MICF 2018 - Daniel Sloss - Now

May 10, 2018

8th April - 8 pm

ACMI - Cinema 2, Federation Square

Sloss's stage, inside ACMI Cinema 2. Sloss remarked 'the comfiest comedy venue'

I've seen Sloss for the past two years, his 'So?' show last year and 'Dark' the year before that.

Looking back at my previous write ups, trying to remind myself of the previous shows, and being a little annoyed that I've written them in such an oblique way as to not spoil anything, and therefore not too good at reminding myself of what they contained. I remember the gist, well enough.

Sloss's 'Now' has been promoted as him questioning whether or not he is a sociopath. I think Sloss is intelligent, his comedy certainly is.

On the concept of psychopaths vs sociopaths Sloss presents the concept that psychopaths are born, they learn how to manipulate emotions, while sociopaths are created by experiences. Sloss says there's 15 traits that help define a sociopath, he has 7.

Sloss moves through a series of observations and tales that, for me to try and summarise I think I would risk at repeating what he said or badly rewriting. He presents intelligently written comedy, from a youthful perspective that has a mature, nuanced perspective.

MICF 2018 - Completely Improvised Potter

May 10, 2018

8th April 2018 - 6 pm

Victorian Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street, Carlton

I booked Completely Improvised Potter as I was looking for something to see between the Little Dum Dum Club and Daniel Sloss. I'd also seen Completely Improvised Potter advertised in previous comedy festivals and not gotten around to seeing it.

While you're standing in line you're given a piece of paper to suggest a title for the show, around which the completely improvised show is created from.

Unfortunately my piece of paper 'Harry Potter and the Paradigm of Sheet Music' was not chosen.

MICF 2018 Completely Improvised Potter.jpg

I did think that piece of paper specifying that "we prefer [ideas] that are not based on pop culture or infringe on other copyright property" was a little cheeky as their logo they used for their "Harry Potter and the" on their bit of paper is very likely copyrighted or at least trademarked.

Everyone on stage is very capable improvisers, with some camping their performance up more than others, the camping up worked wonderfully evoking an almost panto quality to the performance.

There were some instances of various people prompting the story with a person entering and adding a random piece of information to the story or a "30 years ago..." segment to obviously give the performers something to add while prepping the next scene.

MICF 2018 Completely Improvised Potter sign.jpg

Also much praise to the lighting and music techs as those two elements really helped placing the story and setting things up with musical cues.

In about an hour a full story was told with convincingly performed characters, and a story that was as concise as a fan fiction tale, but told before you.

I would definitely have seen it again had I been able to get up to the MICF again. Every performance would be different and it would be intriguing to see how much it changed night after night.

MICF 2018 - Little Dum Dum Club (2)

May 10, 2018

8th April 2018 - 3 pm

European Bier Cafe, 120 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

I didn't go to the first Little Dum Dum Club that happens to take place during April and is not connected to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (I gather there's monies exchanged if there's a link, be it web, verbal or otherwise). It was over the Easter break and I wasn't feeling amazing, after this week I caught a cold, so this was the only Dum Dum show I went to during the MICF.

This episode they had the audience fill out a survey when you came into the room, but aside from a couple of mentions never actually addressed the survey or anything that was written by the audience. Typically Dum Dum.

The guests on the show were: Hamish Blake, Dilruk Jayasinha and Brett Blake.

Dilruk was looking surprisingly svelte, supposedly weighing in under 100kg as a result of a wager on $1000.

Hamish Blake sported a beard.

Brett Blake recounted his recent journeys into court for 6 offences from jay walking to running a red light in a truck carrying a diesel generator.

Essence Real Brandy Custard review

January 05, 2018

I bought this 340ml tub of custard to go with some left over Christmas pudding I got from my grandmother post-Christmas day.

When looking at it in the shop I suspected it would be nice because it only has 4 ingredients. Cream, eggs, caster sugar and brandy.

No thickeners, no stabilisers, no xanthan gum. Nothing like that. Just ingredients that were I making custard for myself, this is what I would use.

This custard is delicious. It is so silky, so smooth, so...wonderfully made.
The brandy isn't overpowering either. I've bought some custards in the past which purport to be "brandy custard" but they are overwhelming in their brandy flavour.
Not this, there is that hint, the tantalising delicious hint of brandy, enough to know it's present without being shouted at.
You could, were you inclined to just eat this custard on its own.
I did...just to taste it before I put it on my Christmas pudding.
And the I had another spoonful.
And the I had it with my Christmas pudding.
I certainly didn't just 'drizzle' it over my pudding which is what the serving suggestion says, I had a bit more than a simple drizzle.

I looked on their website, and it seems they only make it for December, but their vanilla bean custard is available all year round. So I'll have to think of a reason I need to buy that one to give it a try.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 6 - Return

January 01, 2018 in Travel

When I came over on the Spirit of Tasmania I noticed a few bikkies. But waiting in line for the Spirit of Tasmania to board, I noticed a lot more.

It wasn't until I was on board and could properly read the news on my phone that I found out there was a big meeting of them in Tasmania, around the same time I had been there, though in the north east, so I never encountered them.

Getting my boarding pass was easy enough, I had managed to find myself on the easier side of the queue so my driver's side window lined up with the booths, and I was ahead of the bikkies.

Surprisingly and unlike being checked in Melbourne the security in Tasmania wanted me to open the bonnet of my ute and have a look in the back and in the tub.
Upon opening the back of my ute I discovered a rather large amount of dust had got in during my sojourns along the dusty roads leading the Highland Lakes. I'd noticed there was a degree of dust when I'd stopped earlier that day for breakfast / lunch, but it seemed to have gotten dryer and dustier by this point. The security guard remarked 'I didn't think we had dust like this in Tasmania'. Nor did I. It was like talcum powder it was so fine.

The checks having been done I was directed into another queue, and then after a short break directed onto the Spirit of Tasmania.
To my surprise, and somewhat relief, I would be able to drive straight onto to ship and at the other end, drive off. I was the first in one lines of cars on the ship from the bow of the ship. I think I was one or two lines from the port side of the ship.
All of the bikkies were parted behind me. So there was that.

