Launcheston lights up for crazy day

Today was awash with Launcestonites, many of them in the mall for Crazy Day sale. Many visitors were of the junior variety, spawning a grand array of cute photos.





You’d think I’d be sick of it by now, but the truth is, there is nothing so fascinating than the face of an inquisitive face staring straight at you. I mean, kids don’t arrive with any agenda, they’re just taking you for what’s going on right now, right here.


I got a good lesson on tea-making from Yen who told me how they make Earl Grey Tea.


And met Claire from the local paper.

Managed to solve the secrets of contemporary art with a bunch of arts students, many of whom had great questioning minds.

These guys kept me on my toes!

D is for Doornobs, departure port, deep sea, disprin and Devonport

So – this is Devonport – Rooke Street Mall to be presice

The town where the boat comes in and the tourists disperse in all directions but people who stay swear by it.
Today went quickly between rain showers and was filled with picturesque visits from folks from all corners of the district.

I learnt a few new words – Freckles – that’s these lolly-covered chocolates (they should be called Pimples) from Theresa in Devonport Discount Meats who brought me the freckles and cheese on toast. I was feeling smug and sated, when suddenly I got an image of those cows sitting in a field going ‘hey this is great, food brought to us every day, everyone is nice to us, what could possibly go wrong here?’… thankfully I reckon the locals here has slightly better intentions. This is Theresa...

And this is freckles

A couple of notable locals dropped by with stories of local elections, education systems and this guy who recently moved into a unit for $80 a fortnight – now that’s what I call a good deal.




Serenity is only a beer away.



And below is someone I met this afternoon and I can't remember her name damnit – she has a model house built by a couple (apparently the couple almost broke up making it, there was so much to disagree about). So, she bought it off them and decided to redecorate it over about 3 months until it was exactly how she wanted it. I wonder if she ever took it back to the original owners (who based it on their own house) to see what they thought. I hope the rest of the city gets a chance to see it too one day.


This afternoon I went down to Latrobe and found a whole street of heritage streets… interesting stuff.

Ulverstone oh Ulverstone

If only John Denver* had not tragically died in his prime, if Ghandi would only have fought back, if Ulverstone had not been overtaken by nearby Devonport... what kind of world would this be?

The morning threatened rain but the sun managed to pierce its way through regardless as did the locals of Ulverstone who came out like budding flowers to Apex park on Main road downtown.

The local Playcentre kids were up for a bit of drawing and provided the most photogenic shots of the day. I confess to adding the yellow to this picture, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be me but whoever it is looks like his middle name should be mister potatoe.





And here's the weirdest school project I've come across in the past few years (and perhaps a very effective form of teenage birth control). These guys are from the local high school and as part of their studies they get the chance to look after a computerised baby. It looks like a baby, it cries, it wets itself and it needs feeding. The person looking after it - I'm sorry I forgot her name - was up three times in the night to look after it because it needs 24 hour care. Isn't that amazing? Am I the only one who finds that incredible? Well I can tell you that latex baby was being well looked after it cos the moment his 'mother' went to the toilet out came the tears and there was an army of worried 'aunts and uncles' to look after it. I reckon if a teenage to stand up to that challenge they're ready for anything.





In fact I had a nice chat to these guys, for some reason the boys were the ones who sat up close while the gals stuck to their seats.


And this is the town crier. I'm not sure what he was crying about but there was no doubt he has a great pair of lungs.

And this is a bearer of gifts and stories. The gift is New Zealand Beans (though I'm pretty sure Heinz is either Australian or American) and the fact that they are Indian Beans is tribute to the Indians who helped found Ulverstone in the 19th and 20th century. Apparently this town was prize property for Indian Colonials who didn't want to go back to England after their time in the new world. Tasmania was the prize and Ulverstone was the icing.


*Actually the song I'm referencing is Galverston oh Galverston which is performed by Glenn Campbell not John Denver, but Glenn didn't write it anyway, it was a guy called Jimmy Webb - but I fear the original connection to the gag of Ulverstone is now completely lost anyway...

Bird life in Penguin

Ok - so guess what town I was in today.
No clues.
Ok, a couple of clues.




Still trying to figure that one out? Then Penguin isn't the town for you. For everyone else, I found out a secret - this place has the highest ratio of fine smiles per capita of any place I've been in. Maybe it's the sunshine, maybe it's the salt air. Maybe it's the bird life, but today was one of those days when it was just great being a guy in a small house.




This picture is from where I'm staying in Burnie - 'she not a girl who misses much, na na na na na, oh yeah'


My first two guests - these guys managed to get out of class in order to come down and visit. I felt almost famous. Next time I promise I'll come by after school so I meet the rest of Penguin primary.




Before and After shots - the perfect ad for the hair cutters on Main Street Penguin. His partner (a local nurse) hardly recognised him.



Part of the joy of parking next to the worlds most photographed penguin is meeting visitors from all over the place, many are from other parts of Australia. Some of them come here for a short stay and just never want to go home.




I met a lot of people today who told me they were 'almost' locals, they've only been here a few months or a few years or a few decades... it really got me thinking about what a local really is and how when you arrive to a new place everyone is a local except you.

During the day I met Grace, Molly, Estelle, Hudson and TJ who offered to accompany Julie and I to nearby Fernedale to see the local bush and a remnants of mine tunnels.

I suppose growing up in New Zealand I'm used to going to other countries and feeling like I'm the kid brother in a tough neighbourhood on my first day of school. Today was a good lesson on how sometimes people can be incredibly open and accepting without even being asked, and it's the kind of generousity from people who are totally comfortable in their own skin that really allow you to be yourself. These guys are my new favourite Australians and Penguin is the best kept secret on this island.