Autumn things I did and didn't do.
And here was I thinking that things were going to get slower. Ah… Hell no.
Wrapping up the last month. Gosh it’s been really full on in Tasmania. Instagram has most of the videos at my Lady Jo & Co here that I was working on But this clip ( if it works- not sure on uploading it!) was a taste of what the last 2 weeks was like for me.
Did a Tomato preserving workshop at The Farmhouse Kitchen just outside of Cygnet. Great hands on workshop preserving the last of the season. Its been on my glitterlist bucket list to learn all kinds of preserving. The Tasmanian Autumn usually you can buy them in large boxes of tomatoes on the side of the roadside stalls for like $10 each. But not this summer - its been dry and I think alot of flowers died off + they were really rare and pricy. But for when there is a glut, I’ve been collecting No.28 Vacolar Jars for years for this very thing. I just needed the skills behind me for that bulk pantry ‘tomato day’.
Really great day. Learnt stacks - and unlearnt a stack too of what I thought before was right. The Italians know how to preserve so well. Lots and lots of learning as you go Giuliana puts on a lovely spread meal and we all chat and eat. My kinda afternoon tea and all kinds of nice savory and sweet treats were layed out at the share table. Highly recommend this whole experience. They do a monthly signature gnocci class - as it’s that popular - and I would like to learn the pasta from scratch and master the sweet tiramasu/mascapone one next. Workshops (classes here) are run every weekend - day Masterclasses are $275 and smaller Mini classes from $95 for a few hours. Next time I’ll going to take a girlfriend with me - but if you want to fashion up your own, just ask. Gather 6-9 & you can create your own bespoke workshop- such a great day to spend with friends. Felt very ‘rich in life’ driving back to the cottage.
I drove up with the kids for a couple nights booked in at Mt Field National Park Government Huts. These huts are bookable online, are $45 a night & are pretty much in the middle of nowhere - on the way to nowhere. They are incredibly basic & cheap for a reason, theres no hot water, or electricity, and water from the taps needs to be boiled. No wifi reception. But theres plenty of wood and they have a really efficent log wood heater. Sleeps 6. They warm up quick, which is a godsend in these parts as it gets really cold. A real off grid experience - but you also must bring everything, so we emptyed the pantry in washing baskets, and took our doonas, sheets & pillows.
There are no candles allowed, so a great idea is to bring a solar light as a night light or a couple of strings of solar/battery-run fairy lights (make sure they are charged). Others may find it rustic, but for me, it’s not far off from living at home, as we only heat the house with wood, and I’m usually in bed before it’s dark. There is a cabinet with quite a large selection of board games to play, and a table to spread out work or play cards.
We made pan-fried toasties. I recommend bringing a frypan, a large pot to heat water for washing up and large mugs to eat out of. Hot boiled buttery potatoes, ham+tomato+cheese toasties and tinned soup. I brought a box of ‘bad cereal’ for dessert - nutrigrain, plus milk and hot chocolate. Note: Its also important to bring extra food in case the weather turns bad and you get snowed it - it happens. It's cold that you don’t need a fridge—in fact, all the water in the ponds heavily froze the morning + the kids played Crack puddle1
I've been so fortunate to work on Satellite Island several times this year, and arriving there truly feels like an entirely different world. Analise Gregory has these Experiences and fire cooks for the guests, and it has been incredible to experience it all—I still pinch myself over it. I help with setup, run food, wash dishes, and capture the day. If you can ever get Analise to cook for you, it's the most wonderful thing. (She actually does dining experiences all across Australia.)
The most recent trip to the island was for the chefs from Dark Mofo Heavy Metal Kitchen's mid-winter feast: Chef Vaughan Mabee and his team from Amisfield Restaurant, Chef Peter Gilmore, MasterChef Sofia Klevin as well as a host of others. Phenomenal day. Kobe, Analise's chap, was also on the fire tongs. He has a really good wine bar called Lucinda's and Dier Makr in Hobart. Most recently, they have upped the game and started a bakery called ‘Six Russell Bakes.’ the Bakery is not open to the public yet—it supplies really cool cafes around Hobart presently—but when it does open, get the Ferrika loaf of bread. That's next level.
I also had the pleasure of assisting at a fantastic photography workshop with Dearna Bond at Luminare Lodge. Lumiere Lodge is a dream location to work at, and Deana is one of Tasmania's leading photographers. Her work is featured everywhere, including on billboards across the state, and she teaches workshops for Tourism Tasmania on social media. Shes actually pretty amazing, Anyway I was lucky and assisted behind the scenes, and the day it was an utterly fabulous experience—truly lovely to be in the same space as all these photographers, especially as I'm so eager to deepen my understanding of photography and camera techniques for my own photography. I just need to read through the notes and practise when it all quietens down. HAHAHHAHA. (Maybe next month!)
