Friday, September 30, 2011

Celebrity Status

This week Hobart was able to flaunt its beautiful scenery as it hosted The Hunter movie premier. You may not have heard about this movie, as I certainly hadn’t, but it was filmed in Tasmania and centres around trying to find the likely extinct Tasmanian Tiger.

Oh…I haven’t mentioned the Tasmanian Tiger before have I….

Well the Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine was once the largest carnivorous marsupial at its time. However it is believed to have gone extinct after exposure to both humans and dogs wiped it out. Of course not everyone believes this and there are occasional elusive sightings of this creature. The last know Thylacine died in captivity in the Hobart Zoo in 1933. You can see a video of this poor animal on Wikipedia.


Tasmanian Tigers

So as I was saying Hobart hosted this movie premier and had a red carpet walk for the star of the movie Willem Dafoe. He’s the actor recognized for the evil role of the Green Goblin in the Spider-man movies, the voice of Gill in Finding Nemo and countless other movies.


Willem Dafoe

I would have had no idea of this event had my friend Emily not been a huge fan of his. While other cities had Q&As and other meet and greets Hobart was only having this public red carpet walk and then a private showing of the movie so we thought our only chance would be to see him walk the red carpet.

We left with plenty of time, knowing how great Hobart bus service is, and arrived to find a busy movie entrance with photographers and camera-crew packed along the small space in front of the theatre. As most fans and onlookers hadn’t arrived yet we ended up being of interest to some reporters, and may have smiled for some photos and gave our names to the paper.

Lara Giddings, the Tasmanian Premier was one of the first to arrive and hurried into the building. The next few groups of people tripped over the one stair on the way in and thus some fixing to the carpet had to be done. After most others had entered and a crowd of around 200 had gathered finally the big star arrived to the only cheering of the night. He spent about 10 minutes signing autographs for the fans before finally heading in. Emily got his autograph and I took a picture of them too…. 


Oh! And the reporters took some pictures of us too which appeared online as well as in the Mercury Newspaper the next day. We also were cornered into giving a few interviews which ended up on a couple stations which I have yet to see!


Yes, that is my hair! This is the online news picture...I swear the other ones were better but this is all you're getting from me!! That's right-admire that hair!!

It was an exciting night and as I believe we both said in the interviews: “great to see for Hobart!”

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Fiesta International

Notice to everyone thinking of attending UTas next year: Be there for Fiesta International 2012!


Drum-roll please!

I was lucky enough to know someone on the committee for this year's Fiesta, otherwise I might have missed out on a great night of entertainment and yummy food! It's a family event put on by the student's union at the university and boy was it busy!

Fiesta International is a night of great entertainment with all sorts of dances, songs and demonstrations. Tickets were $8 for uni students when pre bought and definitely worth the entertainment. I had no idea little old Hobart had so much hidden talent! A Karate demonstration, a mini budah pianist, a Japanese song, Bollywood dancers, Saudi men dancing, and two groups of drummers were just some of the talents!


Karate Demonstration


Chinese Lion Dance


Some Bollywood Moves


A Japanese Song


A Peacock Dance

Inside there were stalls selling all sorts of ethnic foods you otherwise would have trouble finding. Ethiopian, Chilean, Mexican, Japanese and so on. There was also the Saudi Arabian stall where we got a bracelet with our name written in Arabic and had our photos taken in colourfull Saudi dresses.

We held out on our hunger until about halfway through and then were treated to discounts on the food! My friend and I shared a plate from the Ethiopian stall for only $5 with about 5 different items on it-YUM! I've never had Ethiopian food but I really enjoyed the meal.

The night was definitely a success and I'm glad I attended!


Sunday, September 11, 2011

Noosa

After a couple days of spit on the spit* and thunder down-under** the weather improved and we were able to travel all the way up the Sunshine Coast to Noosa!

Noosa is actually just the shire name and the region is home to Noosa Heads and  Noosaville which nearly  overlap and lie to the east of the Noosa River as it enters the Sea. Noosa is famous for its lovely beach. Hasting Street is also quite popular with its cute boutiques, hotels and restaurants situated along the tree lined street running parallel to the beach. There are many high end hotels in Noosa and apparently it's also the place to catch site of local celebrities taking a vacation...although none were spotted on this trip.


The beach at Noosa Heads


A refreshment stand that will come to you!

We did enjoy a stroll down Hastings, checking out the boutiques and finding quite a few good discounts (maybe time for some Christmas shopping??)!


A look down Hastings Street

After our venture around town we had a picnic lunch overlooking the Noosa River and checked out the park nearby. Then it was on to Tewantin which was just a bit further up the River. 

 

Homes with a view along the Noosa River


View from the park


Noosa Coast Guard

Tewantin is also a small town with a few shops and some beach but really it has nothing on Noosa. It did have some other interesting sites though:


One of 2 odd objects found in the park....the memorial park.
Know what it is??
A German mine recovered and diffused, found along the Sunshine Beach!


This is a 3 in 1 tree....
Part Morton Bay Fig, part Forest Red Gum and part Cupania!

All in all it was a great day with amazing weather and I look forward to my next trip to Queensland and the Sunshine Coast!!