Making my way on board and finding my cabin I regretted not changing my ticket.
I had considered a day or two ago changing my booking to the same cabin I had on the way over. Going so far as logging into the the Spirit's website to check the availability.
But had changed my mind; thinking that the basically double-the-price cabin wasn't worth it.
Looking now in the cabin I had, two narrow single beds and a porthole out, plus a tiny bathroom, I began to have regrets.
Later that night where the seas were a little choppy, and I could hear the dogs barking on the deck below and car alarms going off, I had a few more.
I did worry that, because one of the car alarms that was going off sounded like my ute's alarm, that it would just keep doing that and they I'd return to it the next morning with a flat battery. But I tried to console myself that the designers would've built something into its systems to stop things like that happening.

The room wasn't terrible, it was okay, satisfactory even. It had enough comforts. A bathroom with a shower that delivered hot water. A bed that was soft enough. Power points to charge my phone. Everything that is needed to get a night's sleep.
Just not a very enjoyable one.

I have now experienced all the cabins of the Spirit of Tasmania. On my previous venturing across the Tasman I had booked the cheapest of the cabins, the interior room. It was actually the interior bunk room, even though I had it to myself.
It was somewhere down in the depths of the ship, somewhere near the engines, because I placed a bottle of water on the table and watched it vibrate off.

The twin bed cabin room is knots above that, but it's just accommodation, that's all. It's functional, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's restful, it's just a functional place to get some sleep. It's certainly better than the recliner lounge on board. I've never bought that level of ticket, but it appears to be a recliner lounge seat with a little bit more tilt and a little bit more room than an airline seat. The twin room is certainly a step up from that.

When I next go to Tasmania again, I'll be spending the extra money to get the deluxe room both ways. The Spirit of Tasmania is already a slightly outlandish way to travel, some might say that flying is easier and cheaper. But it's not a nicer way to travel, it's just a functional way to get to places, it's being slotted into an aluminium (or carbon fibre tube) and flung through the air at an efficient speed. Travelling by sea, even on the ferry is a more luxurious, more involved method of travelling, you can stand out on the deck 10; the very top of the ship, look out at the bridge and see that the ship is ploughing its way through the sea. You can go down to decks 8, 7 and 6; getting a closer look at the sea that the ferry is sluicing through.
In Australia it's not often we get to see, get to experience this level of connection with travelling across a long distance. Crossing the mainland it's by road, rail or air. Only the first two give a real connection and indication or passage. Travelling to Tasmania by the ferry, by the ship gives another connection, another dimension of travel.

The following morning, having woken fairly early to the twinkling lights around Port Philip Bay, I realised I hadn't had a terrible night's sleep. I'd slept through; the rocking of the ship (2 metre swells according to the captain's announcement) and gentle movement of its passage had sent me into an uninterrupted sleep.
I elected not to go for breakfast; not really feeling hungry and I'd woken with a craving for pancakes, so the omelette that was on offer in the Tasmanian Market Kitchen unlikely to satisfy that craving.
Because my ute was on deck 5, it meant we were called first to go down to our vehicles and I waited barely any time before we were being directed out.
There was a significant fuzz presence outside the port, waiting for those on bikes within the Spirit of Tasmania, they showed little interest in my dust covered ute.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 6 - Final day

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I hadn't really planned exactlty what I was going to do on this final day. I'd sort of left it open, just in case I'd not made it to the Callington Mill, or wanted to have a further wander around Hobart.

But as the day rolled around, or rather the previous night when I was trying to work out what to get up to; and sort of failed to really decide what to do exactly.

I decided to have another drive through the Highland Lakes area of Tasmania as I really enjoyed venturing through this part of Tasmania, so I left Old Beach and headed up the Midland Highway.

Heading for the C526 Interlaken Road. Which I'd driven along some of but turned off to head towards Oatlands. This time I drove the length of it, and it's a really varied road. It's a country back road, but it goes up into the hills, but passes through open cultivated plains which look like they belong in a mystical scene. There were some cattle in some of these large open plains and some; just the grass swaying in the wind.

Climbing back up in elevation I remembered to engage four wheel drive so I stayed on the straight and true.
I also discovered that the road is not very wide, I mean, it's wide enough for one vehicle.
But I encountered some people in utes going in the opposite direction and I don't think they were expecting to encounter a rogue Victorian coming towards them because they did not pull very far over to the side of the road to give much clearance between our vehicles as we passed.

Until I got to Miena they were the only people I saw.

At Miena I pulled in to the Miena Dam lookout to stop for breakfast / lunch, having skipped the former when I'd departed Old Beach.
I'd not fancied exploring Hobart for breakfast, nor ducking into one of the few towns I'd passed to go looking for some breakfast.
The previous day when I'd been at the Salamanca Markets I'd got some Bruny Island ham when I'd purchased some bacon and cheese. While in Wursthaus Kitchen I'd also bought a 1/4 of a loaf of bread and some chevre goat's cheese, intending to eat it with my dinner that night, but found myself quite full from the quiche. So that became my breakfast / lunch. Sat on the tailgate of my ute looking out at a fantastic view.
A few cars did pull up while I was having my picnic of food, most seemed to stop, look at the view, seem perplexed by me and then depart after a moment.

This pause in the day's driving did allow me a nice pause in the day, to eat and take in the view, much more of a pause than the people who drove up, only to seemingly be disappointed by the vista before them.

Leaving Miena and driving north on the Highland Lakes Road, which was mostly sealed, and I think would be a great driver's road if it was all sealed.

The road was soon climbing even higher in elevation, I passed a sign not too long after that stated it was the highest road or highway in Tasmania at 1251 metres.

As I began descending down the other side however I began to encounter more cars, more people enjoying this driver's road, or maybe heading up into the highlands for fishing, or whatever else there was to be had for adventure.

I had decided to go to Launceston for a bit of an explore. But after long, though not uninteresting drive there...I drove through the city and back out the other side without really encountering anything that really grabbed my attention.

For the rest of the day I mostly drove around seeing other sights until it was time to board the Spirit of Tasmania.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 5 - Salamanca Market

January 01, 2018 in Travel

After MONA I wondered through the Salamanca Market, I hadn't set up my trip with the intention of going to this, it just so happened that I would be there on a Saturday.

