November 30, 2011

yachts


Lots of yachts and boats indeed. More Seaport.

November 29, 2011

Royal Park


A bench, a tree, and a flood retention wall pretending to be bleachers.

Royal Park  is a remnant of the early attempts to dredge the Tamar basin - basically, the whole thing is an accumulation of dumped river silt. The original shoreline (or what passed for it, given it was probably semi-tidal wetlands) was about another 50 metres further on from the concrete wall in background.

November 28, 2011

Lots of water in the Gorge


This was taken a few months ago, when the Cataract Gorge was in one of it's infrequent flooding phases. It's happened quite a few times in recent years, thanks to some heavy rains in the north-east (the headwater of both the North and South Esk Rivers).

If memory serves correct, in this instance residents of Invermay (a former swamp barely above sea level) were told to be prepared in case the city's flood levees failed. In the end, it was a bit of a fizzer, but I assume it was a bloody relief for those living in Invermay.

Tent + Horse


The Junction Arts Festival is held in Launceston every August, and features a variety of live music, performance, and assorted artistic goings-on. It seems to be going quite well, and most people are keen to see it continue indefinitely - Launceston does suffer a little from a lack of things to do of an evening, especially during winter. The main hub of the festival is the Junc Room, a circus tent erected in Civic Square where a lot of the performance stuff happens.

The horse suspended from the ceiling is a sort of (tongue-in-cheek) local celebrity - it's almost always on display at a horse-goods store by a busy suburban intersection, but in recent years it seems to have found itself turning up at all sorts of events.

November 26, 2011

School of Architecture


The School of Architecture and Design at Inveresk. This building used to be another workshop forming part of the railyards precinct. A few years ago, it was "repurposed" as a place for kids to go learn how to design good buildings and furniture. I've been in this building three times, myself - first time in 1999, it was just an empty warehouse; in 2003-ish, it was home to a number of information stalls at the Launceston Show; most recently, I attended a university open day with a friend...the change is rather stunning.

November 25, 2011

Inveresk


Since 2003, the Stone Building at the former Inveresk railyards precinct has been the School of Visual and Performing Arts (part of UTas). I myself was a student there from 2003-2004, and while they were still ironing out the kinks in the new building, it was an interesting space to paint, print, and draw.

Inveresk is also Launceston's arts and cultural hub, and a fine area to wander around with a camera.

November 24, 2011

Launceston Seaport


The Launceston Seaport, on the North Esk River.

Marvellous place for a stroll on a Sunday afternoon, as well as a good place for a coffee/wine/beer/meal...