A wise woman lives in the deep south, close to the sea. It is said that she is blessed by the Gods and that her words are passed on from generation to generation. People from all over the world seek her knowledge.

It’s no secret, we Aussies love to drink. But it wasn’t until I committed to eight weeks of sobriety that I learnt just how deeply alcohol is embedded within our culture.

Lost Edge, a new Hobart clothing brand, has hit the streets. We caught up with founders, entrepreneurial Hobart teens Luke Harris and Hugo Allison, to chat about the launch and the mission behind Lost Edge.

Have you wandered any of the tracks of the Bicentennial Park at Mount Nelson?

On a cold, wet night after work, the last thing we felt like doing was navigating half of the mainland who had turned up for the to eat and a good craft beer to wash it down with.

It’s the time of year when the dark, low clouds in the evening look less ominous and looming, instead sparking hope and excitement. Will it snow? Will it be low enough? Can we go skiing?!

From humble northern suburb beginnings to on stage in the renowned First Nations musical, The Sunshine Club, Naarah has taken the Australian performing arts world by storm.

Running a marathon is one thing, however running the distance of two Mount Everest climbs in a single week is another thing! We caught up with ultra-marathon runner and founder of Run for Mental Health, Ben Hirst, to speak about his upcoming Double Everest Challenge.

Hobart Happenings June 2023

It’s mushroom season! But at a time when Instagram feeds are full of foraged slippery jacks and saffron milk caps, there’s a grower on the outskirts of Hobart who’s found a unique environment for producing mushrooms all year round.

He didn’t pack much. It was only a short hike. Two burritos, some chocolate, and a few bottles of water. But caught under the weight of a 350kg boulder that had dislodged and trapped him for 5 days, the flesh of his right arm began to rot. Oscillating between delirium and death, Aron Ralston recorded goodbye videos to his family and friends and carved his name on the sandstone wall of the canyon.

It’s the age-old debate, are artificial sweeteners even good for us? Hold onto your hat, I’m about to take you through the rollercoaster of confusing evidence that exists around the safety and efficacy of their use as a sugar alternative.

Around this time every year, I try and think about where to take mum for her birthday. It’s cold, it’s wet and it’s usually gloomy, but I’m always determined to get her out of the house, even for just a few hours. And while I sit and rack my brain for somewhere new to take her, an old faithful always pops up and to this day, continues to always put a smile on my mum’s face.

Nothing beats Kingston Beach for an interesting stroll. We walked along Osborne Esplanade on a sunny day when the river views sparkled, the water and the sky merged into a blue shimmer.

Sometimes you just want to grab and go – and a near-perfect form for a quick lunch has to be a roll. This month we explored some CBD options for a speedy feed, in roll form.

With a Tasmanian AFL team the topic of the moment, we spoke to Sophia Bellears from the North Hobart Football Club about the club’s history, equality and how they are creating a strong future for local womens footy.

In late 2020 during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we were all living and working from home, going slightly crazy isolating from each other and the world, something exciting happened: a friend alerted me to a Tasmanian online auction that was about to take place.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

His work life revolves around cars, but Audi Service Manager Ken Kerr loves nothing more than family time and Playstation in his downtime.

After a jam-packed last few years performing with Second Echo Ensemble, we found out what’s next for artist, performer and Dance Movement Psychotherapist Eri Mullooly-Hill Konishi.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

Hobart Happenings May 2023

A lot can happen in five years. Fire, flood, pandemic, border closures and a whole lot of resilience building! During that time, we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing some of Hobart’s most fascinating people – from sports and screen stars, to adventurers, creatives, business leaders and those agitating for social change.

Easter Monday was the perfect day for a relaxing walk along the New Town Rivulet Track to Wellington Park.

On the banks of the Coal River just outside of Richmond, Phil and Jane Dening, daughter Sophie and son-in-law Brad Milic have been busy harvesting this year’s crop of walnuts.

For the first month after giving birth, women from some Eastern cultures undertake a practice that has been honoured for thousands of years.

What is the life behind a painting? This is a question I have always asked myself whenever I look upon the masterful
brushstrokes of the snowy Dutch homestead mounted on my living room wall.

Catherine Owens arrived in Van Diemen’s Land on the Lady of the Lake, after departing London on 12 June 1829. She had been convicted several times before being transported. Her convict record describes Catherine as having a violent disposition, in addition to being a single housemaid with a ‘dark complexion’ who could read and write (a rarity for lower‑class women at the time). She was sentenced to fourteen years for receiving stolen spoons.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

By the time Saturday rolls around, the last thing I feel like doing is making lunch.