The revelation I had, walking around the market, was how passionately Tasmanian everything was.
It may seem an odd or obvious observation of things.
But at markets of a similar ilk that I've visited in Victoria, it's less...passionate.
Everything is fervently Tasmanian, made on there and very passionately so, independent. The only other place I've really seen this passion is Western Australia, and I guess the attitude stems from the same place. That sense of being isolated from the rest of the country. With Western Australia it's the distance from the eastern states, and here in Tasmania there really is a sense of isolation and separation from the mainland.
Last time I was in Tasmania that isolation seemed to translate into a little bit of hostility, "oh, you're from the mainland", but this time it seemed more like a celebration of Tasmanian-ness.

There was just so much stuff, so much produce, made, crafted and created in Tasmania. it was truly amazing the amount of stuff on display.

I ate for lunch a wallaby burger (from Bruny Island) and then bought from a different stall an apple and blackcurrant juice.

I want to say that I walked the full length of the markets. But I didn't.
I walked the length of the market, or what I think of as the proper market, with all the various producers of unique artisanal stuff. But as the market continued up the incline the stalls became less about stuff made in Tasmania and more magical crystals and infomercial-type stuff, trinkets and other things like that. Much less unique things and more just...stuff. So I turned around and did another loop of the market.

One item which I tasted as I wandered around which literally made me gasp was Redlands Apple Schnapps. Which was so unbelievably strong, I couldn't even finish the tiny amount in the tasting cup. But as I walked away I did muse that the finish, the lingering flavour at the back of the palate was tantalising.

I also visited the Bruny Island Cheese shop in the Salamanca Art Gallery, which I'd seen as existing on Gourmet Farmer, as I knew I wanted to get some Bruny Island cheese, but didn't want to have to trek over to Bruny Island, well not on this trip at least.
There I also bought some bacon, she also threw in some ham for free, which wouldn't make it back to the mainland with me as it would expire in a few days.

I also, as I was walking towards Wursthaus Kitchen (a gourmet deli shop) which I intended to visit to buy some food stuffs for my evening meal, on the way there I passed the Fat Pig Farm stall, where I bought some more bacon. Fat Pig Farm being the farm of Gourmet Farmer.

My only regret of the Salamanca Market was when I first started having a browse I'd tasted some amazing apricot jam, the flavour exploding through my taste buds with apricot, but it was one of the first stalls I'd seen and I didn't want to have to carry it around with me. I forgot to go back once I'd bought some salmon quiche and salad at Wursthaus Kitchen and began the walk back to my ute. I don't even remember the name of the jam maker only that it had a black label and didn't seem to sell any plain raspberry jam.
No matter, it was still an enjoyable experience and I left with much bacon and other products to take home with me.
I'd prepared and intended to buy some products that needed chilling and had brought with me a freezer block that I'd frozen at The Boat Shed and again in Old Beach and had a cool box so my products would remain chilled the following day and for the journey back on the Spirit of Tasmania.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 5 - MONA

January 01, 2018 in Travel

Leaving Old Beach heading for Hobart was a rather relaxing and easy drive along the eastern side of the River Derwent. Old Beach being on this side of the river, it made for a less busy journey into Hobart.

I had previously plotted and researched my route into Hobart, so already knew where I was going – the Market Place car park, and where to turn – the Officeworks on Brisbane street. I'd written out these instructions for myself, mostly because I dislike a GPS and would rather know where I was going than be listening for the GPS to tell me. Easier to plan regarding traffic flow etc than laying in wait for the GPS to tell me. It was surprising, driving into the car park, how much reserved car parking there was, I thought I might reach the roof before I found a car parking spot, I finally did, on level 8.

While I could have driven to MONA from my accommodation, I'd decided that it was an experience, and I would have the whole experience, which included getting the ferry, the MR 1 to MONA itself.

I was on the first ferry of the day, having risen early the previous days I knew I'd be up to take the trip it made that day.

As the ferry set off, I knew I was right, that going on the ferry was definitely part of the theatre and experience of the MONA.
I ventured out to the back of the ferry first, where the 'cattle class' sheep lay, and the cow.
But I also ventured out to the front of the ferry, the very front in front of the bridge where, it was quite...bracing. I had to come in, it was such and properly zip up my jacket, pull on my Spirithood properly and keep my hands in its pockets, and then I was ready to face the wind, it was amazing to stand out on the prow, while it was somewhat cold it was definitely an experience, especially as no one else seemed willing to brace it; I stood alone.

As the ferry arrived at what seemed to be a somewhat unassuming dock, it slowly revealed itself; the 100 or so steps up from the ferry left me a little bit breathless but I managed to make it to the top of the stairs without needing to stop.

Although I was slightly perturbed when, having got to the top I found you had to journey downwards into the depths of the gallery. I again took the stairs down, while there was a lift, the stairs allowed a better look at the world that I was descending into.

Sally, Stewart and Zoe, whom I met on the West Coast Wilderness Railway said that once was enough for MONA. The fervour with which other people talked passionately about MONA had made me weary of going, and my expectations weren't really set at any real point before I'd arrived. Even as I descended down I wasn't sure exactly what was going to be revealed within.

I think the problem, that some people have with MONA is that they're not sure how to contextualise it into their preconceived ideas of art.
A bit of a wanky sentence I know.
To which I mean that some people I'd spoken to proper to coming said that once was all you needed and that it even wasn't worth the price of admission.
Zoe whom I met on the West Coast Wilderness Railway said she'd been once and that was enough and she was glad she didn't have to pay (she was from Launceston).

A lot of the artists whose works are on display at MONA aren't traditional artists, in that they're artists in that they create art work, but might not be recognised by the "elite" as artists.
This I quite like, because it's very unconventional art, and it's challenging.
The question I began to wonder though as I wandered around was what makes art...'art' and what are the mad scribbling of those with mental illnesses, the overly medicated or those just huffing paint fumes?

The latter had some art in MONA and had been huffing paint fumes and then went on to do some art.

I think some might say that, perhaps that means it isn't art, not "proper" art.
To which my retort would be then what about Van Gogh? He had a mental illness, was committed for a time and eventually took his own life, which basically puts him in the same field as a lot of the people on MONA.

