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04 Dec 02 - 06:07 AM (#840203) Subject: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Helen Hi You Oz-Mexicans, south of the border - the NSW border that is. Hubby & I will be travelling in and around Tasmania, South Oz, & Victoria in January 2003. We are planning to go to the Nariel Creek Folk Festival just before New Year, and we want to check out a couple of FolkFests in Tassie and any points of interest or interesting events around those 3 states. Do you have any suggestions or where, when, how, who, what to do and see while we are there? I'd appreciate any ideas you have, and also, especially, any must-see or must-do things. Apart from the chocolate factory of course. Helen |
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04 Dec 02 - 08:02 AM (#840268) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: alison Nariel Creek is lovely..... VERY relaxing.... lots of sessions around fires.... sorely tempted to go myself but it is a long drive.... if you go you'll meet a Scottish bloke called Jamie... give him a big hug from me...... oh and take some "bad taste" clothes for the cocktail party.... and "beware the strawberries"!!! slainte alison |
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04 Dec 02 - 08:24 AM (#840289) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Sandra in Sydney Helen, Better take a banjo (or 2) to Nariel as they were the only things that scared off the snake last year. Alison, were you part of that scene? sandra |
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04 Dec 02 - 08:28 AM (#840291) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: alison nope ... missed out on the snake thankfully..... must have been swimming in the creek at the time slainte alison |
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04 Dec 02 - 08:48 AM (#840305) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Sandra in Sydney The story was that the snake slid purposefully towards a tent, nearby folks jumped up & down to make noise to send it away. Then nearby musos made music (noise?) to scare it, but it ignored them all till a banjo started up. It stopped, looked at the banjo & departed, followed by banjo noise (music). Dot who reported it is a dancer & chorus singer, not a teller of tall tales. As I can't stand hot weather, I might think of going to Nariel Creek, if I can get a ride & a guarantee there will be banjos present. sandra |
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04 Dec 02 - 06:43 PM (#840843) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Helen I haven't been to Nariel before but my hubby has - before we started going out together. He talks about it a lot, so I'm looking forward to it. Beware of strawberries?? And I don't think that the harp will scare the snake away - it might work more like a snake charmer than a snake scarer. I was hoping that the Aquarius Festival, which replaced the Longford Festival would still be on in Tassie, but I just had an e-mail reply from Doug Kelly, the organiser, and he said that they are both sadly defunct now. Helen |
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04 Dec 02 - 10:58 PM (#841054) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: alison trust me from what I was told the strawberries are lethal...... due to whatever they are poached in for a few days.... isn't the celtic summer school under the mountains on in Tassie around that time... they are bound to have some sessions.... slainte alison |
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05 Dec 02 - 09:38 AM (#841343) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: GUEST,JennyO Hooray, an Aussie thread. I think I even know most of you. Yes, I've been to Nariel Creek, although not the year of the snake. The strawberries are indeed well known for their lethal effect, and the cocktail they come in is not bad, either. There is a thrift shop in a nearby town (Corryong) which people usually visit to get their "costumes" for the cocktail party on New Years Eve. In the shop window are lots of photos from previous years so you'll get the idea. I don't remember Dot telling me about the snake. I went to Gulgong that year - it's a nice festival, lots of sessions, but being out in the Central West of N.S.W. it can be very hot. Hi Sandra, thanks for letting me know about Mudcat. This is fun. It's also helping me keep my mind off the bushfire that is almost at my back door. Think it might be a sleepless night. |
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06 Dec 02 - 01:05 AM (#842059) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: alison Hi JennyO.... hope the fire missed you we (most of the Toongabbie music club)were at one of our members houses for a party last weekend in Glenorie... good thing it wasn't scheduled for this weekend..... looks really bad out there slainte alison |
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06 Dec 02 - 03:45 AM (#842096) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Bob Bolton G'day Helen, The Nariel Creek Festival is in a great area with a very strong folk/musical tradition. I lived just over the border, at Khancoban, NSW, when I worked on the Snowy Mts Hydro Scheme, back in the '60s. I went to the dances run, in Corryong, by the Nariel Creek Band ... but I have never got down for their festivals (which started just about when I returned to Tasmania ... before coming home to Sydney in 1970 after I married). Lots of great musicians and fine people ... and it will be cooler than Gulgong - where I will be! Regards, Bob Bolton |
