There's WAY more than 20 reasons to visit Hobart - from a local

[ed: I realised all the links were messed up, so i've fixed them - along with some of the text!]


Recently a number of colleagues and I read this article about Hobart and found it disappointing in places , with some out-of-date information or simply inaccurate suggestions.

For example: restaurants - Ethos is not in North Hobart; Piccolo has been re-named, together with some real highlights simply ignored.

Don't get me wrong - the article got lots right about our beautiful home town, too.

But I felt compelled to give something of a counter, a more local viewpoint - with some personal favourites.

So here goes, in no particular order (except the first, to make a point about the other article)....

1. Mt Wellington (and I'm NOT opening with a gratuitous comment about some South African mountain here - because guess what? It's Tasmania, not RSA): for the beautiful drive/ride/walk up the mountain, and the stunning views of the bush all around you, and the alpine rainforest as you get higher up; when clear weather, the gorgeous shining Hobart city below from the lookouts; and the stunning 360deg panorama at the pinnacle. Kunanyi has a definite 'spirit of place' about it and engenders a special kind of emotional bond for locals - especially when you see it for the first time after an absence. (if you don't want to go all the way up there you can still get a great view of Hobart from the Mt Stuart lookout).

2. MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Berriedale. Its effect on Hobart and the tourism industry generally has been nothing short of startling, transformational. everyone is talking about it. Quite apart from the art and the owner's story (and the mystique surrounding David Walsh), the thing that will stop you in your tracks is the sheer beauty and innovation of the construction itself. MONA is a must-see. Get the ferry: a brilliant way to see Hobart from the river.

3. Cascade Brewery, Woodstock heritage house, Cascade gardens: a glaring omission in the Fairfax piece among some glaring omissions, the oldest still-working brewery in Australia runs engaging (and tasty) tours. Severely damaged by wild bushfires in 1967, the iconic stone facade which has adorned so many great beer labels sits next to the great brews' water source, the Cascade Rivulet - also known to harbour platypuses! The nearby gardens are a lovely place for a picnic.

4. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (aka TMAG for locals). Hobart's public museum has just had a brilliant refurb and is absolutely worth a visit Separately, the Narryna Heritage museum housed in the 1830s building is fascinating

5. Get there (and plenty of other places) on a free hired ArtBike from Arts Tasmania Elizabeth St Hobart. You need a credit card and ID. You can even hire ArtBikes overnight or for weekend for low prices. If you're really keen you could ride or walk (or bus) to MONA via GASP - Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park (with free bbq sites!)

6. Battery Point Sculpture Trail - interpretative and interesting walking tour of one of Hobart's earliest colonial districts It's a fantastic insight to the history of early Hobart.

7. Hobart's parks - from significant spaces like the Botanical Gardens and St David's Park to smaller recreational parks really suited to young families like 'The Boat Park' at Long Point ('Sandy Bay Beach') and historical parks like Arthur's Circus in Battery Point - Hobart has some lovely parks.

8. Hobart waterfront & Salamanca Place - a self-guided tour of the locality will find you discovering a range of points of interest like the historic Hunter Street, the School of Fine Art campus of the University of Tasmania; fresh and cooked seafood outlets along the Sydney-Hobart-famous Constitution Dock; beautiful King's Pier and Waterman's Dock, and then over to Salamanca past well-loved pubs like the Telegraph, Customs House, and historic Knopwoods ('Knoppies') and cafes like Retro and Zum (with the famous market on a Saturday) iconic tourism experiences from Pennicott Wilderness Journeys and Tasmanian Air Adventures seaplane trips that take off and land from the waterfront itself!

9. Farm Gate Market: hugely popular with locals - produce market at Bellerive on a Saturday and Hobart Melville St carpark on a Sunday. An extraordinary range of fresh local produce, artisan and fine products, free range meats, dairy products, some really interesting food-to-go or eat there

10. Bruny Island and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel: the SMH got this partly-right. No trip to Hobart should miss a drive through the enchanting Channel (or way, waaay better - by boat!) and a ferry (check the timetable!) over to Bruny. It's a very special place with a swag of things to do and see - including a history littered with visits from explorers like Cook, Bligh and the Frenchman Captain Bruni D'Entrecasteaux himself (There's a small museum about Bligh at Adventure Bay). Bruny also has a strong Aboriginal culture and history and abounds with stories and dreamings. Some of our favourite spots are Barnes Bay, Conley's Beach, history-laced Adventure Bay and the Lunawanna Hall where last Friday of every month, Hoppy's Jamboree happens.