There was one piece which the audio commentary noted that the Tate Gallery in London said wasn't contemporary, because the artist wasn't notable enough.
MOMA - the Museum of Modern in New York disagreed and they had this artist's work, which was all about some devil children but was actually about how the artist was abused in care as a child.
One piece had been assembled by MONA, because it had been in pieces when it was discovered.
This was one of the more traditionally arty pieces, in that the drawings were fairly easy to read and look at, the figures had a cartoon-like quality to them, but they were all as devils or other things like that.

How I imagined the Burrow in Harry Potter.

There were some art works that were in the borderline area between art and...I don't want to say rubbish, bit stuff that depending on the context you wouldn't say wasn't art and was instead just stuff that people make.
It's certainly unique like paper and cardboard models or random science fiction guns made out or found objects.
But is it art?
That it's in a gallery certainly suggests that it is art.
That it's been presented etc means it has meaning and has people looking at it.

It made me think, about what is art, and what isn't art, and I think that may be why people, some people, don't like it. Because it's not clear in what it is (or isn't).

The gallery of the Museum of Everything is divided into themes, slightly leaning more towards concepts of belief and spirituality. But then it veers off into concepts of science fiction and flight and weapons, then off into the home and other themes like creatures and animals.

Coming out of the Museum of Everything gallery there was a gift shop and a Frenchman offering tea and biscuits.
My first instinct was to refuse, because that's basically my first instinct for everything when food is offered. I prefer to make a choice, than be offered something.
But I was persuaded, basically because I have looked at attending MONA as an experience, rather than just a visit to a fancy location.
It was a little bit surreal.
Very surreal actually, sort of like Alice, in reverse, being drawn back out of wonderland by magical tea and biscuits.
It was all served in a dainty cup and saucer.
It was gold coin donation.
It was, as I continued to walk around, just the thing, it really felt restorative and prepared me for what was to come.

The wall of cunts, and other weird things.

Cloaca was really an assault on the olfactory senses. It basically reproduces a stomach, it's even fed twice a day and then the end result is that it shits itself.
It really smells like bacteria feeding.
I'd read about something like it in the past, so I knew the theory behind it. The seeing and smelling it was something else though. I had to hold my breath and go in and have a look.
It's not quite gag inducing, but it's close. That smell of bile and other things. And it's all these to witness in clear ovoid chambers, it sort of looks like a milking room, except they're essentially stomachs.
It's very weird, very arty and very...post apocalyptic science fiction sort of thing, like this is the way one day in the future we'll get eggs. That's what I thought when I read about this exhibit on 'The O' app, that they'd somehow worked out how to make an egg. But no, it's just good art work that shits itself.

Another exhibit which I walked into and then out of and then back into, was 'white library' or something like that. It was a room with books in it. But all of the books were white. The same white, their covers and everything.
There was nothing to suggest what they were about. They were just stark white books.
I found it weirdly intimidating, that these things, these books should have context, but they didn't and your eyes slide around the room looking for some hint of context from this room, from the books inside the room, and instead you're almost assaulted with the lack of anything, with the lack of suggestion or of context, of anything, and I really found that disturbing.
Maybe it's because I like books, and am used to reading along the shelves of a bookshelf looking for something I recognise, or something that interests me. But here in this artwork there was nothing of that, just white, blank books that didn't say anything, didn't give anything to their environment, it was just...nothing.

Overall, I found MONA a bit overwhelming. It's an assault on the senses and really is an art experience. It's almost like no other art experience I've had before.
It was all a bit too much to take in during one sitting. I walked through, trying to take it all in, but with the audio commentary, app with additional notes and what you see before you, it's all just a bit too much to take in.
I fully intend to revisit MONA, I think it will take at least another visit to appreciate it all, but probably several visits to really take it all in.

As the ferry arrived back at Hobart I was very, extremely glad that I had caught the first ferry of the day the 9:30 am, which had been very quiet, with no queue to get on, and the ride there and back had a very casual feel to the ride.
Arriving back in Hobart I saw a very long queue to get onto the ferry with everyone looking eager and a little annoyed at having been kept waiting. I think having more people around would have changed the vibe of the ferry and the experience to MONA.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 4 - Old Beach

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I'd selected another Airbnb for my stay for the next two nights, as the next day I would be going to MONA I wanted accommodation that was close to Hobart, or relatively so.
Also, again as in Strahan the cost was relatively good, especially compared to a motel/hotel.

The "Country styled cottage set amidst vineyard/orchard" in Old Beach caught my eye while searching because it was a little of the way outside of Hobart. Originally I had thought I was going to spend a little bit of time in Oatlands doing a tour of the Callington Mill and generally exploring a little bit. I'd also wanted to give myself some time in the highlands area.
Which meant I'd given myself ample time to get from Strahan to Oatlands, as my last time in Tasmania I'd felt a bit rushed going from place to place.
But because the mill hadn't been open to exploration I'd finished there early, so in theory I could have stayed closer to Hobart.

View from balcony, just visible are new build houses.

But I'm glad I didn't because the country cottage in Old Beach was rather unique. I arrived before Mark (the host) was home, so had time to take in the property.
The first thing I noticed as I drove towards the address was that the property and the few houses that were on large hobby farm-sized blocks were ringed in by higher density suburbs.
Basically all the land around these hobby farms has been sub-divided into smaller suburb-sized greenfield standard-sized blocks.
When I met Mark I did ask him 'did you buy the block and then the houses surrounded you or...', the former. Mark told me that his neighbour had been a pea and something else farmer and then died. In order to settle the estate his executors had needed to divide up the land, which now meant all of these new builds going on.
Green wedges, at least for this area don't seem to exist, and the neighbouring Bridgewater, Mark informed me was something like one of the worst suburbs in Tasmania, with a lot of housing commission housing around it. Supposedly it was something of an experiment by the Tasmanian government back in the 1970s, which hadn't exactly worked out.

The setting that the cottage sits however is very picturesque, with the view out of the windows of grape vines, fruit trees and beyond that horse paddocks replete with horses. It's really very pretty especially on the days I was there; blue skies, some clouds and on the second day I watched the overcast clouds slowly tumble across the skies.