* We took a quick walk along the spit at Mooloolaba but unfortunately the weather wasn't quite cooperating and we ended up getting a bit of a sprinkling of rain.
**Coming back from an outing we could hear the thunder following us home. As Hobart rarely gets lightening storms this was the first time since I've been in Australia that I was able to watch nature put on a show....although I think we tend to get better ones at home!

Just a couple other things to spot along the Sunshine Coast:


This wacky building, the Ettamogah Pub, is found just outside Aussie World and beside many tourist stores. On the way one should check out some Australian Opals sold nearby-very beautiful!


Steve Irwin and his children can be found along the Mooloolaba esplanade.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Maroochy Botanic Garden

One of the places we went while I was on the sunshine coast was to the Regional Bushland Gardens located just outside of Maroochydore.  They are quite hidden and require a bit of a drive to get to. You end up driving through an underpass below the highway, up a small road and past a golf course before entering the gardens.

We went specifically to wander among the rock sculptures that are scattered around a section of the garden. However there is a very nice lagoon and some other walks around which would make it a lovely place to go for a picnic.

The Gardens were rather quiet for such a nice day, but perhaps due to their obscure location, this is the reason. They have a very recent building for special functions now so perhaps more nature lovers will be drawn to visit in the future.

The following are some of the pictures of the sculptures I thought were most interesting:


Spirit House-2005 Sandstone and White Marble
This is at the entrance to the Sculpture Gardens. The sandstone in supposed to house the marble spirits of Father, Mother and Child.


Python in Waiting-2005 Black Marble
Do you see the hiding frog? Apparently this sculpture was created right where an old carpet snake, Axminster died... I wonder if the snake spirit still lives on? 


Goanna-2005 Black Marble
The artist felt that it was important for the sculptures to relate to the environment on which they are set.



Chronicle-2005 Black and White Marble
This sculpture seeks people to recall the human situation of love, peace, reconciliation, and harmony.


Infinity-2005 White Marble
This is made to express the unity in all things. The reflection was supposed to help in representing the spiritual status which is connected to the physical status. This picture give a nice view of what the gardens looked like.


The Cycle-2005 Sandstone
The Japanese artist hoped to show a connection and symbiosis between all living things and to connect nature with the cultures of Maroochydore and Japan.


Lace Monitor-2005 Ceramic
This is modeled after a Lace Monitor that lives somewhere in the Garden.


A Glossy Black Cockatoo which is a vulnerable species in Australia


A Hairy Nosed Wombat which is an endangered species


And another snake sculpture slithering towards an oblivious frog near a pool of water.

Picking up some pamphlets from the new building, I now can admire the wildflowers of Australia a bit more too! The garden was filled with bottlebrush which brought splashes of red and yellow to the spring garden...which I of course didn't photograph, but the rest are just some other pics from the Garden.



A display of Tree Guardians!


The lagoon


Viewing into the bush and the garden paths beyond


Sunday, September 4, 2011

Spring Break

The last week of August was actually the start of spring break in Tasmania, regardless of the fact that Spring only starts on September 1st in Australia. My plans were to visit my relatives in Queensland again for some fun and relaxation in the much warmer sun.

However before I could relax I had quite a few things to do before leaving early on last Thursday. I decided it was necessary to do a quick move out of where I had been living. I ended up stashing my stuff as Emily's accommodation and bunking with her for about a week. I had been hoping there would be a spare room still available at her place but unfortunately there wasn't and I'll need to find a place as soon as I come back from my vacation away. After a busy week moving and packing I also had a midterm on Wednesday to study for and my bad group project was due Friday but as I wouldn't be there and my group seemed incapable of completing it themselves I would need to finish it before leaving.

It's unfortunate that my group turned out to be completely useless. The member that had previously taken the class almost never turned up except for when we sorted the sample. The other member showed up but needed more direction before doing anything. Even though he had taken the prerequisite classes, he wasn't really able to do much of the assignment and thus I ended up doing 99% of the written work. However to save other dedicated students from being the only contributing group member, I'm sending an email to the professor hoping he'll change his one mark policy in the future.

Anyway I finally arrived in Queensland late on Thursday evening and have had a wonderful week relaxing and unwinding. Some shopping, visiting parks and other towns and soaking up the lovely warm sun on the boardwalk were just some of the ways my break was spent.

The Sunshine Coast is really a great place to unwind and for many, also the place they want to live. I can see myself living there, and obviously so can many others as prices have increased greatly over the last few years. The bus system appear's much better than Hobart's and there are such a wide variety of stores for furnishing to food compared to Tasmania. Maybe in the future Tassie will be just as developed as the mainland, but right now it seems better suited as a lovely vacation away from the ever developing and quick pace of the mainland.


Come to the Sunshine Coast and the Pelicans may just put on a show


They climbed out of the water thinking the fishermen might be handing out freebies


Hoping for a bite to eat


Warm evening sun and funky looking trees

I'm back now after an early flight requiring me to wake at 4am to catch the shuttle bus to the airport. I'll give some more details on Noosa and other places visited later as I'm a bit exhausted still.  Hobart weather can't quite compare with Queensland's yet but hopefully the barren trees will start to show some signs of life soon.

On a side note it's the Australian Father's Day today as well so Happy Father's Day to my dad!!