Registered Wildlife Carer Amanda Sparkles, of Howrah, has been rescuing animals from storm water drains over summer, and is demanding councils cover the ends of the drains with grates to stop it happening.

There is a definite sense of gloom in the air when the snow starts to fall on kunanyi. The daily temps barely make it into double digits and we find ourselves opting for the couch rather than the great outdoors.

The role of a Justice of the Peace (JP) has existed since 1195 when King Richard 1 created the role of “keepers of the peace”.

Whether gullible, sceptical or somewhere in between, reported UFO sightings have long been a fascination. The well worn cliche ‘we are not alone’ still prompts the odd mention.

Whether it’s accessing resources, locating a dad-friendly changeroom or con­necting socially, TasDads was created by co-founders and dad-ministrators, Anthony, Brennan and Sam to give expect­ing, new or seasoned dads a platform to talk about the messy and challenging journey of fatherhood. We caught up with TasDads and spoke all things parenting.

Every Friday (give or take a week here and there) for the past six years, a group of Tassie Nannas can be found at the Elizabeth Street Mall, knitting, selling their craft, and raising aware­ness for refugees held on Australian soil indefinitely.

In November’s magazine we reported on the new MONA x Brighton Council x Centacare community development at Cris Fitzpatrick Park in Gagebrook. We’ve since spoken to the ever-effervescent Kirsha Kaechele, 24 Carrot Gardens project founder and leader of Mona’s community projects, about what it means for Mona’s place in the northern suburbs.

Our day begins with a circle and a small fire. The kids, aged between six weeks and five years, are decked out in bright cloth­ing, earthy knits and colourful gumboots, ready for today’s adventure, their adults in tow.

Magali Wright leads a team of dedicated volunteers in saving the waterways of the Tyenna River and Derwent Estuary from an introduced species, the willow tree.

Georgie was missing for three years, but Hannah always knew she’d come back.

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

“kunanyi / Mount Wellington”. For most Hobartians, this dual place name is in common parlance and rolls off the tongue in such an easy and familiar way that it seems almost surprising to remind ourselves that it was officially gazetted as an Aboriginal dual place name by the Tasmanian government only in 2014.

If you’re consuming Australian and Tasmanian media, it may feel like there are more and more significant road traumas being reported where illegal drugs, such as ice, feature heavily. Here in Tassie alone we’ve seen some horror crashes reported recently.

Lasagna Love started at the beginning of the pandemic by a mum (Rhiannon) in the USA. She began making meals and delivering them to community members who were struggling with the challenges the pandemic bought. This inspired her friends and other community members to do the same and the movement spread from there. Now Hobart woman Stacy Klousia has brought the concept to Australia and is sharing the love locally, while expanding across Australia.

I’m one of Tassie’s newest beekeepers – having recently taken responsibility for a hive on our suburban Hobart block.

Tasmania has the lowest literacy rate in Australia, which presents a range of social issues. Emma Sells is an accountant in Hobart and volunteers with Connect 42, an organisation helping to increase literacy levels among Tasmania’s prison population and disadvantaged communities. She’s the treasurer on the board, as well as an active volunteer in our prisons.

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

The We ARE Enough Art Project is centred on telling women’s stories.

The inquisitive noses of Biosecurity Tasmania’s (BT) detector dogs at Tasmania’s airports and seaports continue to sniff out restricted goods hidden away in luggage, despite the reduced number of incoming flights in recent times.

In 1962, archaeologists removed slabs of rock featuring ancient Aboriginal petroglyphs from Preminghana, on the north west coast, and took them to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The enormous cultural artefacts were finally due to be returned to Country in March this year, but they’re still not home, nor are countless other examples of Aboriginal cultural material and, sadly, many Ancestors’ remains.

The first time I saw a white tailed spider I was in my late twenties living in Melbourne, I thought they looked mean. How was I to know their bites caused necrotic ulcers?

“Yup, that’s all of it”, the woman standing in front of me says as she drops her two overflowing bags, clearly having stuffed them hurriedly. She has just managed to flee from her wealthy, controlling husband of eight years, who earnt the majority of the household income. She cared for his children and has “nothing to show for her efforts” until matters are finalised in slow and arduous court proceedings.