The cottage, Mark explained, he'd built for his mother (who's now in a nursing home over the hill).
It's a well fitted out cottage with a kitchenette and living area, with also a dining table with 3 chairs.
Bathroom and then a bedroom with two king single beds.

The kitchenette was well set up with microwave, small oven / hot plate combination. There were pots and pans, crockery and cutlery. In the fridge; milk, eggs, bread and associated spreads. The cupboard contained coffee and several types of tea, plus cereals.
It really was very well kitted out, especially compared to my previous night's accommodation of The Boat Shed, which had more rooms, but fewer additional offerings (not that I'm complaining).

Mark said if I needed anything to come and find him, but I was content to be left alone, and on the following day after having returned from Hobart sat drinking several cups of tea while I typed out my thoughts of the day, found it quite relaxing just sitting at the table looking out at the view, it's something I seldom do on my road trips as I'm usually driving most of the day and then stopping for the night, eating early and then falling asleep into bed. It was quite nice, just to be sat for the late afternoon, not doing much.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 4 - Callington Mill

January 01, 2018 in Travel

This was my second time in Oatlands and my second time visiting the Callington Mill.
My first time, I arrived late for the tour of the mill and this time, well I arrived just at the right time.
For it to be closed.

The Callington Mill is the only example of a Georgian windmill in Australia, and its history is fairly interesting. Basically by the time it was built it was already out of date and not many people used it.
It's also burnt down at least once in its history leaving only the stone tower.

On this occasion, when I visited, and after chatting to the head miller, I found out that tours are no longer being run; because the tours and the tour office didn't make any money.

The tourist office and the mill are run by the council, and the miller, who told me he'd been brought on to run the mill a few years ago had been improving the milling operation. Up to the point where the flours and other products they produced there were in demand, and they were now making money.
However...the tourist office, little cafe and building that they were located in, along with the staff, weren't making money. In fact, they were costing the council money, and dragging down the profits of the mill.
Eventually it came to a head and the head miller said to the council that the tourist office needed to either pull in more cash or they had to go. The unions got involved and it all ended in a bit of a stoush where the council was taken to court, looked at the books and finally had to pay the tourist office / union out to get rid of them.
Which suggests the mill, producing flour, is pulling in a lot of money.

The miller also told me that if there's tours running, that basically means he's not able to mill flour, and if he's not milling flour, then they're not making money.
I can see that perspective, if they're not milling flour that's making money, then the tour office, either through sales or tours should be replacing the money that would be made from milling. If they're not, then that's not good business.

According to Mark, the host of my Air BnB, whom I spoke to regarding the mill later that afternoon, the tourist office would get turned into a whisky making facility and that tours would begin again, once things were worked out between the whisky makers and the mill operations.

So maybe when I make another visit to Tasmania I'll try a third time to have a tour of the mill.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 4 - To Oatlands

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I didn't take a huge amount of photos on my journey from Strahan to Oatlands to visit the Callington Mill.

What struck me as interesting throughout my time in Tasmania, but especially for my drive from Strahan to Oatlands is the speed limit. Which from Strahan through Queenstown and out the other side was 100 km/h.

If these roads were in my home state of Victoria they would be 80 km/h maximum.
I didn't do much more than 80 along these twisty roads, because it had been raining and because I was driving a large four door 4x4.
I knew to set my own limit, it was nice, knowing I could go faster but I restrained myself, knowing I should do a safe speed that was appropriate for the conditions instead of having that set for my by the government.

Driving out of Queenstown I was heading for Bronte Park and then through the central highlands. It was something of an awkward, though also quite direct way to get to Oatlands from Strahan / Queenstown, and though some exceptionally pretty and remote landscape. The central highlands are probably my favourite part of Tasmania.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 3 - Strahan

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I stayed in Strahan for two nights. After arriving from my journey along the Western Explorer Road I made for my accommodation in Lettes Bay.

The last time I had been in Tasmania was 5 years ago, I had opted for pubs and other such quirky places to stay, although when I'd been in Strahan last that had meant a YHA cabin which had been...less than amazing, in fact I'd rate it, along with Border Village as some of the worst places I've stayed.

This time however I decided to opt for AirBnB for my accommodation. Especially after looking at the app and finding that a lot of the places I found were on par or cheaper than a motel.
I dislike motels, and have only stayed in them on rare occasions during my road tripping. My problem with them is that are all exactly the same, almost depressingly so. They all seem to be made out of brick, they have the same ugly bed spreads, the same awful kettles and terrible tea, the same cups, the same vaguely okay towels and crisp sheets.
It's all so terribly boring and samey.
I would much rather somewhere interesting and quirky than boring.

I admit The Boat Shed was my second choice, after the first one I was looking at was booked out. But The Boat Shed at $100 a night was much more reasonable than my first choice (which was closer to $173 a night).

The Boat Shed is a fantastically rustic little house basically on the water's edge of Lettes Bay, it has water views, albeit from only a few rooms.
It's a rambling state, supposedly originally two buildings that had at some point in their life been joined together to form two.

Doorway at the end: Bathroom. Right doorway: Lounge. Also a bed 'room'.

What it isn't really defines it, it's an extremely unique place to stay and far too big for just myself.
There is one main bedroom and then two other 'rooms' with beds in them. I say it this way as they are more like larger corridors with beds in them on the way to the bathroom.

There's also a kitchen with and adjoining dining room, plus a lounge room.

Alternate view of the corridor / one of the bed 'rooms'

You can clearly see that the house started off small with the original part of the house being the first bedroom, kitchen and dining room. These are the most defined of the spaces in the house, after that it becomes a little more rambling.
With the lounge room being the next most well defined of the spaces, given the location of the bathroom adjacent to the lounge room, I do wonder if this at one point was the kitchen, as on the AirBnB listing it says there's also a laundry (though I never explored the outbuildings, of which there was also a wood storage shed).

Most of the doorways were lower than a standard doorway, but none so low that I was in danger of whacking my head on them.

The newest item in the house was a pretty new combustion wood heater, this was in the dining room, and as the walls were only half height between the kitchen and the rest of the house there's a good possibility that it could heat a majority of the house in the cooler months. There were also bar heaters tucked away in an side room, should it get chilly.

