As executive chef of The Deck and core restaurant and bar, John Churchill believes sustainability starts with teaching apprentices well.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in August.

For all of us 2020 was a year like no other, punctuated by rapid change and plenty of new challenges. For vulnerable people in Tasmania, including people facing homelessness, those on low incomes and those facing increasingly higher rents, it was very challenging. We are seeing a growing demand for homes in Tassie from international travellers returning home, people moving for work and others seeking the lifestyle that our Apple Isle has to offer.

The half-day walk to Crescent Beach in the Tasman National Park offers so much- including epic sand dunes for surfing and incredible views.

You’ve heard it before, and we’ll say it again, Tasmanian produce is amazing. And winter is the perfect time to get out and eat it all. Explore the markets, head straight to the farm gates or expand your cooking skills across the island.

Sometimes you just want to enjoy eating something comforting. No fancy foams or trends, but just good, tasty fare.

How to genuinely celebrate other people’s wins.

Local writer and entrepreneur Alice Hansen built The Pod at Lewisham, her love letter to Tasmania. It has been named as Australia’s most wishlisted property on Airbnb.

The borders were declared shut in Tasmania on the 30th of March, 2020; the first stare to do so amid the COVID- 19 pandemic and hard lockdown of Hobart followed.

Luckily, Franzi Eichler uses her full-beast-mode only for the forces of good.

Ouse (pronounced Ooze, for the newcomers) in Tasmania’s central highlands might, to some, seem a sleepy hamlet, but it still boasts one of two schools in the municipality and a very well serviced health centre.

Sarah Andrews has built a small empire out of a humble Strahan shack, then creating her own styling school to help others do the same. She spoke with Sarah Aitken about her self-made successes and her love of Tasmania.

From Smithton to Netflix and the Emmys stage, Tasmanian stand up comic Hannah Gadsby has forged an unlikely path. Following on from the massive success of her shows Nanette and Douglas, Hannah brings her new show Body of Work to Hobart this month.

Tasmania’s poster boy for the tree-change, Matthew Evans of Fat Pig Farm, has released a brand new book all about dirt. It’s called Soil and it’s a fascinating delve into the history and future of this precious yet much-ignored resource. He told Sarah Aitken all about his love for the ground beneath his feet…even if it is currently sodden.

Tasmania’s brand as a foodie haven is cemented. But within the local hospitality industry there are those who love to use local produce…and those who are next-level obsessed with it. We spoke to a bunch of Hobart chefs who are top of the game when it comes to fostering relationships with local farmers and growers.

With the Sorell Municipality recently commemorating their bicentenary, one can reflect on how it has evolved from a largely remote rural outcrop, to an important south east town and road junction to our East Coast or Tasman Peninsula.

“Seventeen men were at work in the blacksmiths’ shop… furnished with all necessary implements. The furnace is capable of casting five tons weight of iron in one piece…Forty-nine men were employed at shoemaking in a shop 80 feet long by 30 feet broad. Shoes are made for the officers, military and men… Twenty-six carpenters were at work in a large shop, making various articles, and house-work for the station.”

A Holyman flagged ship hasn’t steamed up the River Derwent since 1984 but the company’s name still proudly adorns its former offices at 5 Morrison Street, Hobart.

I was 19 when my dad died. After some months passed, I put on a CD he had made and hearing his voice again, I fell apart. The sound of him singing did something to me and to this day, when I play his songs, it creates an experience more powerful than looking at pictures of his face.

Gillian English is Hobart comedian, currently preparing for her national tour, Buy the Cow, which kicks off in August.

“Annia, I’ve lost my motivation.” Go on, I say listening intently. “Well, I feel as though I once had oomph, more get up and go, you know? These days, everything feels as though it’s too much effort. And what’s worse is that I know what I should be doing to get out of this funk, but I can’t find the motivation to do it. Inevitably, I end up procrastinating further, which robs me of any motivation I may have had left in the first place! And so the cycle goes.”

As the principal of Guilford Young College, Craig Deayton finds joy in helping young Tasmanians achieve their dreams…and a good cycle after work.

As a native New Yorker, scientist Margo Adler has found her feet, and heart, in Hobart.

We know that staying indoors with the family isn’t always fun. And while it’s obviously cold outside, you’re only a puffer jacket and beanie away from being comfortable and ready to explore. There’s lots of family fun to be had in all sorts of weird and wonderful places across the state these school holidays.