And the best pub meal South of Hobart is at Dave and Rachael's Hotel Bruny at Alonnah. The free range Nichols chicken parmie is big and delicious, and there's heaps of local produce on the menu (sometimes local free range pork which is awesome) and they have Tassie ciders in the fridge, including the astounding cherry 40% apple 60% Cerise by Pagan Cider

11. Cathedrals: again, a glaring omission from the 'other' list. St David's (Anglican) and St Mary's (Catholic) are fine examples of 19th Century design and engineering.

12. Theatre Royal: take a guided tour of this charming space: Australia's oldest working theatre.

13. State Cinema North Hobart: a meeting place for so many Hobartians, 'The State' has been born again in recent years with wonderful additions including a licensed cafe-bar, bookstore and rooftop cinema/bar !
Check out the North Hobart precinct before and after your movie. It features a wide range of restaurants, bars and cafes along Elizabeth Street. The Republic Bar (previously the Empire Hotel, delicious irony) Cnr Burnett & Elizabeth Sts features live music all nights of the week @republicbarcafe

14. Blundstone Arena: (Bellerive Oval) a world-class sporting facility featuring international cricket matches and, during the winter hosting top-class AFL home games for North Melbourne. It's going through a really exciting development phase at present. Roos supporters - come to Hobart and watch the team play at their home-away-from-home. @NorthKangaroos

15. Great Tasmanian wine: half to three-quarter an hour's drive from Hobart there are many fine wineries, most providing tastings and cellar door sales. Some favourites are Frogmore Creek and Clemens Hill (Coal Valley) Stefano Lubiana and Derwent Estate (Granton) and Home Hill Wines and Kate Hill in the Huon Valley. Cool Wine is a terrific wine store providing a real level of personal service and advice right in Hobart's CBD. What Tim and his team can't tell you about their products probably isn't necessary. Grape (Salamanca) & T42 (Elizabeth St Pier) are really nice wine/spirit &food bars with a comprehensive list of wines many of which they will serve by the glass. The 9-11 bottle shop at the Gasworks has a strong Tasmanian wine range too.

16. Burgeoning cider sector: Couldn't believe the SMH missed this one - the tiger in the local food and beverage manufacturing economy. Tasmanian cider is growing strongly, with new producers and products popping up everywhere. And Hobart venues (and their patrons) are fervent supporters too, like The New Sydney Hotel and West End Pumphouse; and Jack Greene at Salamanca. Willie Smiths organic apple cider a French style cider from the Huon Valley is now being served in Hobart's traditional Athenaeum Club. Local producer Dickens has recently opened a dedicated cider bar in Salamanca @DickensCH Follow Tassie's cider trail

17. Hobart's cafes: Hobartians are really passionate about their hot drinks! There's some great cafes around - some of my personal favourites are Raincheck Lounge (North Hobart) Pilgrim, Kara (CBD) Zum, Tricycle (Salamanca) and Georgie the barista at The Deep in Mures Lower Deck on Constitution Dock makes fantastic coffee, too...(ok I'm her dad, so I'm a tad biased).

18. Food: Hobart has a great range of good quality food from moderately-priced to higher end. Cargo Bar in Salamanca has a well-priced and yummy wood fired pizza menu. Written On Tea on Sandy Bay Rd has simple, delicious Chinese meals (byo bottled option!) the pan-fried dumplings are popular. I like Charcoal in the city for lunch; West End Pumphouse is a vibrant venue with an exciting menu. My favourite Hobart restaurant is Smolt in Salamanca - with daylight between it and others. The location, the room, engaging dishes with small plate options, a broad exciting wine list - always good service. Smolt is an absolute standout reason to come to Hobart.

19. The Wolfe Brothers: one of Australia's most promising country rock acts, The Wolfe Brothers, is from Hobart. Come and experience the region that has inspired Nick, Tom, Brodie and Casey - who rock, by the way.

20. Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO): Resident in Hobart’s purpose-built Federation Concert Hall, the TSO has a full complement of 47 musicians and really is one of the world's best small orchestras.
With more than 60 CDs in its catalogue the TSO is known and heard nationally and internationally.