Everyone loves ducks, but how many people know what a “duck” actually is? In Tasmania, we have 11 species of native ducks, either full time residents or occasional visitors. Sadly for our ducks, they’re not as famous as a lot of our other native birds. A recent Victorian study found that only 1 in 6 Victorians can name a single native duck species, and Tasmanians, I imagine ,wouldn’t fare much better. The image of a local duck that you have in your head right now might not even be an Australian duck!

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

What do you get when you combine a Hobart librarian, an illegal sex videogame and literacy project? Ruairi Murphy explains his new book, which does more than tell a cool story, it helps those struggling with literacy.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Everyone loves a road trip right? Get out of Hobart for the weekend explore what lies beyond the city. Spring Bay Mill, at Triabunna, was once home to the world’s largest wood chip mill.

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them,” so said Eyeore.

Grant Wise knows more about the Ansair Kingston bus factory in Kingston than most people.

Steven Burgess is a director of Complete Streets, an Australian owned firm dedicated to building happier and healthier towns and cities through better street making.

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

We have a rich history in Tasmania. From the 1840s, photographers started documenting Van Diemen’s Land.

For fashion designer Victoria Bliss, the opportunity to recently dress Australian of the Year Grace Tame came from a place of respect and emotion. Her new debut collection gives a nod to her Hobart childhood and her current hometown, Melbourne.

Take a look inside this family home that was once part of networks of buildings used to communicate with ships more than 150 years ago.

Agnes Frith opened the Golden Wattle Cafe to give people with dementia and their caregivers a safe and non-judgemental space where they can socialise and interact with each other and members of the community in a relaxed environment. Here she shares her story.

Before Ned Kelly cut a blazing trail through Australia’s collective imaginations, Tasmania had its own dashing bushranger who captured the hearts, and inevitably, material possessions of its populace.

‘We’re reclaiming a space that was full of hatred, a place of oppression’:how drag queen bingo is delighting Hobart audiences.

What would you buy from a tip shop? While Hobart is working hard to reduce its waste, we can still do more to cut down.

As we’re now entering the last month of Hobart’s short summer season, we’ve done all the research and have a choice list of events to help you make the most of the sunshine.

This January marked eight years since Mitch McPherson lost his little brother, Ty, to suicide. Through his grief, he started SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY with one very small but very significant action, a bumper sticker.

What do you get when you combine an architect, a bush block and a budget of $275,000? Casa Acton is a moveable 53sqm bush dwelling in Tasmania designed and built by Josh FitzGerald (a founding director of Archier) along with his partner Millie Ashton.

These women have been suiting up Tasmania’s front-line workers for more than 30 years. 

Inner city Hobart schools are reaching capacity and students are beginning to lose access to vital educational tools. The South Hobart Primary School recently lost its library, after it was closed to be repurposed as classrooms to meet 2021 enrolment numbers.

Each year Bushcare recognises outstanding volunteers for  creating positive, inspiring and lasting contributions to the conservation of Hobart’s bushland reserves with the Golden Secateurs Award. This year’s recipient was Namkheang (Bryan) Ly, a Cambodian born Hobart resident studying Communications Technology at the University of Tasmania.

A traditional Federation villa on Lower Jordan Road in West Hobart has had a beautiful facelift, conceived by Hobart-based architecture firm Taylor and Hinds.

Anh Nguyen followed her life purpose to switch from being an engineering academic to a biodynamic winemaker in the Coal River Valley. But, after winning a major agriculture award for innovation, Anh is bringing her past experience into her new direction.

Hobart architect Stephen Geason of Cykel Architecture was engaged by international firm ThomsonAdsett to collaborate on the new Korongee Dementia Village.

Not that into bushwalking but want to give it a go? Got kids and need to run them ragged? Just feel like breathing in some fresh mountain air, but not going too far out of town? Then these three walks are for you.