The Aurora came across the world, and we caught it thanks to the free 'Aurora' app. It’s free and gives you alerts if there’s one coming in your area. I caught this last big one on the first night because of this. Highly recommend downloading, checking it if you’re coming to Tasmania. I look at the Map and the forecast bit most. As a general rule the further south you go the better chance you get in spotting one.
They are generally active May - September during these months, the longer nights provide a higher chance of catching the auroras in action. We drove down to Southport the second night - but I think next I’d find a nice spot and just take a thermos, snacks, doona, and a few nice drinks, a powerbank charger, a couple of chairs and settle in for the viewing.
I generally see something in the sky if the App goes over K 4. The massive Aurora we saw the other day was K 8. Prior to that I have never seen anything higher than a 5. And if you have an iPhone 13 or newer, it takes shots really well even just for a point and shoot. Some good spots to refer to later;
South Arm Peninsula: Located about 40 km southeast of Hobart, this area offers several excellent viewing locations like Goat Bluff Lookout, Clifton Beach, and Cremorne Beach.
Cockle Creek: Situated beyond me, 2hr drive to the bottom of the state from Hobart, the views of the southern sky are wide, perfect for aurora spotting. (Dig for cockles in the beach while you wait)
Bruny Island: natural limited light pollution. Also great to say in the future ‘I saw one on Bruny’.
Mount Wellington & Mount Nelson: Although theres a little light pollution, the spots Hobart offer clear, wide views and close to go if you get an alert and you’re t in the city.
At the cottage, the scullery is coming together - slowly, the floor has been concreted and reinforced, and the pine walls are being prepped and painted. But it’s all a long way off getting the stove in. I spent a day running around Hobart looking at tiles. A tip: Every tile shop seems to have a coffee station, so avoid having a coffee before you start your tile-hunting excursion if you can do random coffee. Unfortunately, I find, I tended to like all the expensive ones, or the ones that would take 2 months to come in. Actually everything I like seems to cost. SoWhich is really frustrating, but it’s not too hard as I love the hunt of Marketplace and gumtree…but in the end, I couldn’t wait, I found some which I was happy with - and there were enough of them. On a brighter note, I've been stocking up on second hand Italian swing-top jars from op shops whenever I find them. It’s one of the few things I’m allowing myself to buy these days.
One of my favorite hidden Tasmanian places, The Agrarian Kitchen, offers winter s'mores. Until the end of July, you can go there and enjoy them with the kids. These are the most utterly gorgeous s'mores I've ever had. Period. You get two, and you can toast them over the fire—they're large and really, really satisfying. It's actually a really lovely activity over the holidays. Having done it once, I highly recommend it and will be taking my family to go toast them again (even though we already do it at home). I went out there recently with my girlfriend Caroline, and her little girl was super cute with giddy excitement over it all. It's $12 for two, they are open Friday Saturday and Sunday but it's the best experience for anyone.
Anyway I think we will take the kids there this week again.
Dark Mofo Winter Feast ran for a few weeks and they got me to run around eat, capture it on film and be merry. Soooo much good fun. AND to top it off it turned out to be the best Dark Mofo I’ve ever been to - and the weather behaved the entire time but the amount of mates I saw there! So good- seems like everyone flew it to it from the Mainland. Big highlights were Lilly Trewartha’s Katso Sando ( we ate one every time we went there & shes doing a pop up again In Hobart this week here!) Trophy Rooms Maple Cruller - crispy rings of deep fried choux pastry drizzled in maple syrup…. And the tasty & filling tempura mushrooms on a stick.
But it was the ‘fire roasted brussels, Cauliflower & kōji cream, scallop & abalone liver XO, wakame furikake, long-spined urchin, Pacific oyster sea powder’…. that I loved most from NZ Chef Vaughan Mabee working at Heavy Metal Kitchen that I really really loved. We did the entire meal they had but these were a stand out. Refreshed my love of sprouts again and I know that Analise Gregory has a fabulous recipe for her XO sauce in her Cookbook - I think I’ll give that a crack too with these. I think XO sauce needs to be in the pantry now as a staple.