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06 Dec 02 - 04:41 AM (#842126) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: rich-joy isn't Georgetown Folkfest in mid January??? (North Tasi) Cheers! R-J |
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06 Dec 02 - 05:03 AM (#842143) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Helen Doug Kelly mentioned the Cygnet Festival in his e-mail. I don't know much about that one, but I'll look it up on the 'Net. Yes, Gulgong is guaranteed to be hot. The last time I went there was 1989, the day after the Newcastle earthquake hit, so all the Nukes folk - including me - were a bit shell-shocked. Most of the Nukes people who were already at Gulgong, and hadn't heard any news or read the newspapers, didn't believe that there really had been an earthquake but we finally convinced them. I don't know why but I never got back to Gulgong Festival after that. Jimmy Crosbie - a larrikin Irishman from Sydney, with a lovely singing voice - died a month or so after that too, so that was the last time I ever saw him as well. (I'm pretty sure it was that year, but ... my memory for specific dates has always been hazy) But, while I was there he and I had a mini music session, where I played the harp, very haltingly) and he sang some of his lovely songs. He sang a song that I don't think I have heard before or since, about the Bells of Shandon. Anyone know it? A few of us went to his funeral and wake. The thing that amazed me at the funeral was that there was not one piece of music in the whole service. And also, that the priest very obviously thought that Jimmy was not going to heaven, but to the other place, for his larrikinism and "wicked" ways. The wake was wonderful, though. I drove back to Nukes at about 3 in the morning with a car load of people, after the best send-off I have ever been to. Helen |
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06 Dec 02 - 06:51 AM (#842192) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Bob Bolton G'day again Helen, I think the Cygnet festival is something like the second or third weekend - and the Tamar Valey (Georgetown) festival the week after. I only bother checking the dates if I'm going to be in Tassie around that time - this year I was down in February, so missed both. I played at Cygnet around 1989 ... the local bands loved the Australian music we (Selectors Bush Band) played - they hadn't heard anything Australian before! Now there are keen local collectors and performers of Australian traditional music (such as Steve Gadd ... just over the Huon River, in Franklin) as well as half of Selectors - who fell in love with Tassie and moved down there! Lately the emphasis at Cygnet has been very "World Music" (not so much spelled ... as beaten out - on drums!) while Georgetown has a more traditional (UK / Irish expatriate) feel to it. Regards, Bob Bolton (Married to a Georgetown girl) |
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10 Jan 03 - 08:27 PM (#864015) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: GUEST,Helen, at Cygnet FolkFest Tassie Hi all, We are now in Tassie at the Cygnet FolkFest. Haven't met any other Mudcatters here yet, but I did meet one called Dave at Nariel Creek. Going to George Town FolkFest next weekend at the top end of Tassie and wandering around the island state for a couple of weeks or so. Helen |
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10 Jan 03 - 10:07 PM (#864072) Subject: RE: BS: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Bob Bolton G'day Helen, I'm glad to see that you will get to the Tamar Valley Folk Festival. Say hello to my old mate Mick Flanagan, if he isn't on a shift as steward on the Spirit of Tasmania (or the SoT ... the ship, not Mick ...). If you are crossing the Strait via the Spirit ... don't worry too much about it being the sister ship to the Spirit of Free Enterprise ... but check that they do up the back doors before sailing! Regards, Bob Bolton |
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11 Jan 03 - 10:52 PM (#864921) Subject: RE: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: GUEST,Cobber G'day Bob Good to hear Mick Flanagan's still around. I've moved to the wilds of South Australia and haven't caught up with much of the music scene here yet and haven't been Mudcatting for a while either. From what I hear, most of the South Australian festivals are suffering from the insurance disease like everywhere else Cheers John Armstrong |
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12 Jan 03 - 07:45 AM (#865073) Subject: RE: OzCats: Tasmania, SA, Vic Jan-03 From: Bob Bolton G'day John, The quickest way to find that Mick is still about is to take the ferry to Tasmania. I've known Mick for decades, so I look out for him ... but many folk musicians who don't know him have told me of being accosted by this Irish feller who says (~) "That looks like a guitar/accordion/fiddle/whatever you're carrying ... There's good session down in the Crews' Quarters tonight, if you're interested." I tink he still lives in Georgetown ... despite the hyrdofoil ferry's demise. It's a nice town (my wife grew up there) ... but the closong of the Aluminium plant is leading to some nasty social pressures. Regards, Bob Bolton |