@VinceTaskunas

#editas

Reflections on Dark Mofo 2013

After visiting MONA on the weekend to see my friend Tony Brennan play a MoFolk gig in the Void Bar on the lower ground floor of the Museum (brilliant, Brian Ritchie) it struck me I'd written very little about Dark Mofo. What a fantastic debut winter festival. It has simply redefined this part of the year for Hobart - and has set SO many people talking about "what is possible". That one attribute is, in itself, of dramatic value in terms of our own city's self-deprecating internal discourse. As opposed to "omg - that project/idea/proposal is just stuck in red tape/can't get through {insert stultifying organisational acronym here} etc " Instead of the negative mantra, I've heard all over the place: "What if...? Could we...? Would this work...?" I absolutely cannot wait for the next Dark Mofo. How exciting, sweet antici........pation. Leaving with one of the most amazing installations I've been lucky enough to witness: Ryoji Ikeda's Spectra Light Tower. Quite astonishing. And our beautiful Hobart and Mt Wellington in the background

Tourism Tasmania campaign beats a new tune

Tasmania - Go Behind the Scenery Fantastic new campaign by Kath McCann and her team at Tourism Tasmania with a creative partner, Sydney's JimJam. The 60 second TV ad reveals the extraordinary effect David Walsh's Museum Of Old and New Art (MONA) has had on so many levels from within Tasmania, and from without (parts of it feature in the advert) The digitized, dervish Luhrmann-like sequences with their rotating points of view and 3D optics rush at you and the overall effect of the advert is so energized in comparison to previous beautiful, but static, wilderness powerpoints. This really *does make you stop and think about "what is behind" the front bit; the quirky, engaging, cultural, and outright weird and wonderful. People, across all segments, are so "up for it" like never before. They'll have a go - they want to get around it, and have a look at Tasmania - from all angles, at all times of the year, and not *just the shiny well-known bits. And the thing is, this mew campaign absolutely captures this dynamic shift that has occurred in the market since MONA's seismic start-up. The heads-down, furtive secrecy and 'oops I shouldn't look' persona has given way to a prevailing sense of cultural glasnost since the opening of the magnetic, compelling, consensual, adjective-robbing, parallel universe of wonder and awe perched out there on the banks of the Derwent in #Hobart. (I'm only sorry Nolan's Snake is moving out of the exhibition for a while - it's the most captivating work I will ever see, I think). The melding of art and culture with "the spectacular views" and "food and wine" as foundation and fundamental elements of Tasmania's tourism value proposition has never been clearer than in this campaign. Of course, it's writ large in massive black texta now in the shape of MONA. But the growth of the festivals subculture - like the magnificent Ten Days on the Island, on right now - has built the platform as well. It sure is a different take on a well-tried set of product and stories - but brilliantly captures the shifts. Great production, congrats TT. I tweet @VinceTaskunas

Still alive, thank goodness

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't updated my blog for nearly a year. This correlates almost exactly with the period in which I discovered an affinity for Twitter, personal and professional-wise. Whilst I haven't blogged here at all, I've micro-blogged plenty via Twitter. It really is a fascinating platform: especially for an Enneagram 7 like me.
free enneagram test If you haven't had a look at Enneagram personality types, you should. The Institute website says: The Enneagram uses numbers to designate each of the [personality] types because numbers are value neutral— they imply the whole range of attitudes and behaviors of each type without specifying anything either positive or negative. Unlike the labels used in psychiatry, numbers provide an unbiased, shorthand way of indicating a lot about a person without being pejorative. The types analysis has been very valuable to me in my development as an executive in a large (small) multi-business lines organisation, and I have used it extensively in my understanding of others, and self. It's just a touch ironic that the last time I wrote here was about Sydney, and rugby union. We've just come back from four days in Sydney. The rugby was poor standard, even though it WAS Bledisloe Cup, Aust vs NZ, at ANZ Stadium. The All Blacks won (of course). It was my first (and my wife's first) live Wallabies match so that, ln itself, made it exciting. Afterwards, we went to Barbeque King - Chinese. Fabulous food. Good collection of comments here

Sydney's beauty

I managed a lovely little mini-holiday in Sydney with some of the family recently.

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful our biggest city in Australia really is.

Yes - it is a BIG city, and everything that comes with that. But the location, around Sydney Harbour, is startlingly attractive.

In particular, the magnificent open public spaces in and around Darling Harbour are a real highlight for visitors.



Light fittings, Wildfire restaurant, Overseas Passenger Terminal Circular Quay

Evening, from Newtown rail station

Reflection off King's Wharf, Darling Harbour, Sydney

The Sydney Opera House at night from Wildfire restaurant, Overseas Passenger Terminal Circular Quay

All Blacks Win It: French just fail to close out an All Black #RWC2011 choke

Roll on Rugby World Cup 2015 !!

I've had such a good time watching the Rugby World Cup finals - except the one the Wallabies lost to the All Blacks, of course...

