The Agrarian Kitchen

Rodney and Séverine have opened their wonderful vision of a farm based cooking school called "The Agrarian Kitchen". Having had the opportunity to walk the property and talk at length with Rodney I feel enriched and revitalised each time I visit.

I can only imagine the students that attend one of the experiences that the Agrarian Kitchen offers will be even more enriched.

This has to be one of the most exciting developments that Tasmanians have to experience. Many homes in Hobart have the capacity to grow vegetables and rear chickens and now being able to learn how to do this from the earth to the kitchen to the dinner table from such a passionate teacher is a chance for seasonal self sufficiency and good health to be become a part of everyday life.

Scooters make sense in Hobart

I have been looking at scooters I see parked around Hobart as my excitement in getting a Scooter is increasing. Downsize from my guzzler is the idea, just need to transition to a new mode of transport. Travelling around I see so many people sitting in big cars on their own and and only think that this is a sight that will change in the future, just for financial reasons. Hobart appears to have a club the Hobart Motor Scooter Club and although not much recent activity on the site, I expect it will increase over time. The Hobart City Council has even said that it will increase Motor Cycle parking spaces.

Bruny Island

The car Ferry across to Bruny Island is just the beginning of a great day out. I really love Nick's Cheeses at the Bruny Island Cheese Company.

Pigeon Hole Cafe Gourmet

Pigeon Hole Cafe greets one with the smell of bread, good coffee and as you choose a seat, if you are early enough to have this choice, you are tempted with savoury, tart and sweet offerings. I could not go past the Gruyère and Onion Pannini again where the home baked beans on paninni look great also.
Many customers dart in and out grabbing the potato, Pine nut and rosemary offering while I ordered another short black delaying my departure so I could infuse the smell of the bread as it came out of the oven. This is a great way to start Tuesday to Saturday.

The Castle

The Castle UTAS is a marvellous project to build affordable accommodation which is portable. Here is the ABC Radio National link to By Design with Alan Saunders which featured this initiative.

Car Thieves do this

They say it gets rid of fingerprints and any forensics on the stolen car but it just breaks the owners heart to see this. This wreck was on Kalang Avenue near the HCC/Glenorchy councils border.
Late night burnings are common in this area.

Get Basslink going ......

The Tasmanian State Government has had fibre optic cables at its disposal for up to 5 years that could connect all Tasmanian cities to the global Internet but has left them idle. These cables have been waiting to be switched on and connect to the rest of the world.
"I cannot believe this has been happening"
Australian IT

The Celtic Barber

Well worth a look for a great haircut. Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm but they are a late finish on Thursdays and Saturdays are 9am until 2PM. Just ring for an appointment 6278 8993.

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SOHO and HOFM , Great MoJo ....Ho Ho

An SMS message recently upgraded my vocabulary about Hobart short hand suburb names. It mentioned "see you at our place blah bah blah SOHO"? I immediately thought of the old Aberfeldy Pub which is now HOTEL SOHO but it was not. I have since pieced it altogether albeit belatedly to the rest of Hobart no doubt.
For some time the HO side of things has amused me such as HO-FM , which in the US would mean another thing altogether.
Well SOHO was going to be a Bar/cafe in South Hobart which changed name upon opening to MoJo Bar Cafe and the Aberfeldy/Bridie OReily's became HOTEL SOHO .. now I get it ......SOHO is South Hobart.
Well now I am just waiting for WEHO (West Hobart) and NOHO (NorthHobart) to come up as bars cafes as well ..mind you WEHO seems to Google as West Hollywood pretty much and No Ho in NZ.
We'll just have to wait and see.

The French in Tasmania Festival

It is that time of year and I must mark on the Calendar, the 'From France to Freycinet festival' on the east coast 15 to 18 May 2008. If it was not for the French revolution Tasmania would certainly have been a different place today.

Australian Single Speed Nationals - Hobart

These competitors look fit and are fit to take on the rigors of the bike park at Glenorchy. I was scanning for some friends but they were obviously going to be spectators today. I was heading across the lawns and noticed there were no gears on these bikes and so could only imagine the effort needed to get around the Hobart hills.

Zaika Indian Restaurant - Sandy Bay

Late Friday after a a somewhat hectic day chasing events from 6 months earlier we decided Indian or something a little spicy maybe. Being in North Hobart we are still not sure of the Royal Thai restaurant and so decided on Pasha's Turkish at 216 Elizabeth St but it was fully booked.

Then we had the idea of the Zaika Indian in Sandy Bay. One thing we both like is good Indian Food and Zaika is pretty good for a cheap well presented meal. They offer all the usual fare with a vegetarian and a meat Thali as well. Not licenced and with a hastily penned sign on the wall we were served quickly from the counter Bain Marie with fresh meals. The music was up beat and the other diners were having a great time like us. The seats are very comfortable with spotlessly clean tables.

This is a great low cost restaurant with a tandoor oven providing freshly cooked roti's as you require.


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Adobe Lightroom Adventures at Henry Jones Sunday April 13th 5-7PM

Leo Laporte and the rest of the Light adventure team will be at the Henry Jones Art Hotel selling their great pictures for the 'Save the Tasmanian Devil Fund'. See Upcoming events on Yah00 for details or to register your attendance.

