Do Not Read This Title

This is background for the post I've been promising the_aspie_zoo since 2004, when I visited the old Willow Court site for a work conference.

I've posted many of these photos before, but without the descriptions. Only daytime photos, unfortunately. I managed to break the camera on the second day, so it wouldn't focus. I didn't realise this at the time because it was a new camera, bought earlier in the week, and I was still learning how to use it. I also left it in my motel room when we went to the dinner on the second night of the conference, because I'd been carrying it around all day and there was eating and drinking and general carry on planned for that evening. And you don't really expect someone to come in towards the end of a lot of eating, drinking and carrying on and ask who wants to go on a ghost tour, do you?

The site then.

( Slightly wider than usual photos, because I didn't resize most of them )

One thing I forgot to mention about New Norfolk, it was the place where people were Sent, the place we teased each other about as kids, it was the loony bin! The Royal Derwent Hospital, including Willow Court. Although it was closed down at a few years ago and the buildings abandoned. They're in the process of being revivied by developers though. One mainland investor is putting 8-12 million into part of the site.

Ben drove us down to New Norfolk, he's over for a couple of weeks. Five of us in the little sedan. I was navigating through the town.

"Now, we turn left at George St, which is..."
pause while we stare hopefully at the cross street.
"There's no sign."
"Oh, that's great."
Um, well, it should be the.. uh oh, that was it. Quick, turn left."
"It's not a through road."
"Oh, turn left somewhere."
pause we while turn left, and left again, while a long, high, yellow wall comes into view.
"That's an interesting wall."
"That's Willow Court, isn't it?"
"Yep," look at map again, "that's where we're going."

Interesting site though. Old and abandoned buildings, and I had a new camera...



Most of the photos I took of the site are on Ben's lap top still. I don'tknow how many I took but 300 is probably close, not counting the deletes. And I won't mention how many batteries I went through, I'll just say that I'm going to look into recharageable ones on Monday :\ I also discovered as the batteries flatten, the likelihood of a blurry photo increased.



(Front view of above building.)

The oldest building on the site is an old Invalid Depot/Convict Barracks, built 1827, making it the old mental hospital in the country. This is the Willow Court the site takes it name from.



On the second night of the conference we went to dinner at a restaurant in one of the newly refurbished buildings. A lot of eating, drinking and African dances going on. The right at the end, when thoughts of returning to the motel were surely occurring to everyone, two of the locals came in and rounded up a group to go on a ghost tour. I have to wonder about people who think taking a dozen rather drunk adults for a walk through dark, abondoned buildings is a good idea. I also have to wonder at anyone who thinks going along is a good idea. No one fell down any holes though.

There were two buildings on the tour. The 2 storey, red one here was the first.



That's where they put the difficult patients. The top storey that we visited first is the 'cell' area. The bottom storey was admin & doctors' rooms. The bottom floor was very icky. Cold spots, odd smells, just a bad feeling all over :(

The second building was just across the road. We weren't quite as silly by the time we got there, colder & tireder though. Rec rooms, laundries, bathrooms, abandoned garden, a tap that's probably been running since the building was closed. Rather boring actually.

I'll put up the photos of New Norfolk on my website when I get them. Here's a couple of the river though.






The Derwent is narrower at this point than it is in Hobart. Still, you can probably see why the local aborigines called it Big River.

Then to finish, a photo that I intend to have on my wall when I can afford to get it printed properly.