When I was thinking of a rejuvenating weekend getaway for our ten-year wedding anniversary recently, wandering through fields searching for fluffy, longhorned cows wasn’t what I had in mind. But as it turns out, that’s exactly what we needed. Nestled on a mountain top in Tassie’s central highlands is the tiny town of Tarraleah; the place that stole our hearts.

Whether we’re personally impacted by homelessness or not, there’s no denying it’s clearly an issue that is getting worse in Hobart. We caught up with Dr Charlie Burton, Acting CEO of the Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS), to see what he thought could be done.

This mother and daughter singing trio are set to appear in the upcoming production, Women of Troy.

Tasmanians are known for their love of the humble spud, and this year at Springdale Farm they are embracing the rainbow.

The Legacy Centenary Torch Relay is a six-month campaign to pay homage to and acknowledge veterans’ families, saluting their sacrifice. Legacy has its roots in a battlefield promise, from the trenches in Pozieres, on the Western Front in World War I. A promise from a soldier to his dying mate to “look after the missus and the kids” is one that has been revered since the first Legacy Club was established.

If you’ve read media reports lately, there seems to be a rise in youth crime, particularly youth knife crime, in Hobart right now. We spoke to David Higgins, CEO of Crimestoppers for his take on the current situation.

Hobart Happenings March 2023

Landscape artist and creative Elliott Nimmo is enjoying discovering Hobart’s vibrant art scene and local environment after relocating here from London to pursue his art.

Plutarch, the ancient Greek Scholar, tells the story of a battle between the Persians and Medes.

If a friend came to you in the woes of a mental health slump asking for advice on how to manage it, what would you tell them?

As principal solicitor with Tenants Union of Tasmania, Ben Bartl works closely with people living with housing stress. The Union, supported by 12 local community organisations, is calling on the Tasmanian government to maximise the use of existing residential premises in inner-city municipalities to help address the current shortage of appropriate and affordable housing.

In World War Two, young Australians were fighting in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Families with sons serving overseas waited for news, dreading the arrival of a telegram that meant the worst news. In 1942 and 1943, after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, many feared Australia was in imminent danger of invasion. This fear was heightened when a Japanese submarine launched seaplane flew a reconnaissance mission over the Hobart area in March 1942.

As a lover of char kway teow, the smoky and savoury rice noodle dish from Malaysia, I’m always keen to try new places that serve it.

Since the Spirit of Tasmania terminal moved from Melbourne to Geelong late last year, a visit to Geelong has been on the radar.

Tasmania’s award-winning performance company Second Echo Ensemble (SEE) premieres a show this month, called The BEAUTY Project. Led by Elise Romaszko in her directorial debut, The BEAUTY Project is a pop-up catwalk performance that asks, ‘what is normal?’, ‘what is beautiful?’ Dedicated to reflecting the diverse world we live in, The BEAUTY Project celebrates difference, champions equity, and confronts our assumptions.

When you hear the words “Roller Derby” you most likely think of the 2009 hit film starring Elliot Page and Drew Barrymore, Whip It and the Hollywood portrayal of Roller Derby – fishnet tights, badass women on skates doing dangerous stunts and a lot of violence. The reality of Roller Derby is something completely different. Sure, it’s fast-paced and some say that it resembles “rugby on skates without the ball”, but the rules of contact in Roller Derby are strict, with seven referees on skates needed to ensure rules are followed.

Dr Frances Donaldson is the Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year for 2023, after a rewarding 64 years of working in the Tasmanian healthcare system. From a junior nurse to studying medicine, 12 years in prison health and now leading the COVID@home service, those scrubs aren’t getting hung up anytime soon.

Jeff Vaughan has bounced between state and national level cricket coaching in the past couple of years but as of April, his stumps were firmly in Tasmanian soil for the foreseeable future.

Claire is a self taught crochet artist, creating super cute cacti that she sells around Hobart.

While physical trauma presents a tangible effect on the body, mental trauma is a harder to observe. In a worldwide first the effect of trauma on the brain is being tracked by seven Tasmanian researchers from the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre in a statewide population study. With a focus on which trauma exposures (such as bushfires and lockdowns) may lead to increased risk of a dementia diagnosis, The Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND) Project is hoping to unearth how Tasmanians and the world can build a resilience to a dementia diag­nosis. We spoke to PHD candidate James Brady about the work.

Dr Sharon Campbell is one of the researchers of the ISLAND Project with an area of interest being the effect of smoke on the brain.

