Natural State News

Living Treasure to Tasmania
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in Hobart is hosting an exhibition of works by one of the world’s most renowned scholar-artists Professor Jao Tsung-i. At 92 years old, Professor Jao Tsung-i is considered a national living treasure in China, and an authority on a number of disciplines, including matters of spirituality, philosophy and religion. Running exclusively in Hobart, the exhibition, entitled Jao Tsung-i: The Amalgamation of Mind and Universe, will run from August 28 – November 15 and will be the largest exhibition of Professor Jao’s works ever shown outside Asia. The exhibition is held in partnership with the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole (small university) in Hong Kong, where Professor Jao currently resides.

As part of the official launch celebrations, for which Professor Jao will be in Hobart, celebrity chef, Kylie Kwong will cook at two special dinners at Moorilla on August 30 and 31.
www.tmag.tas.gov.au and zoe@mediamoguls.com.au

Bloomin' Tulips Festival
For four weeks each spring Paul and Bronwen Roberts-Thomson’s Table Cape farm, on Tassie’s north-west coast, explodes into a riot... of colour. Flowering tulips, brilliant oranges, reds, pinks and purples, turn this scintilla of Tasmania into a month long burst of bucolic perfection. The views of the Cape, with Bass Strait below, can seem flawless, perhaps even more preposterously wondrous than waking up after a night of karaoke with your dignity intact.

Seventy different tulip varieties are grown over four fields. Approximately 12 ha of the Robert-Thomson’s magnificently located Table Cape farm will be blooming tulips.

The Colours of Wynyard, 26 September to 16 October, is a three week program of tulip-inspired community events and activities around Wynyard, the closest town to Table Cape.

The Bloomin’ Tulips Festival on 10 October features the Roberts-Thomson farm and is the main event of the Colours of Wynyard. Bloomin’ Tulips includes a cocktail evening (Tulips@Twilight), exhibits by local artists live music, roving performers, Arts & Crafts, fireworks over the Inglis River and the rather novel Tulip Tossing Championships. An Art competition will be held at the ‘Wonders of Wynyard’ visitor information centre during the 3 week period.

The tulips are best viewed for about 3-4 weeks from the last weekend of September. This year the farm will open from 28 September to 16 October. Entry prices are $7 for adults, $5 for pensioners and $3 for children. The Roberts-Thomson farm also has a visitor centre and farm gate shop.
Richard Muir Wilson
(03) 6443 8363 rmuirwilson@warwyn.tas.gov.au

One more flowery thing: the Blooming Tasmania guide for 2009-2010 was released in August. It includes information about regularly open gardens, special events – the Spring Tulip Festival at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens will be held 3-4 October –, Hobart and guided walks as well as boutique accommodation with garden settings. Garden enthusiasts and Tassie visitors in general might want to pop this in any Tassie bound suitcase.
www.bloomingtasmania.com
www.discovertasmania.com

Burnie’s $5 million Makers’ Workshop set to Open
The Makers’ Workshop in Burnie is to open in late October.

The $5.35 million waterfront Makers’ Workshop, on a prominent headland by Bass Strait, will include: a cafe, gallery, Creative Paper production, artists’ studios, and a significant interpretation of Burnie through various media. The Makers’ Workshop has a central foyer with five different wings and each wing has its own theme. “We are working on moulding those various elements into one heck of a visitor experience,” said Burnie Mayor Alvwyn Boyd.

Visitors will also be able to appreciate the skill of historical makers, the artists and entrepreneurs, who helped shape the north-west. Some 200 items from the Pioneer Village Museum will be on display. Entry to the Makers’ Workshop is free.

www.burnie.net or Tahnia Creedon: (03) 6430 5716

Port Arthur Special

September is a special month at the Port Arthur Historic Site. In September 1830 the penal settlement at Port Arthur was established. In the same month in 1877 the settlement was closed as a prison. In the ninth month of 1989 the first official Historic Ghost Tour was staged at Port Arthur.

To celebrate, the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority has some special offers for both daytime visitors and those braving the atmospheric evening Ghost Tours.

All daytime visitors who purchase a Gold, Silver or Bronze Experience Pass to the Port Arthur Historic Site during September (2009) will be offered a free upgrade to a Ticket of Leave Pass – the pass provides the holder with unlimited free return entry to the site for two years.
www.portarthur.org.au

Whale Watch
A southern right whale mother and calf were spotted off waters near Swansea in August. According to an ABC report, recently spotted calves in Tasmanian waters suggest the endangered species is starting to recover. Tasmanian waters were key calving grounds before commercial whaling, and the area could again become a stronghold for the species.

