Time Walks - Adelaide and Launceston

Good morning, we are continuing our Tony Robinson Palette cleanser.  I will do two episodes once again.  In the first episode, Tony explores the city of Adelaide.  The run time for this episode is 25:29.  In the second episode, Tony heads to Northern Tasmania and the town of Launceston.  The run time for this episode is 25:54.

Adelaide is a city of churches; however, it is also home to radicals and rebels.  It is the capital of South Australia.  Tony’s rabble-rousing radar is on high alert.  He comes across the statue of Mary Lee and he tells her story to a group of locals.  Mary Lee was the most influential woman in Australian history.  She fought for the right of women to vote in South Australia.  She took on a man named Ebenezer Black and he was against the right of women to vote.  He planned on wrecking the bill that would allow women to vote.  He stuck an amendment in the bill that would have allowed women to stand in Parliament.  However, his colleagues agreed and got the bill passed.  So not only women could vote in South Australia, but they could also stand in Parliament.

Tony then heads on over to the cricket pitch where the British took on the Australians in a controversial cricket game.  The British played a hard and ruthless game, and the Australians were not going to have it.  When one of their players was seriously injured the Australians were righteously angry.  The cricket tour was nearly canceled, it took an intervention by the Prime Minister to keep the tour going.

Tony’s next stop is the parade ground where Australia sent off its fighting men.  The Vietnam War would prove to be different.  There was national conscription. When the Vietnam Veterans got home they were treated horribly and were often denied jobs.  Tony would catch up with a songwriter who talked about the Australian experience of the Vietnam War.  So where else does Tony go on his Time Walk in Adelaide, tune into the rest of the episode to find out more?

Tony begins this episode by quoting an explorer who found a piece of beautiful land in Tasmania.  Tony begins his Time Walk at Cataract Gorge.  Patsy Cameron is an aboriginal elder who talks about what Tasmanians eat.  She gives him a plant that tastes like a vegetable.  Tony then tries a grub and then after trying a grub he takes a stroll by a grand river.

The river Tamar is the reason why Launceston was built.  There was plenty of fresh water and it provided a route to the sea.  It was a free town and people could make their fortunes in the town.  Tony explores John Battman and John Fawkner.  John Fawkner was a convict and the son of a convict.  He wanted to claim land north of Melbourne, however, he was brought up on assault charges.  The judge sorted those out and Fawkner was prevented from leaving because he had lots of debts.  He managed to dodge those debts and manage to get out of Launceston.  However, the captain recognized him and nearly brought Fawkner back.  Fawkner tricked the captain telling him that he was sick and the captain agreed to keep him on board.  He managed to make his way back to mainland Australia and would become a member of Parliament.

Tony then heads across town and the site of the Tasmanian Cricket association oval.  He goes back to 1851 when the first match between Australian colonies took place.  Tasmania won that match.  Tasmania was the senior colony and Launceston was the senior town.  That changed when gold was discovered near Melbourne and Tasmania’s fortunes fell.
Tony then finds himself at the Zoo and is looking at monkeys that are from Japan.  They were given in a trade for wallabies.  He uses it to reflect on the relationship between Launceston and Hobart.  However, Hobart and Launceston have been great rivals.  Tony catches up with the mayor of Launceston to talk about that animosity.  So why are Hobart and Launceston great rivals?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

Both episodes were very cool, but I would have to say that Launceston had a higher degree of coolness.  The story about burying the hatchet between Hobart and Launceston was very cool and Tony was in his element talking about archelogy.