Nepalese food is a comfort in our house. Having spent much time trekking and mountain climbing in Nepal as a younger man, Nepalese food is something I always love to go back to.

A simple cave provided the perfect hideout for one of Tasmania’s most brutal bushrangers – and you can easily walk to it from Fern Tree. Sarah Aitken went in search of the story of Rocky Whelan.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in July.

Robert Clifford is the founder of Incat, a Hobart company building fast ferries for the world. Always looking to future opportunities, he has identified where Hobart sits in the next wave of transportation. For more of this interview listen to The Hobart Magazine podcast.

Ocean swimming in a Tasmanian winter is not for the faint-hearted. Yet there are a growing number of us doing it – sparked in part by pool closures during last year’s Covid restrictions.

Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Caleb Nichols-Mansell has had a huge first half of the year. In March, he opened Tasmania’s first dedicated palawa arts and cultural hub – Blackspace Creative in pataway/Burnie.

If you’re exploring the Mallee region in Northern Victoria, Lake Boga is worthy of a visit. It’s a 9.4 square kilometre fresh water endorheic lake, adjacent to a town of the same name, 325 kilo­metres north west of Melbourne or 142 kilometres from Echuca via the Murray Valley Highway, and a popular recreational locale for all things water sport.

This month, with Dark Mofo on and interstate visitors wander­ing the streets, it might not seem so quiet, but now is the time to mark some events and weekends in your calendar to keep you going through the rest of the ‘off season’.

After initial postponement due to wild weather, the sun is shining and the aerial views unsurpassable when we finally depart from Cambridge airport near Hobart, with Par-Avion.

Jay Chapman’s own journey through a cancer diagnosis and treatment was the catalyst for her to start Homely Retreats. It’s a growing Hobart not-for-profit providing a much needed service that fills a gap in respite services available to cancer patients and their families.

At the special Q&A launch screening of The Truffle Hunters documentary recently at Hobart’s State Cinema, welcome memories of truffle hunts flooded back.

Tasmanian author and psychologist Steve Biddulph has sold over three million books and is now celebrating the release of his latest book, Fully Human, a distil­lation of his 40 years as a therapist.

Stephanie Jack is a true triple threat in the performance world, returning to Hobart after living in Shanghai when COVID hit.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in June.

When I was younger, the things I looked for in a pub were somewhere with a comfy bar stool, cheap drinks, a social crowd and a few hot chips. As I’ve aged (hopefully gracefully), my pub ‘wishlist’ has too.

If you took a stroll through Salamanca at the turn of the 19th century, you would have been greeted with the putrid smell of chunks of whale blubber, rendered down in cast-iron pots called try-pots; a far cry from the modern cocktail scene today.

But it was those gruesome sights that shaped the city – because Hobart was built on a whale’s back. While Hobart’s whaling history may go back to the time of the first European settlement, it was around the 1840s to 1880s that the industry entered what historians say was a golden age. And a warning, gruesome tales ahead.

Sophie Ambler took matters into her own hands when COVID hit, eventually starting The Shitshow to help fellow performers get back on stage and make something of the horrible year.

Delving into the inspiration, influence and individuals behind some of Hobart’s happening businesses with a social bent.

I nearly called my son Franklin. It was high up on my names list. I’ve always like the look of the word. The way it sounds. And while he ended up Francis (he’s Frankie for short), Franklin is still on my mind.

Imagine getting everything you ever wanted, anytime you wanted it – instantly. How amazing would that be? Keen on a successful career? No need to climb the ladder, you’re handed the keys to the executive office. A desire to travel the world again? “Welcome aboard.” Suddenly you’re greeted at the terminal with a glass of champagne. Seeking the man or woman of your dreams? Well don’t you worry, they’re waiting for you right behind door number one. House, car, money, possessions, weight loss, entertainment? Whatever you want, it’s yours the moment you want it. No need to work for it. No need to try. Your reward is more instant than downloading an app.

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) has recently opened an exciting new gallery space for children. Stephanie Williams had a chat with Andy Baird, Deputy Director, Engagement, to get the lowdown on the project.