The bathroom was dated, but functional. There was a bit of a smell of mould / damp, but I assumed that was just a combination of the age of the building and there being wood floors, polished at some point in their lives in a bathroom setting. Not something you usually want in a bathroom.

There were also plug in incense scent things in the kitchen and adjoining bedroom / corridor to the bathroom, me being paranoid about things plugged in and being warm I turned them off. Also the smell was somewhat overpowering.

For the two days I was there the temperature began on a 25º day and then the following day it was down to a 17º. The first night was fine, albeit a little warm, the second night however was freezing, I didn't think it warranted lighting the wood burner (although the following morning I thought very differently). I did have to go for a hunt through the house to find an extra blanket, I found a cupboard that I thought might contain blankets but it was locked (and despite the bunch of keys I had, none would open the cupboard). I did eventually find a blanket in the lounge which I laid on the bed, which provided the warmth necessary.

Kitchen wise there was a kettle, microwave and fridge, all the necessary things needed. I only made cups of tea, there was tea and sugar provided (although I now travel with my own tea bags).
There was UHT cream in the fridge, but no milk. It would have been nice for some milk to be there, but, no matter. I wouldn't have used enough milk to buy my own and wasn't concerned having it black.

One final thing, which I forgot to take a photo of, but there's a photo on the AirBnB listing. The lean-to carport looks like it won't fit a large car. But I managed to park my Ford Ranger in there no problem, I will admit when I drove it in I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit; being too high. But it fit in without any problems. I could only realistically however open one side of the car doors. I just drove in close and got everything out of the driver's side.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 3 - West Coast Wilderness Railway

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I sort of formatted my trip around doing this railway trip, because it's only run on a Thursday or Friday so I booked it first and formatted everything else around.

I actually came across the West Coast Wilderness Railway sort of by accident as I was reading up about Strahan. So while I did craft my trip a little bit so I could do the railway trip, I hadn't originally planned to Tasmania with the intention of seeing this railway.

After the previous day's 25º-30ºC day, today was pouring with rain. Which, given that it was a journey through the mountains and into the rainforest actually made it a lot more magical and mysterious.

I went on the "Queenstown Explorer" which goes from Strahan, along the length of the railway to Queenstown and then turns around and does the trip back. I also paid for the more expensive "Wilderness Carriage", which is $239 a ticket, because I figured it would be an experience, so why not do it in style.

I was, unsurprisingly one of the youngest people in the carriage.

I met three people on the train with whom I was seated; Sally, Stewart and Zoe. They were all about 30 years my senior, probably more (I'm not amazing with judging ages). Older than me.
Sally and Stewart were from Victoria and Zoe was from Launceston.
I gathered that Stewart was something of a train fan, and that this was his second time riding the Wilderness Railway.

There's few places in Australia with properly high mountains and valleys and fewer still that have a train line through them. Puffing Billy manages some gentle slopes, but it doesn't exactly climb any great inclines.

The trip to Dubbil Barril is majestic, it's a magical journey into the wilderness. With the rain pouring down around us there were clouds floating by over the river and a slight fog around the hills either side from the rain and the cooling of the landscape.

The steam train was a surprise. It was an oil powered steam train, which needed to be constantly topped up with water. Every station we stopped at up the mountain was so the steam train could be filled with more water.
It was, at the beginning of its life a coal powered steam train, but now runs on oil. It's recycled oil at that, from service stations, mechanics and other locations around Tasmania, which is then filtered and used to run the steam train. I was surprised that it was from those sources and not recycled cooking oils.
There is a commentary given by the people running the train, it's not a recorded one, and it's not constant, it's more like little stories as the train approaches the stations or passes by certain locations. It had the right air of performance, calm and a level of interestingness that the knowledge imparted remains with me.

One of the great things about the Wilderness Carriage was, that unlike the other carriages, which you couldn't open the end door, on the Wilderness Carriage you could, and therefore stand out on the end, between the carriage and the train as it went up the mountain and down into Queenstown.
On the way back to Strahan you could stand at the end of the carriage with nothing behind you, just watching the track.
This felt like a supremely great experience, being able to stand not even a metre from the train as it chuffed up the hill, especially with the rain pouring down around the train and onto the roof of the carriage threatening to soak anyone who stood outside. On the way back to Strahan it afforded a much more unique and unencumbered by the view of the train the rainforest really opens up, or closes in on the train as it chugs back up the mountain.

And the train really chugs back up, the rack and pinion system; the abt railway that allows the train to make it up the steep incline really leads to a lurching, chugging motion that made even having a cup of tea on the train an almost impossibility.
It also really slows down, to almost a brisk walking pace, you can really feel the incline and the power required to pull the carriages and the train itself up the mountain.

Another of the highlights, when the train arrived in Queenstown, was seeing it on a turntable.
I've ridden Puffing Billy many times and the Mornington/Moorooduc Preservation Railway, both of which run steam trains on their lines and neither of which have a turntable. Mornington had a turntable at one point in its life, but alas no longer.
I have also been to steam railways in the United Kingdom and seen turntables for trains in use there.
But I have never seen a turntable in Australia in use with a train and it was a thrill to see such a large piece of engineering turned around and moved by two people on the Queenstown turntable.

Musing on Queenstown, with the Wilderness Carriage package lunch is included, which you order at the start of the journey and then it's ready when you arrive in Queenstown, it's a choice of chicken with cous cous, salmon, or a vegetarian stir fry salad. I had the chicken which was fine, it was a poached chicken breast with a cream sauce and cous cous. It wasn't amazing, but it was filling enough. Had that lunch not been available though, I'm not sure how much time you would have to go into Queenstown, buy lunch and have a wander around the town. There was a tour on offer of Queenstown, but I think you'd literally have to grab a sandwich and eat and walk as you toured.
I'm not a fan of walking tours in general, I'd prefer to set my own pace and wander around. Which I did; I finished my lunch quickly and then left to wander up and down Queenstown's main street. The weather did not help the grim atmosphere of Queenstown. Queenstown has a couple of cafés, a couple of banks and a couple of shops to lease.

