Coach Josh Wood is a Hobart fitness educator with more than 15 years of experience as a competitive powerlifter, combat sport athlete, wilderness and hiking guide, and a dad.

Based in the Huon Valley on a property with chickens, cows, sheep and kids, Madeleine Gasparinatos is the co-host of Avant Gardeners, a podcast combining her love of gardening, cocktails and great books.

Hobart Happenings in February 2025

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

A designer and maker of Tasmanian leather goods with an Italian influence, Ella “El” Jackson is the sole person behind her self-named label. She runs leather workshops and has an exciting new collection coming soon.

Ah, the dining table—the true heart of the dinner party. Eating, drinking, laughing, sharing stories. A lot of planning goes into a dinner party—let’s dive into how to create the perfect setup for your guests.

Going to the movies is fun. The latest action blockbusters, swooning rom-coms, and thought-provoking dramas are best enjoyed on the big screen with immersive sound. It’s an experi­ence that’s hard to beat. But the cinema experience isn’t always perfect. Long queues, high prices, and noisy people with bright phones can sometimes ruin the magic, as well as wanting to hibernate once Tassie’s cooler months hit.

He sits there, engrossed in what he’s doing. He’s trying to figure out how to balance the objects he has before him and stack them high towards the ceiling. I predict that in about 10 seconds, he’s going to be disappointed because what he’s attempting to do won’t work. His spatial awareness at three years of age isn’t sophisticated, so I find myself saying, “Here, I’ll show you.” But my son wants to do it all by himself. “No, mum, not like that,” he asserts. I’m anticipating the structure to collapse but to my surprise, it doesn’t. He does it his way and it works.

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Honey Badger is one of the very few dessert places that stays open at night in Hobart.

It came from the depths…

February starts with a focus on strengthening friend­ships and nurturing your dreams. The Full Moon in Leo on the 12th lights up your creative side.

Let’s talk about tennis. I don’t mean Lawn Tennis, the one we all know with the green felt balls, loud grunts, and a focus on power and speed. That form of tennis emerged in 19th century England, but there’s a far older version. It’s the one in which all other racquet sports derive. It’s Real Tennis, and Hobart is one of its most  significant hubs.

This writer and his brother wanted to plan something special for our Dad’s 60th  birthday.

“Words, words, words,” as Shakespeare’s  stressed-out Hamlet muttered once in  response to annoying questioning. But it  is words that allow us to communicate  most effectively. They can be lyrical  and beautifully descriptive, they can be  straightforward and to the point or gently  revelatory, or they can obfuscate and hide  what we really think. Sometimes words  expressing exactly what we mean or want  to describe don’t seem to even exist. In  these cases, we can try borrowing from  another language. Or alternatively, we  can make up a new word or expression  to represent it, or adapt an existing one  to add a new meaning. And if these new  words or expressions are pounced upon  and repeated by enough people (these  days especially online), they may be  collected by dictionaries to record for  prosperity.

Zodiac Check-in: Your Monthly Astro Update- January 2025

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Ah, the swimming pool: a serene oasis, an artificial marvel. As with anything to do with the home, pools have trends that ebb and flow. Let’s go through what’s hot this summer.

Now summer’s here, it’s time to say goodbye to lounging inside. From luxe to less, from wood to metal, here’s the outdoor furniture pieces to keep an eye on this summer.

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Zodiac Check-In: Your Monthly Astro Update- October 2024

Did you know the video game industry makes more money than the music and movie industries combined? For a long time, the game development scene in Tasmania has been relatively small.

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Zodiac Check-in: Your Monthly Astro Update- Nov 2024

Fighting for the Australian super light­weight title on 14 September, Rokeby boxer Beau Woods has eyes only for gold. Now based on the Gold Coast, the emerging fighter feels that life experi­ences, both in and out of the ring have him primed to become Tasmania’s newest champion.

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

The premise of Last Summer feels ripped out of a clickbait news headline: a lawyer who defends survivors of sexual abuse initiates an affair with her teenage stepson. But don’t let that description set the wrong expectations.

Zodiac Check-In: Your Monthly Astro Update for Sep 2024

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics.

The upcoming film, Ancestry Road, was shot across 17 days in Oatlands and the surrounding Midlands. We spoke with Melbourne-based director and writer Glenn Triggs about making the film in Tassie.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this month.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this month.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this month.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this February.

If we can’t talk about our feelings, they may bottle up inside us – and one day explode, like a hastily-uncapped bottle of fizzy drink that has been rolling around in the car for too long…

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this February.

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

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this February.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Sarah Clark is using her skills in gardening to help the homeless in Hobart.

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

As we gradually conquer the Covid travel restrictions we’ve been enduring, dreams of exploring mystical locations can soon be a reality again.

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

What happens when street art and opals combine? Jeweller Luke Eliasz is there for it.