Bird watching not quite your thing? Maybe it’s time to go rock spot­ting. Started in 2017, TasRocks is a state-wide game that allows people to hide-and-seek painted rocks in their local communities and has grown to be a social media phenomenon across the country. To participate, paint your rocks (no glass or ceramics) however you like, but keep the local wildlife in mind, so no string or pipe-clean­ers, and hide them for others to find. How do you know you’ve found a Tas Rocks’ rock? Look on the underside of the rock for the group’s Facebook details. If you’re keen to participate, you’ll want to jump onto their Face­book page, Tas Rocks Group, to get the full low-down on how to decorate, drop, search and share your rock-hunt­ing adventures.

Keen on our geological, botanical or marine biological environ­ment, and are confident of tackling a moderately steep incline on foot? Then the Fossil Cove Conservation Area, just off the Tinderbox Road, and about three and a half kilometres south of Blackmans Bay, is worthy of a look.

You don’t need a psychologist to tell you that your nervous system is one of the most extraordinarily complex, sensitive, and intelligent structures in the Universe.

Our colonial history is a common motive for exploring our many regions. One Victorian town so committed to the special theme of the colonial river trade is Echuca.

When Mo Abdah, then a member of the Syrian Army, met Yaz Mohamad, a make up artist from Hobart on Facebook, neither knew they were talking to someone on the other side of the world. It was through a series of chance moments, that their lives became entwined.

It’s the Autumn of 2019. I’m sauntering happily into my kitchen until something catches in the corner of my eye. I stop abruptly and freeze. I am locking eyes with an audacious mouse on my stovetop. Caught mid-munch, my new housemate stares back. The mouse was the braver of us both, and made the first move, scampering at great speed under my kitchen fridge. It didn’t take long for me to realise that this mouse had brought its family and friends along to an extended, all-you-can-eat holiday at my place.

Hey parents! Happy first anniversary of sending the kids back to school after Covid-induced home-learning! Did you, like many, rejoice when the school gates reopened in May last year? Or did you consider ongoing homeschool? Sarah Aitken meets a family who never got the school uniforms back out.

Meriem is a registered nurse with a passion for running. This May, she’s using her running to raise money for children living with serious illnesses in Tasmania.

Richard Flanagan is angry. He’s angry and he’s sad, and that anger and sadness emanates from every single page of his latest release, Toxic: The Rot­ting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry.

Moving to Hobart from Brisbane almost two-and-a-half years ago, I’d heard this town served up some great food. I knew there were wine bars hidden around a sandstone corner, or I could pick locally caught seafood at tuck in while watching the boats at Constitution Dock.

Some might say you’re not really Tasmanian until you’ve seen a ute stockpiled with illegally caught firewood.

Our editor Steph sat down with farmer Stephanie Trethewey for the latest episode of The Hobart Magazine Podcast. Stepha­nie is a co-founder of the Tasmanian Agri­cultural Company, a regenerative food brand on a mission to produce carbon positive beef through its farming practic­es. She’s also the host of the Motherland Australia podcast and a journalist.

Drenched in euphoric excitement of being in my adopted country I began afresh my journey of finding me some mates.

With various interstate trips vanishing before her eyes thanks to covid-induced border closures, Sarah Aitken booked herself in to hike the world-class Three Capes Track within the Tasman National Park on the Tasman Peninsula. Her legs are still recovering.

Dan Watkins is one to watch. Bursting onto the senior scene only two years ago, the 25 year old is only just getting started, in a sport that values a bit of age under the belt.

Ron Hastie started his working career as a bricklayer, only to find nursing and then midwifery later in his career. He now runs a special program to ease new Dads into parenthood.

Ironman Matt Bevilacqua added an extra special award to his trophy cabinet recently, becoming the Australian Board Race champion for the first time, despite being the world champ in the event five times over!

Natalie Venettacci is an actor and teacher who is about to direct her first play.

Melody Towns is the founder of Be Hers, an organisation that’s working to end slavery and exploitation. She also started the Be Hers Sewing Centre, providing jobs to Hobart women in need.

If you’ve ever driven up toward kunanyi/Mt Wellington from Hobart via Huon Road, you’ll have seen the iconic independent service station, Skyline.

Bruny Island’s Lizzie Stokely has just been invited to compete at the world’s most extreme surfing event, the Red Bull Cape Fear at Shipstern Bluff. She sat down to chat with Sarah Aitken about preparing for the big wave comp, which could be held anytime from now until 15 August 2021, on just 48 hours notice.

Blair Ashwood is a professional dancer and dance teacher from Bellerive.