Returning to the train station, because it was raining and there wasn't a huge amount of excitement in Queenstown itself I was greeted by the steam train, being inside the Queenstown railway station; churning out a mixture of oil smoke and steam. It made the interior of the station take on a phantasmagoric sort of state. But also gave me an idea of what it would have felt like being inside a Victorian-era train station with steam trains billowing our coal smoke.

Riding the train back to Strahan our carriage was now the last on the end of the train, which allowed an uninterrupted view back along the track. It also seemed to intensify the motion of the abt system as the train hauled itself up the mountain. The motion was so jerky that not even a cup of tea could stay within its tea cup as we swayed and jerked up the tracks.
Without the train in front, now looking back along the track it was quite a sight, just to see the rainforest open around the end of the train.

Standing out there on the end, it was a fantastic view, without looking back you could just imagine that there was just this carriage stuck on the end of the train as it jerked and hauled itself and the weight of everything it was carrying up.
Supposedly when it was hauling minerals and the like, kids could walk / run faster than the train could move up the mountain, and watching the landscape move slowly past the train I believed them, it was moving at a slow enough rate that I think I could have kept up with it at a slightly faster than walking briskly pace.

The train had to stop at all the stations we stopped at on the through on the way back, again for water to make the steam that was hauling us around. The stops were somewhat shorter on the way back than the way through with less opportunities to go and explore, although some still attempted to explore the longer walking tracks while we were stopped.

Riding at the back of the train, and the passage back to Strahan felt less rushed and more relaxed, everyone was less eager to take photos, more willing to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Standing on the end of the carriage, there was more time to just stand out there and watch the scenery fold away from the train at the back of it.

Getting into the station at Strahan the trip and its cost was definitely worth it, it's an experience, especially in Australia you won't get anywhere else. It's a unique passage through a piece of Tasmania's history filled with little gems like eggs cooked to time with a train's whistle and milk delivered in billy cans from a rail-side dairy farm.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 2 - Western Explorer Road

January 01, 2018 in Travel

I hadn't set out exactly to see this road.
It was a sort of convenient road, which looked interesting on the map, and turned out to be one of the best things I experienced on this trip.

I had gone out to Dismal Swamp to see the Tarkine Forest Adventures, and the following day I would be going on the West Coast Wilderness Railway, so I needed to be staying in Strahan to do so.

Interestingly if you put Tarkine Forest Adventures and Strahan into Google Maps you are presented with two routes, one that is all sealed roads, highways and the like and one that isn't.
The one that isn't is an hour longer, but as I discovered is far more interesting.

Unlike other states, Google's street view car has covered a lot less of the roads in Tasmania, meaning that I had to guess the conditions of some of the roads based on satellite images and other photos I'd found around the internet, but I wasn't worried. I thought to myself; “It’s listed as a road and I have a 4x4“.

Arthur River is the last proper town until Zeehan, and Smithton I think was the last place with a proper petrol station until Zeehan as well.
Arthur River has a take away shop, that's about it in terms of shops, the rest of the town is houses or fishing shacks and other dwellings like that.
The fuel situation requires some planning, I'd filled up in Smithton as I didn't think there were many fuel options after that, but drove past the Redpa General Store on the Bass Highway which did sell fuel and there appears to be fuel at Marrawah. Neither of these shows up on a Google Maps search of this area.

The road is sealed all the way out of Arthur River along Rebecca Road. The Western Explorer Road (also known as the C249) is not sealed, well it is, in very brief sections where the gradient would make it dangerous to not be. But for the most part it's a gravel / dirt road.

The Western Explorer Road was amazing, it covered so many different environments and landscapes, and so many different elevations. It was so remote, yet there was the constant reassurance of direction. The road was almost never straight and occasionally quite challenging.

There was evidence along some part of it of the massive bushfires that occurred in Tasmania not much more than 18 months ago. Eucalypt forests that, from a distance looked petrified, like a bomb had hit them; stark white trunks against a darker landscape, but then as I approached and the road weaved through it, I could see, the eucalypts were growing again, leaves sprouting out from the trunks of the trees.

As I descended through and along the road, bigger trees sprung up, with the better availability of water; the landscape taking on an almost European feel, then much closer to rivers and sources of water it became more rainforest-like. Moss and lichen clinging to the trees, the local environment cooling as it darkened around me.

The day I drove this road it was around 25ºC to 30ºC, but it dipped down lower every time I went down into these grottos of trees and shrubs.

Barge instructions – Check for the bridge. Then panic.

Descending down, not just into these, but going and up and over and down hills in the landscape gave me pause to thank the people who designed my ute and the traction control systems that more than once kept me on the straight and narrow, safe, when I over estimated how fast I could be going around a corner.

At Corinna, at the end of the Western Explorer Road, there is a river.
There is not a bridge.
There is a barge, which you have to pay to cross, it's $25. There's not really any option either. Well, there is an option but while you still drive the Western Explorer Road, instead of heading towards Corinna instead you turn left, going a little back on yourself and adding another 100 kilometres to your trip.
The journey on the 'Fat Man Barge' is fine, it's a quirky way to travel across a river.

The rest of the road, after crossing the Pieman River is sealed, albeit with some significant pot holes near to the Pieman River.

Zeehan, when I arrived was...desolate and somewhat grim.
I did wonder, as I drove through it on a hot spring day, whether it was just a town that looks better overcast, or rainy. As on a hot sunny day, it didn't make me want to stop, it made me want to escape, perhaps just my mindset, but there was just something about the town, a grim remoteness which sunshine did not assist.

Driving into Strahan, it looked basically the same as the last time I had visited 5 years ago, although much sunnier this time around.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 2 - Tarkine Forest Adventures

January 01, 2018 in Travel

Edgewater Hotel (viewed from ferry on day 6)

I visited the Edgewater Hotel after exiting the Spirit of Tasmania with no quarantine checks by the Tasmanian authorities, at least not on my vehicle.
There had been a flyer with the tickets for a well priced breakfast at the Edgewater Hotel which was right next to the Spirit's port, so I decided with a long day's driving this would be the easiest place to go.
Breakfast was fine, well priced, nothing fantastically stellar.

I departed the port for the Spirit of Tasmania and despite my best written instructions managed to go in the wrong direction as I left East Devonport. But a quick U-turn at the first roundabout I encountered I was soon on my way in the right direction.

