Sitting on an old stone block by the side of the Hobart Rivulet, just downstream from the Cascade Brewery and shaded by the tree canopy, local historian Martin Stone is completely at ease.
We're just upstream from the Cascades Female Factory, and the Hobart Rivulet runs all the way into the city centre and out into the River Derwent.
The stone block is probably what's left of an early dam wall built on the Hobart Rivulet to service the city's first stills.
"Hobart really hasn't expanded greatly from the early days down at Sullivans Cove," Martin says.
"And so there are historic artifacts, remnants of old structures still visible, if you know where to look."
Exploring his own back yard
A retired forester, Martin grew up in Hobart, exploring first nearby Knocklofty Reserve and then Wellington Park as a kid.
Now with time to look deeper, he's spent the past decade wandering Kunanyi/Mt Wellington looking for clues of its recent history, remnants that lie buried in the bush, like old saw mill sites.
He's also one of our Bushcare stalwarts, and has been a member of the South Hobart Bushcare Group for about 15 years.
"The amazing thing about Hobart is that the mountain and the foothills are just so close to the city," he says.
"Even here in South Hobart there are these tongues of native bush that come right down into the city.
"And because they haven't been developed, then glimpses of the early colonial structures that were on them are still there to find."
Martin sitting on one of the 4-metre high stone letters that spells out 'Cascade Gardens' on the hillside above the Hobart Rivulet for more than a century.History and nature
Martin recently took a number of lucky Bushcare volunteers on a guided walk through bushland near the Cascade Brewery, sharing his knowledge of the local sawmills, water wars and the history of the Hobart Rivulet.
As well as exploring tracks and ruins that most had never seen before, a highlight was finding swathes of trigger plants in full flower (Stylidium graminifolium).
"Bushcare to me has had two great benefits," says Martin.
"One, obviously, is the avowed intention of Bushcare, which is to restore the bush that's around Hobart to its natural condition - suppressing weeds and bringing back native bush that had been knocked out by clearing and other things.
"But the other big benefit has been that ordinary people in the suburbs have developed much more of an interest in their own backyards, much more of an understanding of what's there.
"Out of that has been born a bigger sense of caring, a sense of responsibility for their own suburb, their own patch of bush.
"It has driven a sense of empowerment, where people feel there's actually something they can do to look after the environment we're privileged to live in.”
One of Martin's great joys from being part of Bushcare for so long is that it has allowed him to see how natural areas around Hobart can, with help from Bushcare, bounce back from past impacts.
"It's just the ordinary things you and I can do, like replanting an area, working on a weed infestation or stopping erosion. These can be the small changes needed to let nature return.
“I've been part of Bushcare now for oh, it must be getting on for fifteen years or so. And over that time I've watched people who were very tentative in their first interaction with Bushcare suddenly blossoming into a sense ownership of their local area in the very best sense.
“They care about it now. They understand the value they can add. And they see the changes, the improvements.
“They get together with other people from their suburb who are also part of Bushcare and they know that we are all fellow souls who care about the bush and want to help protect it.”