Curringa Farm

Being A farm boy myself, Curringa was right down my ally and sharing the experience with Ed made it all the more enjoyable. Watching him try and shear a sheep was the highlight of the story. Very amusing indeed.
Curringa was a great combination of intensive and extensive farming. It was cool hanging out with intelligent working dogs and of course the people like Tim and Jane Parsons the owners who were great hosts, good cooks and very informative when it came to explaining their farming methods. A great excursion for the family and good eye opener for the kids! The Derwent Valley is a great place to visit and Curringa should be on the top of your must do list when you Discover Tasmania.
An interesting side note is that this was the first story we shot for this series of Discover Tasmania.

Jack

Curringa Sheep Farm

Baz Luhrmann has a lot to answer for.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I could happily pass through life as a slightly gentrified city dweller whose life skills spanned the distance from omelette-making to car-polishing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no metrosexual. After all I’m happiest working in the garden, and I build my own furniture.

But then came ‘Australia’ the movie.

Suddenly my capacities were no longer enough. You see Hugh Jackman (curse his rippled torso and crisp Fred Astaire moves) was riding horses, wrangling cattle and winning the war on his own. While all the time smelling sweetly of sandalwood and musk, I’m sure.

Now the stakes were raised indeed.

What happened guys? Ten years ago we were surrounded by women who primped and preened, and competed for our attention, now it seems that Cinderella’s slipper is well and truly on the other foot.

We lost hand boys. The chicks are making all the rules!

But to make matter worse I found myself on a sheep farm outside Hamilton, an hour north of Hobart. It’s called Curringa, and it’s a great day out for the family, especially the kids. You get to see the full workings of a farm. From mustering and driving the sheep, to shearing, wool-classing, and even bottle-feeding the poddy lambs. Jack and I were particularly good with the lambs. Me because I’ve raised kids, Jack because he’s good with bottles!

This was all fine and I as having a pretty easy time of it. But then someone suggested that we should got and catch a sheep or two in the paddock.

What? Are you serious? Isn’t that a job for the border collies? But apparently not, it’s actually necessary for removing a sick or injured sheep from the flock.

Jack, bless him, went first. Before I had time to stir a sugar into my latte, he had one. How in blazes did he do that? Of course Jack wouldn’t reveal until later that he grew up on a farm in western NSW. He’s a country boy from way back. I thought I could smell a bit of rural toughness under his urbane medical exterior.

So. My turn hey? How hard can this really be.

Have you ever watched a really tall person try to dance? T’s not meant to be. In part we have too high a centre of gravity, but mostly we’re just too gangly an out of proportion to ever look smooth or co-ordinated. It’s usually a disaster. We end up looking like shirts hung out to dry on a blustery day.

Well sheep wrangling and dancing must have a lot in common, because I’ve seen the vision, and it isn’t pretty. Both arts have formulas, rules and moves, you just need to know what they are. For mustering it all comes down to one rule. Sheep are predictable: wherever you want them to go, they’ll do exactly the opposite. I still can’t quite tell if they’re stupid, or juts spiteful.

So off I went. Reach, stretch pirouette. Fall to the ground. Round one to the sheep.

Reach stretch, turn, grasp, pirouette. Round two to the sheep.

So I decided to try some rugby tactics. Al good, except that I grew up playing soccer, so all I could do is try to imitate what I’d seen on the telly. Goosestep, dummy, lunge and grasp! This time, my face ended up squarely in a large pile of dung. Now I don’t blame Jack for laughing, I would have too. But did he need to take pictures?

Eventually one of the sheep seemed to feel sorry for me, or just wanted to nibble my linen shirt. Either way I had my sheep if not my pride. But as I strolled towards the sorting yards, carrying a writhing sheep, I had a quiet little conversation with him, and he stopped wriggling at once.

Jack was clearly impressed, and when I returned to the ute he asked me what I’d said. And so I told him.

“Listen here sheep.” I had muttered quietly, “I may not be the farmer you know and fear, but what I can do with a carving knife, some garlic and a frying pan means you’d better show me some respect!”.

Take that, Jackman!

Ed
fast-ed.com.au

King Island

King Island was a fantastic experience. It must be said, one of its greatest assets has to be the people. Real salt of the earth. And their quality of life is certainly something to envy. Possibly the cleanest air and water anywhere in the world, not to mention the beautiful food & wine that King Island is so famous for.

Another highlight for me was certainly the wildlife, which included the wallabies & majestic sea eagles.