My destination was Tarkine Forest Adventures located in Dismal Swamp (just outside Smithton). It was my first destination because of its slide; a long slide down into the depths of the rainforest. I had seen it some years ago as a place to visit, and it had been on my list of places to visit the last time I was in Tasmania, alas it was one of the locations I didn't get to. I managed to get to Stanely last time (I saw the Nut and walked around on top of it), so didn't need to visit Stanely this time.
I had read some reviews, prior to going to Tarkine Forest Adventures, as I considered just not bothering on this trip. The reviews were all over the place, but consensus seemed to be that it was good, albeit expensive.
And I have to agree, I saw better, deeper rainforest later that day on my drive along the Western Explorer Road and later on during my trip on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
The Tarkine Forest Adventures also left me with a cut on my finger, I'm not sure if it was from grabbing the bag (in which you slide down the slide on) or cutting it on the slide itself as my bag came up short on the slide; encountering a bit of dew and condensation on the slide as I slid down.
The cut was deep enough on my finger that even 2 weeks following had yet to completely disappear, and has left a minor scar.

Tarkine Forest Adventures is a little odd, expensive and weird, especially as I arrived just as they had opened at 10 am. At this time the café wasn't staffed and there were just two guys there and older man and a younger guy.

I don't know if I could recommend this place or not, it's certainly an adventure, but it's not a very well priced one and had I not wanted to visit the Western Explorer Road I'm not sure if I'd have swung around there. While it had been on my 'to see' list, reading about it prior to going had not really made me want to see it.

Tasmania road trip 2017 - 1 - Spirit of Tasmania

January 01, 2018 in Travel

This was my second trip to Tasmania, part of my 'see the roads that connect the capital cities' travels. But it's in my mind the proper one.
I last went to Tasmania on the Spirit of Tasmania in 2012. The trip was a little fraught with issues, mostly down to timing and driving; underestimating how much bends in roads and landscape of Tasmania added to the trip along with mis-planning a few things.

On this trip I was much more organised than I was in 2012.

Boarding the Spirit of Tasmania on Tuesday afternoon in October I was more prepared, but had also forgotten some things of how the boarding progressed. The last time I'd had to open up the bonnet of my car (a Jeep Wrangler, with its rubber catches plus internal release I always forgot existed), and they searched through its meagre boot space. This time, the security / quarantine, run by Wilson Security looked in the rear windows of my ute, looked in the back tray and the boxes within which only contained a 5L container of water and some methylated spirits (this is for my Trangia, which while I didn't intend to camp I like to carry with me, just in case, like the water). Neither of which was an issue for the security.
Rounding up to the actual check in box, albeit after a long queue is the slightly odd arrangement of the check in hut. There are two lanes, which part around the checkin hut in a Y fashion. Which means if you're on the right of the hut, you must deal with the people through the left hand window.
I guess that's fine if you're travelling with someone in the passenger seat, but I unfortunately was not, and did not recall the layout of this from my last adventure across Bass Strait.
But no matter, I pulled in as close as I could and they already had my boarding pass ready.
They did warn me that there was going to be a little bit of a wait. But it wasn't much more than half an hour, maybe 40 minutes. However they had opened the gates to begin queuing up early, so I didn't see it as a massive problem.

Actually getting into the ship, to park, now that was a bit of a wait, it seemed there was some problem parking the cars, and as I was not towing anything; I was directed into the bowels of the ship, down two ramps and into a dead end. While the adverts for the Spirit of Tasmania might show people driving on and then driving off, that's only I think if you're towing something awkward like a caravan. Anyone else you're directed down into the depths of the ship into every nook and cranny that they can fit you into.
The guy that was directing the cars however, he may have looked like the oldest crew there, but he wasn't amazing at directing the cars. If he'd just said 'get your car as close to the line nearest to the wall as possible' I and I presume the people in front of me would have done so. But all the motioning of turning his hands and 'left hand down', well, it took me a moment to process what they wanted me to do. I'm sure some people are used to this sort of direction, but I was not.

In the end I was parked on Deck 2; accessible via the blue lift / stairwell. I elected to walk up the stairs. Up the 4 decks to deck 8 where the cabins were located.

Because I had a day of driving the following day planned I had elected when I booked to book a "Deluxe Cabin", which promised a better level of comfort compared to the twin porthole room or the twin/bunk internal room. The latter of which I'd booked the last time I went across to Tasmania and had watched a bottle of water placed on a table vibrate off from the vibrations of ship's engines, something which I wished to avoid on this trip. I'd booked a twin porthole room for my return as I'd have less driving to do then.

The Deluxe Cabin is quite nice; a double bed, two portholes looking out over the bow of the ship; a moderately sized bathroom, not very cramped. The room also had a TV with all the broadcast TV channels and a fridge containing two bottles of Cape Grimm water, there was also a small coffee table and two chairs. The only thing the room was lacking was a kettle.

The rumble of of the exhausts cast in majgestic light

Food on board the Spirit of Tasmania has been greatly improved over the somewhat odd Leatherwood Restaurant that was on the boat the last time I sailed. The Leatherwood Restaurant you were required to go and visit basically as soon as you got on the boat in order to make a reservation, which you could only do with a cabin number or recliner number. Which meant if you were travelling over without one of those (and just hanging out around the ship for the 9+ hour crossing) you were excluded from booking and instead had to go to the other eating facilities on board that mostly served fried food.
This has been replaced with the TMK (Tasmanian Market Kitchen), which is essentially a fancy buffet. Grab a plate, select what you want. However there's also an entree of mussels and terrine, I tried the terrine (it was a little dry). There's then a selection of salads both light green or Greek salads and heavier potato and pasta salads. There is the various fried foods which I didn't pay much attention to, moving onto the roast; lamb and some form of chicken as well. There's roast potatoes and steamed vegetables. Plus desserts.
The lamb was fantastically tender, and carved fresh.

Retiring to bed, save for having purchased a cup of tea, I had a calm night's sleep, with nothing really to interfere with my sleep during the crossing. I woke as the Spirit of Tasmania was approaching the Spirit of Tasmania's dock on the Mersey River.