Last night's decider really was one of the most exciting rugby finals I've watched in a while, despite the low scoring and the ball-handling errors (although nothing will beat Wilkinson vs Australia in RWC 2003 for a long time....)

It serves as a reminder why I get so excited in the lead-up to this compettion every four years. It is just sensational sports viewing: the greatest game in the world.

It has to be said: the All Blacks are deservedly Rugby World Cup Champions for 2011.

Just like TV's Survivor - they've outplayed all comers, outlasted huge scares like the one Les Bleus gave them last night, outwitted opponents (the Australians, devastatingly, in particular) by playing them at their own game and winning the battle of tactics, over and over - and out-muscled, out-bustled, and out-rugbyed every opponent they faced.

They've even out-choked their own traditional choke - and put that choke around the throats of their opponents through a consistently tough and altogether ultimately undefeated defence.

Once and for all, the All Blacks showed that making and holding tackles wins the big games.

As Wallaby scrum-half Will Genia said back in August after the Wallabies were smashed by the ABs at Eden Park:

"No matter how long you hold that pill for they’ve got a good enough defensive system to hold you out and they showed that. It was very, very hard."

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans agreed, saying: “They scrambled defensively very well and those sorts of qualities will be important come World Cup time.”

Quite prophetic, in fact, Robbie.

The last half of the 2011 RWC final was exactly like that. As the pressure built on the All Blacks to hold onto their slimmest of leads at 8-7, it was clearly becoming waaay too much for some NZ tweeters who were including references to holding their breath, various types of coronary care and nervous breakdown in their increasingly-feverish tweets (these, at least, provided some light relief on the side).

It was tense and it was exciting. Despite the fact that the French had most of the possession, the All Blacks held them out. Denied them.

Towards the end, the All Black defenders looked completely dead on their feet, battered and sorely tested after dozens of phases put together by heroic waves of Bleus led in the loose by their incredible captain Thierry Dusautoir and a dominant platform in the lineout via Imanol Harinordoquy (a lineout reliability factor the Wallabies desperately needed - nay must have had, and sadly couldn't consistently deliver - if they were ever to challenge for the title).

But the time evaporated and the New Zealanders kept finding something, managing to keep "scrambling" in defence, covering huge overlaps out wide being created by a magnificent final charge of wide-running, hugely-brave French backs. Led by the efforts of scrum half Dimitri Yachvili, tough tackle-breaking centre Aurélien Rougerie and fullback Maxime Mèdard they gave it everything they had from the first minute of the second half in a desperate attempt to break the All Black defensive line.

They just couldn't beat the choker-hold of the strongest-willed All Blacks defence we've seen for quite some time.

Former England and British Lions hooker and now UK Telegraph rugby writer Brian Moore said this morning that "The French refused to play their role as biggest underdogs ever" but that "the All Blacks' defensive wall ended brave France's hope of a breakthrough."

Moore went on to write that:
"In the end, it was pressure that told for the French; not that imposed by attacking pressure, rather an enormous rearguard defensive display from the All Blacks in the middle period of the second half."

It's quite a good commentary actually - and from an ex-front rower, which makes it all the more sensible and realistic. Worth a read.


Let's be very clear here. I don't like the All Blacks.

I do not have a strange attraction to their regularly-infringing (but rarely-penalised) forward pack, led by the all-time unpenalised infringer in Richie McCaw.

And I will not succumb to the sickening media fawning that is occurring across all channels right now.

In my heart I was going for the French (as much as I don't like them, either).

But after yesterday's grinding win against a tough, brave, committed Les Bleus who fell desperately short of their own glory, it is utterly impossible to not respect the best rugby team in the world right now: the 2011 All Blacks.

Congratulations to the All Blacks.

Visit to Bruny Island

Went to Bruny Island on Tuesday - it really is one of our family's favourite spots.
Unfortunately, couldn't find a fish to catch, but it was nice to get away and spend some relaxation time.


The D'Entrecasteaux Channel


Tinderbox in the distance - looking up along Nebraska Beach, North Bruny Island


Nature's sculpture - the rocky outcrops at the end of Nebraska Beach, Denne's Pt North Bruny Island


Nebraska Beach


Nebraska Beach


Nebraska Beach


Looking across the Channel to North-West Bay/Margate from Nebraska Beach - North Bruny Island


Going home: approaching Kettering at sundown, from the Bruny Island ferry

The Essence of Hobart: Mt Wellington

One of the great natural attractions of my home town, Hobart in Tasmania, is
Mount Wellington



I've recently discovered a bit of an attachment to the huge, volcanic backdrop to the port town of Hobart. We have a beautiful view from our place at Kingston and, as many people would experience in their mountain home towns, Mt Wellington seems to have a different mood, clad in different robes and painted by different artists every day.

