A Taste of the Huon 2013

A bit of drizzle doesn't stop Tasmanians from going out and enjoying themselves. It was a foggy day at the Taste of the Huon festival yesterday with light misty rain and hardly an umbrella in sight. We ate san choy bow from the Red Velvet Lounge stall, a lamb wrap from Moots in Kahoots and bought a few other tasty bits and pieces on the way. I finally got to meet Sarah from Bag Bakery, a maker of very pretty bags and purses made from vintage fabrics. I have enjoyed her blog about Moving to Tasmania over the past few years. David had a scary potato thingy (pictured here). Best of all, we had no idea that local ska/reggae/roots band Lively Up were going to be playing, but we showed up at the right time to sit down with a Willie Smiths cider and enjoy their tunes.

The Focus is coming

The Focus on Franklin festival, that is! Yesterday David and I put up signs on the outskirts of Franklin, in the centre of town and on the Southern Outlet on the way into and out of Hobart. Turns out this is the most effective form of advertising in southern Tasmania, as almost everyone will drive past one of them. There are only two weeks to go - come on down! There will be an art exhibition (we bought two lovely screen prints last year), a bush dance on the oval at 5.30pm, the annual Apple and Salmon Race held by Rotary, cooking and history exhibitions and much more.

Bright sunshiny days

Mum and I went shopping at Salamanca Market on Saturday. It has probably been almost a year since I last went there. I bought some seeds, a new beanie, a wooden duck, berries, bread... and a bottle of gin. William McHenry, appropriately dressed in his kilt, was selling whisky, vodka and gin from his distillery over on the Tasman Peninsula near Port Arthur. He explained that his classic gin contains fresh herbs and spices like coriander and cardamon... well it tastes pretty good I must say.

The weather here in southern Tasmania has been very warm, sunny and dry this summer, and last weekend was no exception. Salamanca was packed with visitors.

On Sunday the sun continued and we drove south to Dover for lunch at Post Office 6985 and checked out the headstones outside the quaint wooden church opposite. Glorious.

Moving to the country

Recently I wondered when the seed of country living was planted in my brain. When did I decide that I wanted to live in a rural area, with plenty of space, fresh air, wildlife and silence?

I can trace much of it to going to college in Bathurst, a country town about three hours drive west of Sydney. Most students rented old Federation houses that are probably worth a fortune now. We spent weekends playing pool at the Perthville pub. Oh and in the library of course! I loved the space and the relaxed pace and the friendly, interesting people I met. The whole experience as a student in a country town was brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Before going to uni I also lived in a country town of around 5,000 people in Germany for just over a year, but I don't think that was the source of it. Back then I was still a dressed-in-black city chick through and through. I liked seeing bands and drinking beer in dingy pubs. Going out dancing. Cafes. Just walking along city pavements and window shopping. I still like all those things. But if it means crowds, queues and traffic I'm not keen on doing them often. Once or twice a year will do. By my early thirties I was a tragic Country Style magazine subscriber and David and I went on many driving holidays in country NSW and Victoria with one eye on potential new places to live.

I blame the rest of it on Enid Blyton. I loved many of her books as a child but The Children of Cherry Tree Farm series and Shadow the Sheepdog were among my favourites. Possibly just beaten by the Faraway Tree books, but well ahead of the Famous Five and Malory Towers. Recently my mum confessed that she read Shadow the Sheepdog before giving it to me for Christmas and shed a tear or two, and I don't blame her at all, on both fronts. It's a lovely book. Johnny and his pup adore each other and have all sorts of adventures and misadventures.

The Children of Cherry Tree Farm escaped dreary London (where they were all pale and sickly) to stay with their aunt and uncle in the country for the holidays. They fed lambs, got chased by a bull, drank fresh creamy milk and went to market in the pony-trap. A strange old woodsman called Tammylan befriended them and taught them about the plants and animals.They saw squirrels, weasels, badgers, hedgehogs, deer, moles and foxes in the woods. Then, their dream came true: their parents decided to move to a farm of their own, and they became The Children of Willow Tree Farm. They churned butter, fed buttermilk to the piglets, gathered sheaves of corn, fed the hens and collected the eggs. I dreamed of doing the same.

Instead of those quaint-sounding British animals, here we have pademelons, possums, bettongs, wombats, quolls and echindas. There are screeching black cockatoos, tiny fairy wrens and soaring wedge-tailed eagles. We are definitely not farmers, but we're having little adventures of our own and love our new life. Just like those kids on Willow Tree Farm.

Russell and the lovely ladies

We're down to only three hens again after one was run over in January. But soon the pullets will join them and Russell's little harem will grow. He'll be so excited he'll do even more happy dancing.

Driving to the west coast

I didn't get a chance to stop much on the drive to and from Strahan on Tasmania's west coast last week, but what I saw made me want to return with time to explore. Spectacular rugged mountains, button grass plains, lakes and rivers, hydro power stations, the bizarre barren mining area of Queenstown. Can't wait to go back and get in some bushwalks on the way.

Crackerjack

I loved that movie. This week Crackerjack came to Franklin, with barefoot bowling hosted by our local lawn bowls club. Some of the club's players patiently showed us a few techniques and then we had a few games out on the soft green. My first two games were my best and it all went downhill from there. The bar was open and snacks available. It was good fun and perfect for a sunny summer evening after work.