The recent appointment of Donna Adams as Tasmania’s first female police com­missioner is testimony to our progressive maturity towards gender equality in high levels of governance.

There’s a scene from a movie in which a woman is crying in the back of a taxi. The character has just realised that she means nothing to the man she thought she loved. The driver notices her tears and begins telling her about his life in India. He encourages her to try a helpful practice. Not in the mood to engage, she reluctantly asks what it is. He answers,

Hobart Happenings December 2022

On a recent trip to Sydney we decided to tack a few extra days on and explore the Blue Mountains. It had been a while between visits and we were surprised to find a whole host of new, creative busi­nesses and experiences to enjoy.

Fine dining is an experience, not just an outing. A dance between professionals to deliver a theatre show of food, wine and service.

One of my favorite walks is the Clarence Coastal Trail from Roches Beach to Seven Mile Beach. This gentle walk, just a little over three kilometres each way, follows the coastline at the base of undulating hills. The views of distant coastlines, sea and sky uplift the spirits. The sky seems bigger, the colours more intense as we walk by the sea.

For some people, the idea of a ‘do-over’ on January 1 is useful. But for the rest of us, New Year’s Resolutions are just another way to set ourselves up for disappointment.

In rain, hail and sunshine, for fifty years Salamanca Market has been an beacon for visitors and locals every Saturday.

After seven years in Melbourne, nurse Elysia has returned to open her own cosmetic and skin practice.

Young Hobart AFL defender Tom McCallum was recently drafted to play with Port Adelaide Football Club and is looking forward to new sights as he moves away from his beloved Tasmanian AFL team mates, friends and family.

Hobart Happenings January 2023

The feeling can be crushing. That sudden, stinging sadness that engulfs your heart and reverberates through your chest to the pit of your stomach.

Worker shortage is currently universal, there isn’t an industry that’s exempt. For Kelvin Smith, four years ago he decided there was a very obvious solution to the shortage facing the construction industry, and all that was needed was a little time, empathy and a helping hand. Integrate Workforce is a Hobart-based labour company with one requirement: a refugee/ migrant background. He’s also the outdoor piano man in his free time.

Clinical psychologist Dr David Bakker suggests how parents can support their kids through the challenging teenage years (and it’s not by fixing their problems).

23-year-old Hobart musician Kat Edwards may have been born in the back of a car in Canberra, but she quickly came to know Hobart as home. Whilst her music career has taken her off the island to Melbourne for now, she’s stoked to be coming home this summer.

The Clarence Jazz Festival is back in February – a celebration of music, arts and food on the Eastern Shore. A jam-packed five day itinerary will move throughout different locations from Risdon Cove through to Kangaroo Bay, brimming with local food vendors and a collection of local and world class musi­cians. Festival Director, Stevie McEntree has been working on bringing a diverse (and mostly Tasmanian!) musical line-up to Clarence.

Anchored in a stretch of no man’s land between us and Victoria, King Island is an uber relaxed, grassy island, equally hugged and battered by its surrounding oceans. More of a fishing-like village than a commercial tourist hotspot, a recent four day trip was spent a little slower than anticipated, but like its wallaby and crayfish population, widely welcomed by all.

Have you ever looked up toward the mountain and noticed big white writing on the hill at South Hobart? Dating back to 1905, the sign was a new, fandangle marketing tool for Keen’s Curry, the iconic flavouring that started right here in Hobart. We spoke with researcher Freida Moran to get the fully spicy story.

There’s a list running in our heads of the perfect venue to take visitors or for a fun lunch out with friends – it needs to be within a half hour or so drive of Hobart, boast a nice outdoor area where kids can get away from the table and entertain themselves, good food and great (Tassie-centric) drinks list, and a kids menu. Read on, we think we may have just found it.

A lot can happen in eighteen months. Josh Gourlay became one of 53 Australians diagnosed with blood cancer last year, but thankfully one who can say it’s been and gone, and the other side is looking far sunnier.

Since 1946, a secret society of Hobart film lovers meets to watch films and chat all things movies. From humble beginnings, the society grew to a huge supporter base of almost 2000 film buffs. For a few reasons – including Covid – numbers are a little less than that now, but they’re looking to build again.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

Check out these awesome events going on around Hobart this month, or make a weekend of it and travel a little further afield.

The Pharmacy profession has been the frontline of the pandemic response and Bellerive Quay Pharmacy’s Claire Sutton has also Jaced some extra challenges in the past year.