Here are a couple of different snaps from my house, and from other observation points (including Hobart's Eastern Shore with Camera+ at night, and the cracker from the "organ pipes" on the side of the mountain itself, courtesy of my work colleagues who climbed it the other day).

Paul Keating: Does Anyone Cast A Longer Shadow over National Public Affairs?

Does anyone cast as long a shadow over national public affairs as Paul Keating?

I think the answer is: No. Certainly no former politician, at the very least.

Nobody has greater political and commentariat star-power; nobody has the ability to make such a wide range of people stop what they're doing, look up and take notice; nobody gets the chattering classes chattering at such speeds and volume; and nobody, it appears, commands such adulation from some journalists for his colourfully descriptive turn of phrase as the former Prime Minister, Treasurer and Member for Blaxland, Paul Keating.

And this incredible resonance in the public discourse, decades after leaving the national stage, was there for all to see in the social media world yesterday.

The build-up of expectations on Twitter, prior to Keating's appearance on ABC's 730 show last night, was something to behold.

Regular correspondents tweeted breathlessly about the upcoming interview, Keathing's continued love of fashion, blithe references to clocks and Mahler, some with hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute countdowns, some even using a postscript hashtag of #squeeeee (!) to underline their excitement. It was an extraordinary cacophony of utterances from a bazaar of sycophants and acolytes; followed blow-for-blow by some equally colourful Keating-dislikers and tweeters with a keen sense of history and an unmuddled rear-vison mirror.

In fact, it pretty much cut short and part-buried another big story around at the time: Ricky Ponting's resignation as Australia's Test and one-day cricket captain.

And then there was the flurry of faithfully-transcribed tweets of the interview itself.

When the much-attended-on Devastating Keating One-Liners finally arrived - "those dead men and women hanging around your neck" the "sicko populism" "jumping on and off buses and trains as transport minister doesn't give you the authority to lead the party" "it'll be like lead weight in the saddle bag, that's all" etc etc - these were recycled all through the night and dominated today's headlines.

Usually there is something of an arm's length relationship with these sorts of figures. In terms of ex-Prime Ministers: it's all a bit still too raw for the public with Howard; Fraser has an odd public persona these days; Hawke is almost a caricature of his former self.

But not PJK.

The love affair with the Australian political class endures, even after all these years. And channels like Twitter continue to give it a monster run.

Autumn in Hobart

We've had a little bit of windy, rainy weather over the last couple of days in Hobart and it's forecsat to get uglier over the rest of the week.

I managed to snap some autumn colours at my Mum and Dad's place the other day. The fiery reds and oranges in the leaves on the lawn took my breath away.

7 Levels of social media engagement (Laurel Papworth)

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Marcus Evans Social Media conference #MESM11 in Sydney.
One of the presenters at #MESM11 was Laurel Papworth, regular tweeters would know her as #SilkCharm - Laurel has been teaching social media for the last five years and was a very engaging presenter.

One of her recent blog posts about corporate social media engagement looks at the various approaches from corporates to the use of social media in the business - all the way from ignoring it completely to deep collaborative models.

The blog post has a fascinating series of comments and analysis (more than 170 posts when I looked - lots of retweets but some great comments as well) from a broad range of people involved in this space. Talk about user-generated content!

It's a great discussion; a good place to start if you're looking for some "traditional theory" about social media from a corporate perspective, as well as a highly engaged conversation about Laurel's approach from bloggers, other commentators and practitioners.

(via @kristinalford and her retweet as well)

St Patrick's Day 2011: remembering Ireland

In the middle of 2008, we took the trip of our lifetimes (so far) and went to the UK, Paris; and Singapore on the way home.

After ten days in England, driving the most magnificent car I had driven to that point (a hire/drive Audi A4 turbo diesel), we flew from Teeside to Shannon, in the Republic of Ireland (Eire).

We spent the next five days driving around Ireland (in a diesel Mondeo this time, also nice). It was hard not to feel like we were in Tassie at times; there were many similarities in the surroundings.

Ireland is renowned for its rainy-ness; everywhere we went, when in conversation about our Irish leg, people would invariably say things like: "ohhh, I bet the weather wasn't that good." etc.
And it wasn't, for at least a couple of the days when we had left Dublin's fair city and were out in the country, touring the legendary beauty of those fair hills and vales.
It rained a lot on one or two of those days. It was quite fine and mild on others. Very Tasmanian, in fact.

