach house fishing in the bay becomes a long forgotten idea and nature reclaims the boat and it becomes as though it had never existed as either an idea or a physical reality.
Garden Rowing Boat #3. Eventually the materials from which the boat is made begin to rot and break down and it becomes a dim and distant memory of what it once was. Opossum Bay, Tasmania.
“What?” cried the Rat, open-mouthed: “Never been in a—you never—well I—what have you been doing, then?””Is it so nice as all that?” asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.
“Nice? It’s the only thing,” said the Water Rat solemnly as he leant forward for his stroke. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,” he went on dreamily: “messing—about—in—boats; messing—”
“Look ahead, Rat!” cried the Mole suddenly.
It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.
“—about in boats—or with boats,” the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. “In or out of ’em, it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you’d much better not. Look here! If you’ve really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?”
The MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival is held every two years and Hobart’s historic waterfront comes alive with the colour and excitement of Australia’s rich maritime culture and history.There were hundreds of wooden boats, from magnificent tall ships to classic sailboats, rugged working boats to superbly detailed models.The Madoc is a Fenwick Williams “Annie”. The MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival is the largest wooden boat festival in the Southern Hemisphere .2015 Australian Wooden Boat Festival HobartHop The Wag is an old English saying which means to play truant.Captain Jack Sparrow has docked and gone walkabout at 2015 Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart.Hanging From The Yard Arm. The captain of the Lahara deals with pirates very seriously as pirate Ted found out.The Tasmanian Gilbert and Sulivan Society get all swash buckling at The Elizabeth Street Pier.A Member of the Tasmanian Gilbert & Sulivan Society at the Elizabeth Street Jetty.The much-loved 1880 Steam Carousel was whirling all weekend in the Princes Wharf Forecourt.Single-oar sculling is the process of propelling a watercraft by moving a single, stern-mounted oar from side to side while changing the angle of the blade so as to generate forward thrust on both strokes.
One of the lessons that I have learnt from my dogs is that sometimes you should just follow your nose and live in the moment. Today we had planned to go up to Salamanca Markets, but at the last-minute we changed our minds and so I decided to take Frida out for a walk. Just out of habit I picked up my compact camera as we headed out of the door.We went down to a bit of beach we hadn’t been to before and just kept walking. We were having so much fun just looking and taking pictures. I had no pre-conceived ideas, I wasn’t out to make art I was just having fun. Before we knew it we had walked to the Lewisham boat ramp, so as it was warm we stopped to have a drink at the servo. Frida was being heathy and just had water, I had a Pepsi Maxi followed by a Magnum ice-cream. I knew we had stayed to long because Frida was getting fidgety so we had back home. I saw even more picture possibilities as we re-traced our steps simply because I was facing a different direction and the light had changed.
We both got home feeling happy. Frida is now sleeping in her bed as I write this, and I’m happy to have a day where we just were in the moment having fun.
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