Sam is one member of Hobart band, Verticoli, who launch a new album this month. He’ also a doctor and the self-proclaimed nagger of the band!

Hobart Happenings November 2022

David Boon is one of Tasmania’ best ever cricketers and was recently named the new chair of Cricket Tasmania, a role he is taking on with enthusiasm. A family man, he 8 reveling in being a grandparent and getting out in the garden and golf course.

Boundless Earth, the philanthropic venture backed by Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes has invested $10 million in Tasmanian business, The Good Car Company, Australia’s largest importer of second-hand EVs

As a hairdresser for over 30 years and owner of her own salon, you can bet Ally Nischler has had many different conversations over the years with a broad range of clients. It wasn’t until this year that she recognised how feeling invisible, ignored and undervalued was so common in her mature clients. So she decided to do something about it.

Like most genius ideas, seaweed scientist Jock White and a builder/surfboard shaper Tom Gauden came up with their soon to be launched brand, Great Southern Designs over a beer.

It was a wet night as we rolled into Launceston for a weekend of family fun and a soccer tournament.

Whether you’ve conveniently forgotten to pack that soggy sandwich for lunch, or need a quick bite on the way to the next errand, there are endless options in Hobart for a substantial snack or light lunch in a hurry. This list is by no means comprehensive, so let us know where your favourite snacks are.

Wilderness guide Piotr Babis is about to embark on a week of running…if that doesn’t sound newsworthy, then read on. He completing one Tassie multi day walk each day, for seven days!

The gut microbiome is such a fascinating topic. So much has happened in this area in recent years: improved technology for testing the gut microbiome, an explosion of research, books written, and podcasts released.

As Remembrance Day approaches on 11 November a number of Tasmanians will be again reflecting on their unique service.

Mountain biker Tom Cheesman is set to compete in his first world championships this month in Les Gets, France, and gave us the lowdown on this awesome step in his career before he left.

Recently lured to Hobart by the Tasmanian Tigers, Elyse Villani is a talented new cricket local, bringing strong hope for a win this upcoming WBBL season.

With a job description of “getting paid to talk” you may have heard Jane Longhurst’s voice on the stage, the airways, the screen and even on hold.

Hobart Happenings August 2022

A passionate blacksmith, artist and sculptor by trade, Pete Mattila uses inno­vative methods to breathe new life into an age-old artform. His custom architectural and sculptural metal work is sought after for public and private commissions.

Every year in every country 13 August is dedicated to raising awareness about signing up as an organ donor. In 2021, 1,174 Aussie lives were saved through organ transplants from the generosity of 421 deceased organ donors and their families. We spoke to Medical Director for DonateLife Tasmania, Andrew Turner about the donation process locally for Tasmanians.

In our first ever interview with a dog we chatted/barked with Ambassadog from the Dogs Home of Tasmania, Sir Tater- Tot. He shares all the wonderful things that have happened to him since being adopted from the shelter. Tater’s interview was help along by mum Michelle Jones, Behaviour Trainer/Vet Nurse at Dogs’ Homes of Tasmania ahead of International Dog Day on 26 August.

How many personal care products do you use? Do you know what’s in them? A long list of unpronounceable ingredients? What are they really doing to your skin, your health, and the environment?

Cultura is right near our office and conveniently close to pop in for their $10 lunchtime takeaway pasta special. The gorgonzola orecchiette is a team favourite! Chef’s kiss. But after saying many times, ‘let’s sit in here for lunch one day’, it was only recently that we finally did.

With a four-day gap in both mine and my good friend’s calendar, it seemed like a sign from above to shoot over to South Australia for a long weekend.

Five years ago, I walked from Hobart to Launceston. I was aching. My mum had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and I felt compelled to do something to heal the years of witness­ing her decline. My friend Lee thought I was crazy but I knew she believed in me. No matter the weather (and it sure was cold as it was the middle of winter!), she checked in on me daily, sending me messages to see if I was okay. One evening, perhaps sensing my exhaustion, she made the drive from Hobart to Ross and back just to have dinner with me . . . and bring a pair of fresh, dry socks.

Since its inception in 2018, Aaron Benham has been a co-convenor and general volunteer at the Repair Café in New Town. Visitors can bring broken items from their home and with the assis­tance of volunteers, learn how to repair items that would have otherwise been discarded.

You may be well acquainted with stories of prisoners being shipped to Van Diemen’s Land to carry out their sentences as convicts. But what is perhaps often overlooked in our colonial history is the story of what became of the direct descendants of convicts.