Notwithstanding the precipitation, I managed to capture some of that beauty and, on St Patrick's Day this year, am posting a few shots bringing back some lovely memories of a wonderful countryside.



Dublin: Georgian terrace doors


Dublin: River Liffey and Ha'penny Bridge



Dublin: Molly Malone "Singin' cockles and mussels - alive, alive-oh!"

Dublin: Georgian terraces

Wrought-iron gates, rain clearing: County Enniss



Black-faced sheep everywhere: roadside, Kerry mountains



Seaside cottage: Ring of Kerry

Coastline: Ring of Kerry

Reflections in a tarn: Ring of Kerry

The view from the steps of Muckross House, Killarney National Park






Muckross House, Killarney National Park

Mossy oak tree, Killarney

Maze Gardens at Muckross House


Stone bridge over a fine fly-fishing river, County Clare (couldn't help but see the bridge at Richmond or Ross, Tasmania...)

Loch Leane - Ring of Kerry

Cows grazing by the side of the road in the Kerry mountains

The awesome natural beauty of the Cliffs of Moher

Castle ruins by the cliffs' edge at Moher

Telegraph pole, King Street Newtown

I was over in Sydney for the Marcus Evans Social Media conference #mesm11 and had a lovely meal out in Newtown at Thai Pothong with some colleagues.
King Street is such a busy little arterial through-way, with fascinating old and new world artefacts.

Marcus Evans Social media marketing conference, Sydney

I've had a really informative and engaging couple of days at the Marcus Evans Social media marketing conference at the Sydney Harbour Marriot.

Follow it on Twitter #mesm11

Looking forward to having a crack at getting inside iGoogle and the "social media dashboard" and "social media press release" concepts, as outlined by one of the key presenters Laurel Papworth laurelpapworth.com @SilkCharm

The presentation by the Canon team on World of EOS and PhotoChains was vibrant.

Some of the really interesting questions from the conference:

Do you know who the top ten bloggers are in your area of interest or industry etc?
What do we understand as product-centric, consumer-oriented, and values-driven web activity?
What digital places or proerties do you own and have control over ?
Can we measure the value of a "fan" or a "brand advocate" or a "customer life cycle"?

Some great stuff - always good to think well outside the square and peer, bravely, into the future.

Thanks to Gavin Heaton @servantofchaos who did a really good job as MC for the conference



PS
This is a fabulous short macchiato I had at Thai Pothong, Newtown, Sydney

Official Opening of RACT House

Well, I survived: that is the main thing!

The last forty-eight hours has been a fairly hectic period of time getting every little piece of the jigsaw ready for today's official opening of the RACT's new headquarters in Hobart (where I work).

It was a bit stress-filled here and there; but in the end, everything seemed to go pretty well and around two hundred guests had a good time.

I've attached a couple of photos of the new building for your viewing pleasure.

His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania the Honourable Peter Underwood made a lively and engaging official opening speech

The terrifc open spaces of the interior stairs were filled with the gorgeous sounds of a delightful string trio from the Conservatorium of Music.

The team from our cafe - Hybrid Rooftop - did a fabulous food and beverage service too. It really was a spectacular event.

I spent the two hours or so of the official reception afterwards doing a vox pop video record of the event - interviewed about forty or so attendees. Can't wait to see the raw footage of that (the bloopers in particular).

As I blog I'm just chilling out to some grooving beat from NZ acid dance meisters Shapeshifter, their "Live" sets recorded in Christchurch. absolutely brilliant. The opening number is a standout - "Good Looking" - and I also really like "Bring Change".

Decadent relaxation.



John Temple photograph: outside RACT Board Room


The fabulous internal stairs: beautiful design - space, and natural light.


John Temple photograph - Bay of Fires - in the Group Support offices


John Temple photograph - in the Group Support offices


RACT Board Room table - designed by Simon Ancher, UTAS School of Furniture Design at Inveresk - Tasmanian blackwood; two trees only, selected by Mark Bishop of Stanley, Tasmania


The ground floor attraction - Tom Samek's master mural "RACT since 1923" - the biggest mural Samek has painted anywhere in Tasmania took around three months's work.


The original Harley-Davidson road service motorcycle, from 1927: on display in RACT House foyer.


The new retail centre, RACT House ground floor. The building was designed by local architects Heffernan Button Voss.