But honestly the warm mulled spiced drinks drinking by fires under red fairy lights make it such a jovial carnival atmosphere. Offerings of Ghost Rock Wines Quiet Mutiny and Willy Smiths spiced cider So glad I took the kids up on the Free Family Sunday night and watched the haunting opening of ‘Fish Trumpets’ as they called them. But I did a lot of ‘Reels’ for Dark Mofo and these can be seen over at my insta
We drove up and used the vouchers we got from our wedding to go to Ogee and enjoy their degustation dinner, which featured probably the best-prepared oysters I've ever had in my life. It's like a rolling degustation meal and really nailed the not-too-full but super-happy feeling as you go home. We were lucky to get in - I didn’t realise they were so popular, we got in on a cancellation. The set dinner is $95, and as I sat there, about half way though, Sarah both of us couldn’t stop grinning I thought this is the best night. I love how random things we discover though friends. It was the best ‘thank you or congratulations gift’ we could ever have gotten (vouchers here). The whole evening was such a lovely experience, especially with the early seating at 5:30 pm. My favourite love going to dinner early, getting home at a decent hour, and basically being in my bed and PJ's by 8:00. Since then, I keep thinking about the meal. I've tried to recreate the oysters at home, but when I talked about it on insta here - asked they sent me the recipe!! So, so generous, and now I'm ridiculously happy and cant wait to get all the ingredients as I have wild ( and free!) oysters on tap at the bottom of the garden. If you get a chance and you love oysters….. do this - its worth it all.
Talking of nice things to eat, I randomly discovered this cheese at Hill Street Grocer and have fallen in love with it. They do nice cheese tastings, when I went there they had 5 different ones out. Its a real tasting platter winner and now a firm favorite of mine - I’m a soft cheese lover - as a base brie is my ‘go to’. This is Délice de Bourgogne. I’ve been back twice to get some. You can get it a little cheaper (winning!) if you're a Hill Street Happiness Club Member, (free to join) which can be dangerous as there is an incredible amount of amazing cheese options there. But this can be counterbalanced with the good old fashioned savings too - This weeks specials catalogue has Tassy brussles sprouts at $6.90 a kg. Excellent as I’d like to recreate that Dark Mofo Sprout recipe from this dinner here. When I was there they had Tasmanian Avocados on special ( like $1 each) and if you get a chance these are large, seriously creamy but keep so well and perfect on toast (as they take longer to grow they just are so tasty) . However, all in all , I think I'm rather slow on this cheese uptake of Délice de Bourgogne as everyone seems to know about all it. I’m telling you if you don’t know. I think I need to get out more and learn these things.
News + Events + Things I found.
Sarahs finished these last commissions. Her latest of someone furry friends. I still don’t know how she can sit like that for hours/days draw - & in pencil. But hey opposites attract. But I think these are really good.
For those who are RACT members, I noticed that holidays in Freycinet and Cradle Mountain offer up to 35% off with memberships. In fact, there are a lot of hot holiday deals out there at the moment.
However, if your looking for a break - I actually think that contacting the all Tasmanian accommodation spots directly & asking them if they can give you a deal—it's more of a win-win for both sides, especially for a few nights, as you both don't have to pay the air bnb/bookings.com etc 'middlemen.'
If you’re chasing another Katsu Sando by Lilly ( they were an hit at Dark Mofo) shes got a pop up at Rosie in My Midnight Dreams this Friday 5th June from 2-6.
The Van Diemens Land Creamery, the floating icecream has this upgrade of single to double scoops on Fridays & Tuesdays -an "ice cream happy hour" between 4-6 PM. I just happened to be there at the right time to discover it. They're located down at a floating punt in Hobart on the water near Mures. Right now, I'm really loving the lemon curd & they did this soy/ginger one - all the umami flavours - so good. Ivy is thrilled as there is plenty of vegan options - shes Lactose free. they always add new random seasonal varieties & thats what I try.
The last festival at Willy Smiths Mid Winter Festival is happening the 12 + 13th June. Although the single days are sold out there are full Fri/Sat weekend/camping tickets still available here
New foodie waterfront restaurant open with a Mediterranean feel Maria opened.
Fancy Granny Supper Club tickets at the Bowmont are up, and I’m going later this month on the 20th July with a few others. These are 3 course dinners over winter with a little sparkly are rolling out each month, and it should be a real hoot as I’m fond of dressing up for a thing. Our night is sold out, but you can get July August tickets here.
Anyway. Thanks for checking in. It’s all still flat chat around here….theres a few more things I have to write but I think if I keep going it will get ridiculously long and I’m well and truly over my limit. Chat soon
X LJ
Crack puddle works on freezing mornings where you go around cracking the surface the frozen puddles on the road with your feet. Excellent free fun
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Lady Jo- My favorite part of this whole piece is the cracked puddle for some reason. The food also looks amazing. Not to mention the company. All in all---such a great piece to start my weekend! Hope all is well? Cheers, -Thalia
A delicious breath of Tasmanian air, Lady Jo - what a stunning post! ❤️
I loved playing 'crackpuddle' - still do - we didn't ever call it anything, but that crunch of ice on a shallow puddle and the sudden burst of cold water that if you're wearing wellies doesn't matter was always such brilliant fun on a wintry day! Thank you for the memories.