Mr Tasmania

A beautiful firetail finch
This native beautiful firetail finch (Stagonopleura bellum) was browsing a Huon Valley (Tasmania) front lawn yesterday. They get around in ones or twos, and don’t seem to be particularly rare. They are different from the painted firetail (Emblema pictum) of the Australian mainland. Much more common in the Huon now […]

9/9/2019 – Stunner on the front lawn

A September 2002 stratospheric warming event is shown compared compared to the 2019 forecast for this September. The forecast was created by the Weather Bureau on August 30, 2019
An unusual severe stratospheric warming event over the South Pole could have big implications for Australian weather, making it windier, drier and warmer in SEQ/NSW, an area which is already suffering drought and early bushfires. Tassie can expect cold, wet weather, a relief after last year’s fire season. This story […]

8/9/2019 – Rare weather event may hit Tasmania and SEQ/NSW

Thanks for nothing Big W
Let’s be clear, we don’t have shares in Shiploads and we aren’t chocaholics. Some things just have to be reported. Shiploads Huonville is flogging Cadbury Favourites 540g packs for $8, while next door Woolworths is selling the almost-the-same-size 570g packs for $20. Meanwhile, the $10 deal for 48 x Snickers […]

28/8/2019 – Fill your prepper bunker

Spring has sprung, at least on this Huon Valley almond tree. The official start date is September 1. Spring is also the time when Tasmanian gales get serious. Looks like they already have started getting serious in Melbourne, with a jetty snapping off and floating away … story here. With […]

9/8/2019 – Spring blossom and gales

The black ram strikes again
These were born this morning, our paddock check found the young ones covered in “egg”, as my kids call it. No orphans yet, but one was stillborn. The crows are ever-present at this time, waiting for a sickly or abandoned lamb to fall. Meanwhile the older lambs play like puppies, […]

2/8/2019 – First signs of spring

No, he's not a speed bump
Wombats are nocturnal animals, but they haven’t all read the script. This Huon Valley wombat often comes out in the daytime. We’ve called him Prince Harry, for no particular reason. Locals posted the sign for motorists to slow down. Concerned residents also had the council install a speed-limit sign on […]

31/7/2019 – Day wombats

Beware the Huonville mob
Ahhh, fish and chips, always enjoyable on a brisk winter’s day, even if you must share with thieves. For F&C in the Huon, we like Bugsy’s at Margate. We order the blue grenadier, a fish usually sourced from the deep clean oceans off Tasmania and New Zealand. Blue grenadier (often […]

31/7/2019 – Feasting with thieves