When you buy a wine from Victoria, it will almost certainly be labelled as being from the Yarra Valley, or Mornington Peninsula. If you choose a bottle from New South Wales, it will probably be labelled as from the Hunter Valley or Mudgee.

Am I not enough for him? Maybe I should get a labiaplasty and a boob job! Maybe then he’d think I’m attractive enough to stop watching porn!” My client sobbed desperately. She was an attractive 40-something, well groomed, intelligent professional, yet at this moment she seemed more like an insecure teenager.

A little while back I heard the news that Hexa Group is planning to develop The Welcome Stranger site on the corner of Davey and Harrington Streets into a proposed 13 storey, 45 metre building for commercial and residential use.

While family violence can consist of physical abuse; psychological, financial, emotional, verbal, sexual, and social or cultural abuse are also recognised under the law as family violence.

Early last year, as I passed by the tents, cars and makeshift shelters constructed by people rough sleeping at Hobart Showgrounds, I felt a not unfamiliar sense of outrage that people in Tasmania are being forced to live like this.

Tasmania’s merino wool growers are making their mark with high end brands Hugo Boss and Armani. We spoke to Bruce Dunbabin of Mayfield Farm near Swansea to see what makes Tasmanian wool so fine and of his new winemaking ventures.

Hashtag tourism is alive and clicking in Tasmania. Never before has Tasmania been so successfully promoted across the globe thanks to some clever hashtags on social media.

As the weather cools stay outdoors and reap the rewards of a workout in the elements. It can be as easy as taking a walk up the mountain or a ride along a bike track, but if you want to mix it up, try these sessions.

Did you know it can be cheaper to run a slow cooker on the weekend? Nope. Neither did we. In light of winter, we’ve compiled the ultimate energy saving hacks that you might not have considered, from people in the know – a few local team members from Aurora Energy.

Those passing by the big yellow and blue building at 62 Argyle Street may have seen some changes of late. Big green men and colourful murals have started to creep over its walls and eye catching art pieces are appearing in the windows.

Can you blend the convenience of coffee from a capsule with doing the right thing by the environment?

The competitive kid’s birthday party scene is hitting new heights in Hobart. Flying, flipping and jumping are all on offer while parents sit back and relax. Here are the top five indoor play centres to have someone else throw your party. And clean up afterwards…

The irony is not lost on Sydney-based journalist Carla Grossetti as she investigates the colloquial usage of the term ‘mainsplaining’ using her ‘big island’ expertise.

Eve Rodsky is the New York Times best-selling author and wrote this piece just for us. For the book, Eve interviewed more than five hundred couples, from all walks of life, to figure out what the invisible work in a family actually is and how to get it done efficiently.

With the rise of the freelance workforce, the coworking space scene is thriving in Hobart.

Making space in the diary is hard in December, but here are some of our top picks of what’s happening in Hobart this Christmas, to squeeze into your social calendar.

You may recall seeing some rotating and pulldown beds in the movies – either slapstick scenes with Laurel and Hardy, or more streamlined scenes of beds appearing out of the wall at the appropriate time for James Bond.

Even though Tasmania is known for its mild summers, it doesn’t take much to get sunburnt. Tasmania experiences extreme ultraviolet (UV) levels, but contrary to popular belief this isn’t due to the hole in the ozone layer, which is actually south of the continent.While higher UV levels often occur at the same time as higher temperatures, the two are not linked. Instead, UV levels are determined by the angle of the sun in the sky: the higher the sun, the higher the UV. In December and January, the position of the sun over Tasmania gives the state a UV index of 11 or more on most days, which is classified as “extreme” on the UV index. Tasmania’s lack of humidity and generally clear skies contribute to the stinging feeling of the sun. UV can reflect off buildings and water, making it possible to get a higher dose of UV from these reflected rays, even in the shade.

It was almost 2am and US singer Halsey had just finished her set and was being whisked off stage at Falls Festival and into her waiting Tesla.

Tasmanian forests are special. They’re home to centuries-old trees, including the tallest flowering trees on the planet, and support unique native species. Yet not everyone agrees on how these forests should be managed.