Threatened species expert David Pemberton told the ABC that as the Right Whale numbers recover, large gatherings in Tasmania's bays could become another major Tasmanian tourism asset.

Freycinet Sea Cruises operate cruises near Swansea around the Freycinet Peninsula. Wildlife including whales, seals, albatross, dolphins and little penguins are a regular feature of the tour in Sealife Experience run cruises and encounters with similar inhabitants of the deep blue off the Tasman National Park.

Whales are best viewed in Tassie waters from June to August on their northern migration from Antarctica and then through October and November on their southern migration back to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
www.freycinetseacharters.com
www.sealife.com.au

Fine Fare
The inaugural Flinders Island Fine Fare will be held on October 18. A diverse range of island products including mutton bird, wallaby, manuka honey rock lobster and Flinders Island lamb will feature. The fine fare will be held al fresco at the Flinders Island Sports Club from 11am to 3pm. Leading Tasmanian chef Paul Foreman, formerly of Hobart restaurant Marque IV and now at Peppermint Bay, will conduct cooking classes and demonstrate cooking techniques with the island produce. Entry to the fare is free.

You can make a long weekend of it on Flinders Island as the 75th agricultural show will be held on October 16. On October 17, after recovering from the show, the annual Ambulance Cabaret, local music and dance, will be performed in the evening at the newly renovated Whitemark Community Hall (the hall will be officially opened the first week of October). The locals plan to raise enough funds to buy new ambulance equipment. Tickets cost $20.
adam.saddler@bigpond.com

Wild Water World Cup
The 2009 Hydro Tasmania Wild Water World Cup will be held in Tasmania from October 24 to November 7. Canoeists and kayakers from 15 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the USA will race on the Upper Mersey River near Launceston as well as in the Cataract Gorge.

The International Canoe Federation Wild Water World Cup is an annual race series consisting of six wild water races. Wild water races are individual time trials down difficult sections of white-water rivers. This, according to the organisers, is the purest form of river racing....just the paddler and the river.

The 2009 Hydro Tasmania Wild Water World Cup will be only the second time this World Cup has been held in the southern hemisphere.

www.wildwatertasmania.canoe.org.au

Rhu Bru
Holger Ostersen’s rhubarb wine is still about 12 months away. But his rhubarb syrup will be launched sooner, later this year and will be excellent on ice cream, panna cotta and cakes according to Mr Ostersen’s wife, Jan Hughes. Both concepts follow on from the fetchingly named Rhu Bru, a juice the couple began selling in 2008. During their first attempts at making rhubarb sparkling wine happenstance played its beautiful hand and they stumbled across the formula for their juice brew. Successful? They have sold 20,000 bottles of Rhu Bru in Tassie since September 2008.
www.rhubru.com.au

New on York
41 on York, a new 26 square apartment in central Launceston, opened in May.

It has three spacious bedrooms each with their own bathrooms. The main bedroom has a king-sized bed and spa bath. The second bedroom has a queen-sized bed and the third has two singles beds which can be converted into a king.

Elsewhere in the apartment a Huon pine kitchen features. A glass-top dining table seats eight people. The spacious living area has a surround sound system, 40 inch LCD television and beautiful Italian leather sofas. An indoor/outdoor dining area has a barbecue, bar fridge and outdoor furniture. Electric doors enable you to wander on to the balcony to enjoy the city views. The apartment also includes a fully equipped laundry with washer and dryer.

41 on York is just a short stroll from the city’s cafes and restaurants. The apartment costs from $350 per couple per night. It costs $25 per night for each extra person. Basic breakfast provisions are included. Weekly rates from $290 a night.
www.41onyork.com.au

Events:
The Grape A Fare will be held on September 29. Canapés prepared by up and coming Tassie chefs, cheeses and wine tasting are part of the event started by students in 2007.

Tickets are $35. All profits from the event go to Cerebral Palsy Tasmania.
(03) 6228 4488

Media Contact:
Sonia Rendigs at Media Moguls: (03) 9836 2167
sonia@mediamoguls.com.au

Download: High-resolution images from Tourism Tasmania's Visual Library.

Check the Events Tasmania website for upcoming events:
www.eventstasmania.com

For further information:
travelmedia.tourismtasmania.com.au
www.discovertasmania.com