And what would a visit to King Island be without a day at the races. And picking that winner was certainly a bonus! Some would say beginner’s luck…
But all in all, the experience was one I’ll remember for a long time. The only thing that was missing during my first trip to King Island was a few more days to explore this truly remote little gem to the north west of Tassie. A definite must see!

Jack

Beerfest

What red blooded Aussie beer drinker wouldn’t want to explore the many great beers that Tassie has to offer? And if you’re like me and partake of the odd tipple, then you’re going to feel at home at Tasmania’s Beerfest. One of the highlights for me was meeting Dr Chuck Hahn, and learning about the science that goes into producing a good beer. Garnish with great music, delish food, fun people….what more does one need? See you next year at Beerfest Tasmania, where I’ve heard on good authority the first shout is on Ed. [official lie!]

Jack

Corinna Wilderness Experience

One of the hard things about my job (if you can believe that there are any) is having to not play favourites. You see, in travelling the length and breadth of Tasmania I get to see and sample the best of what there is. And this is a heap of fun, as you might imagine. But there’s a golden rule, you have to tell each story equally, celebrate each destination and never openly prefer one place over another.

But just occasionally I go somewhere that really stops me in my tracks. Somewhere I not only want to stay and explore, but a place that triggers a thought in the back of my mind: I could live here.

Maybe not today, not with everything that’s going on in my life, but down the track? Absolutely.

I guess Corinna appeals to the Grizzly Adams part of my personality. I spend so much of my life working in the full gaze of television cameras and crowds that the concept of isolation has a special appeal. I’ll accept that this is at least part of the reason Corinna tugged at me. But to reduce my fascination to pure psychology would be unjust to the place itself.

Corinna today is the remnant of past industry. Mining, some fishing, some timber. But that has gone. Now it’s all about tourism. And they come and come.

It’s a big drive, about four hours from Launceston, much of it on remote mountain gravel roads, and through winding forest tracks. But you don’t get splendid untouched beauty without making a place a little inaccessible. Oh, and forget the phone, there’s no mobile reception. Another big plus in my books!

The hotel in Corinna is perched on the banks of the Pieman River, named after one of the early convict-era pioneers. It flows endlessly, rich chocolate coloured. The river’s not dirty, in fact you could drink it. But with so much wilderness around, the tannins from fallen trees stain the water like tea. Nonetheless, it’s full of trout. Simply cast in a line from the FatMan barge and see what I mean. Dinner isn’t hard to find.

The barge crosses regularly, linking the Western Explorer road down to Zeehan and Strahan in the south. So, in a sense, Corinna remains a staging post on the wild west coast, much a it has been for over a century.

But if you’ve parked yourself in town for a night you get to have possibly the best day trip in all of Tasmania. Get up early and set out on the sunrise trip aboard the MV Arcadia. This boat is perfect for Corinna. Recently restored, it’s an original timber ferry linking Corinna to the coast. It’s history includes service in Hobart during WWII as a coast guard vessel amongst others, but its best work to date is done on the Pieman.

The mists barely rise, they seem to engulf the boat as we drift downstream. The sun may have started to rise, but it’s hard to be certain. In the depths of a reverent silence punctuated only by the nonchalant putter of the Arcadia’s engine, you can finally forget where you have com from, ignore where you are going and become a part of the moment.

And that is why I loved Corinna.

I’ll be back, and I’ll bring the kids for sure. There’s heaps for them. AWD tours, fishing, canoeing, exploring. It’s a great place for a holiday. A new home? Maybe. Let’s see what the next year brings.

Ed
fast-ed.com.au

Woolnorth Tours

I gotta say, Woolnorth as well as being one of the most fascinating & beautiful places I visited in Tasmania, it’s probably the windiest. Which makes it the ideal place to situate 62 generators, over two sites that produce around 10% of Tasmania’s electricity. As well as the wind turbines, must sees are Cookhouse Cottage & the Baseline Air Pollution Station, situated on the cliffs of the Cape Grim coastline, where the great Southern ocean collides with Bass Strait. And here’s an interesting tit bit, did you know that the last 4 Tasmanian Tigers captured at Woolnorth were sent to the Beaumauris Zoo in Hobart? Make sure you put Woolnorth on your next Tassie travel itinerary.

Jack

Cradle Country Adventures

Unlike Ed, the Cradle Country Adventures story was my first opportunity to see the iconic Cradle Mountain.

It is truly spectacular, reinforcing the fact that one of the best things about Tasmania, besides it’s food, wine, people, hospitality & beer [had to get that in], is it’s incredible landscape and wild terrain, and Cradle Mountain is no exception. And to witness this in what I can best describe as nostalgically on horse back, and later quad bikes, make for a unique & fun way to see it. Plus It was worth it just to see Ed’s horsemanship.

