Focus on Franklin 2012

On Saturday morning we woke early to the sound of pouring rain, not ideal for the annual riverside Focus on Franklin festival. David went down to help set up signs, chairs and so on. Luckily it cleared to a typical Tasmanian day, with alternating periods of sun, rain, sun, rain, sun and by late afternoon the rain had gone.

This year's event was combined with the Rotary Club of Huon Valley's annual Apple and Salmon Race. I won't describe what that involves here, but if you're curious you can read my post about last year's races. This year we were also treated to demonstrations by the Tasmanian Light Horse group dressed in authentic uniforms as they re-enacted battle charges and showed off their horsemanship and bayonet skills.

The axemen could be seen in action outside the Lady Franklin pub, and there were dragon boats on the river. On the oval, there was a good range of food and wine stalls. For lunch we chose a delicious goat curry from Boer goat breeders and goat meat producers here in Franklin, Kellie and Jim. The woman in front of me in the queue turned out to be from the local IGA supermarket and asked if she could stock their goat meat and curries. Very cool. We took the dogs down with us and they happily received plenty of pats from the kids.

The Masonic Lodge featured an exhibition of local art, and we bought two beautiful screen prints by Woodstock artist Fern Halliday to hang on the dark painted wall in our bathroom.

The 'Apple Delights' cooking competition again brought out the highly competitive nature of Franklin locals, with several friends taking out prizes: Peta won the apple teacake division, Martin had the best the apple teacake cooked by a man (I love that category - the days when men had any handicap in the kitchen seem long gone) and Rod cleaned up with his apple cider. The room downstairs in the Palais smelled heavenly.