Where have all the people gone?
Trip Start
Jan 30, 2007
1
26
641
Trip End
Dec 31, 2011
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Hobart,
Australia
Saturday, February 23, 2008
On a recent visit, I went downtown in search of 'local character' and all I could find was two drunks outside a bar asking for money, and another street person pestering tourists.
After wandering around in the CBD and down to the restaurant strip, I don't think I saw any other locals braving the brisk cool wind. What I noticed was other visitors, most of them clad in jackets and wearing hats, also on the lookout for local character on those windswept streets. This was the middle of summer, and I expected it to be busier. And I didn't expect the only words I'd hear would be 'you got a dollar?'.
The only other action seemed to be the flow of traffic down one-way streets, as successive waves of cars roared along the straights and sped around corners. The other tourists I encountered looked equally mystified, why a state capital during the busy holiday season on a Sunday evening could be so dead by 6pm, even on a summer evening when i wasn't getting dark til after 9.30pm.
Conspiracy theory #458 - Aliens overtook Hobart during my visit and imposed a curfew that only a few brave souls dared to break.