I felt on top of the world. Leonardo eat your heart out!!

Jack

Tahune Airwalk and Eagle Hang Gliding

I’m pretty comfortable being a land-based mammal. All things considered it’s one of the easiest ways to get to the top of your relevant food chain. Now, if I had to choose an alternate biological platform, I reckon water-based mammal might be the go.

Dolphins have a great life. There’s not too many things that predate on them (other than the occasional shark) and they seem to know how to have fun. What more, they live in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

But that’s thing, isn’t it. Our human capacity for innovation has meant we can develop underwater breathing equipment. As such we are able to compare the world of the sea with the land we know and say, with confidence, that the sea is beautiful. But how would a dolphin be able to make any such conclusion. There’s no point of reference. All he knows is the water. I mean one bay might be a whole lot nicer than others, but the scale is marginal at best, I would have thought.

On second thoughts, this all probably hinges on the idea that animals have a sense of beauty, and I’m not sure there evidence of that. It’s one thing to see a bull sidle up to a cow and say “Mooo, nice udders baby!”, but it’s a whole other scenario to conclude that this same bull might possess a reverent appreciation of undulating hills and golden light shining through a morning fog.

But even we humans have limitations in our ability to appreciate beauty. We walk, swim, dive and fly, but when was the last time you saw the world from the treetops. It really is an entirely novel way to understand the world.

For this experience you need to head south-west of Hobart. It’s an hour’s drive to the Tahune Airwalk near Geeveston. I wasn’t expecting too much, really. I had been told it was a forest walk, with some elevated bits. That’s cool, but not entirely original. Maybe that’s the secret to marketing: completely undersell the product so the impact of delivery is amplified.

The track extends more than half a kilometre, much of it more than 30 metres above the ground. It’s not like flying, it’s far more intriguing than that. It’s like being a bird for a couple of hours. This is where they live. The trees are different this high up. They’re finer and more floral, and as such they’re highly perfumed.

The view extends, but not especially far. You’re still surrounded by the growth on all sides. If you close you eyes and imagine for just a minute, you could easily be flittering from branch to branch searching for food and shelter. And here in the ancient forest at Tahune, there’s plenty of each to be had.

At the end of the track you come to a cantilevered outpost hanging 60m above the junction of the Tahune and Picton rivers. It’s a slightly unnerving point, given that this structure needs to wobble a little as a function of its engineering. But it is here that you finally understand why a bird wants to fly. The forest opens up and you can see all the way across to the mountains in the distance. Trout are jumping in the stream below, and butterflies are everywhere, like mobile snacks!

If this isn’t enough to explain ornithological attraction to you, then head around the corner to Eagle Hang Gliding. It’s pretty simple, really. You get strapped into a hang glider that is in turn strapped to a cable. You are dragged backwards up over a river until you’re half a kilometre from where you started, both across and up!

Then you fall.

But the wings come into their own and you become a bird, drifting and gliding down through the forest. The view opens up to take in the river and before you realise you’re back on the ground.

I loved it, really I did, and the Airwalk is a magnificent day out for kids, to get them introduced to the idea of balancing forestry and conservation.

But do I want to be a feathered animal? No, I’d still rather be a dolphin. But coming to know what it is to be a bird has made me a better human.

Ed
fast-ed.com.au

Red Tag Trout Tours

Trout fishing was something that I’d always been fascinated with, but never had the opportunity to do. I was stoked when told I’d be fly fishing with Roger Butler from Red Tag.

Now, call it beginners luck if you like, but fortunately for me they were biting that day. I caught two beautiful healthy trout in about twenty minutes. It was the quintessential Tasmanian experience, out in the fresh air, the crisp clear waters of the lake lapping at my feet & a wedge tailed eagle keeping an eye on us high above the lakes.

This was a day I’ll remember for a long time. And what a beautiful spot - Currawong Lakes, just out of Campbell Town. If you’re into fishing, a Red Tag Trout Tour is an absolute must do when cruising through Tassie. Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack

Devil Trek Tours

Devil Trek Tours was a highlight for me. I love motor bikes and riding through the Tassie wilderness with other trail bike enthusiasts was a hell of an experience.

The tracks we took were challenging but we were in safe hand with the boys from Devil Trek. And the final leg up Jacob’s Ladder on Ben Lomond was spectacular, capped off with a couple of frothys at the top, then a good night’s sleep, before we hit the trail again.

I met some great Tasmanians and had an absolute ball. I highly recommend Devil Trek to any motor cycle enthusiast wanting to get off the beaten track.

Jack