I'll trade you for one of these beauties

This is a Fireblight affected apple and on Radio National this morning they were saying that apples infected with this scourge are to be imported into Australia for trade exchange.
Why should we put our Apple and Pear industries at risk especially in Tasmania when we will never be able to recover should Bio Security fail.
Supermarket chains have already brought in frozen infected Salmon and we have recently seen the debarcle over Equine Influenza.
Ok if they need to well just keep it on the mainland and keep Tasmania disease free.
We have enough Lung disease as it is.

Asthmatics just love this time of year

Planned burns create these unreal sunsets and looking down the Derwent one can see masses of smoke hanging when the air has no wind to blow it all away. Some say we need these burns to reduce fuel. some say that the price of milk is so good why are we destroying great pasture for planned burns.
I don't know the answer but I have a nebuliser and I can sit in doors for a month or so every year while the air is still.

TweetCloud

I happened upon Tweetcloud through Derek K. Miller. This is a pretty melange of the words which basically amuses me. There is a freetext field as well.
Tonight has been exceptionally noisy with Barking Dogs, Subaru WRX's, Skyline Drift Cars, Log Trucks and some dog absolutely howling itself stupid down the way.
One would think with the price of fuel there would be some slowdown in the number of cars on the road, but hey I can't see it happening anytime soon and not one ounce of late night public transport to be seen on the highway .. but I know it's out there.

The Tech Guy is in Hobart

Leo Laporte ' The Tech Guy' is visiting Hobart at present and is experiencing the fantastic scenery and the people of Tasmania. Leo has a gallery setup in Smugmug where he has captured the last few days and added comments which I find interesting getting in getting his take on things here.
You can keep track of Leo in Twitter to see what is he up to and in Viddler.

Did not need to book at Annapurna in Salamanca for a change.

After the storm on Wednesday night which left me feeling somewhat 'jet lagged' and 'strung out' on Thursday , it was off to Annapurna at Salamanca for a meal. Not being able to function most of Wednesday apart from resurrecting the blog , I did not want to handle my very sharp chef knife to cook something I was not sure I wanted to eat. I wanted quick food and then sleep.
A few times lately I have tried to spontaneously go to Annapurna but usually arrive to a sea of reserved signs. But tonight it was ok to get in.
It was locals night it seemed and if the visiting cruise ship was in town it was not obvious. Maybe the passengers did not have meals on their minds after bobbing around like a cork all night in 176 km/hr winds ?
We had a Thali and a pork vindaloo which arrived promptly with expert service. The Thali is a great dish with a combination of tastes for the hungry person. I ended up helping out and so walked out overly full.
It was Thursday night after a storm, I was lucky I got in.
A couple of Kingfishers made sleep come easily and the wind was not howling.

Organic Vegies in Hobart

The Mercury Newspaper had a story on organic vegetables and to watch out if you are growing them at home. Not a problem for me as The All Organic Farm have the best around in Hobart and the price is reasonable. It is true that when you put your fresh organic vegetables in the crisper and they last and last unlike some of the supermarket chains produce which goes off really quickly.
The All Organic Farm stall is outside Salamanca Fresh every Saturday at the Salamanca markets . Yummo,
I am pesticide free and this can only be the way it should be if you want to stay healthy.

Now why have I been off air ?

For a what seems ages now renovations have been happening and studies and the severe lack of time has seen things take a back seat. Fortunately this has allowed ideas to gestate and a few things to clarify. These Renovations will all become clear at some stage but they have put me in touch with the wider Hobart community like never before.
There has been a few notable events and a few artisan tradesmen who have come to light which I can only but highly recommend and will do so when I gather my pictures together of their workmanship.
One of the few things that has helped me organise my time is David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' process or GTD as it is more widely known, Merlin Mann's 43 Folders productivity site and keeping abreast of smart life hacks at Lifehacker

All good stuff but getting all this delivered through Google Reader not to mention the zillion podcasts all takes time.
Still it all works and one has time eventually when the 'mind of water' arrives or sort of does.

Some Favourite Photographers

Keith Carrol and Robert Baxter have been taking some great images of Hobart for ages and you can find these and other images at their sites. Well worth a look I reckon. For some new images of Hobart and surrounds you may like to keep an eye on Leo Laporte 'The Tech Guy' at his Flickr site as he is currently running around snapping away as well.

Crows Nest B &B

Just the other day while I was hanging out at Hug0's on my paint brush , a lady asked me for directions back to her B&B .... Wow she had walked up Peace Park from Liverpool street then had to walk up even higher to get back home. So next time you are off to the Liverpool Street Supermarket .. keep on heading up Liverpool street to Liverpool Crescent ... it will save you the puff to get back home to the B & B at Crows Nest .

New Cafe at 89 Goulburn St, West Hobart

On the corner of Goulburn Street and Molle Street a Pannini Bar and 'real' Coffee Cafe will be opening soon. Just what West Hobart needs especially Goulburn Street.
Not sure what it is going to be called but renovations are underway and it looks much bigger then the previous cafe. Can't wait.
It is near Pendragon Hall which is the old church accomodation run by Rob and Ailsa.

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