Tasmanian Life

Spent last weekend chasing trout.

Plan was to catch one of three $25k tagged trout swimming around somewhere in Tasmania’s Great Lake, a highland waterbody roughly three times larger in area than Sydney Harbour.

Trout don’t handle well, and there’s a lot of cormorants around Tassie at the moment, so it’s debatable the tagged trout even still exist after being speared with a tag. They have been available to catch since August, and there’s been no shortage of people trying.

Keep in mind that $25k in Tassie would be perceived as $25 million by some locals, as incomes are not the same here as the mainland.

The other reason for going last weekend was to spend a day or two at the week-long fly fishing camp at Bronte Lagoon, where my girls would have a chance for some casting tuition with world-class fly fishos. The camp is held annually by East Devonport Fly Fishing Club.

I managed to reinstall new injectors and injection pump on the old Patrol just in time for the trip, and also did a front hub rebuild prompted by a leaky front axle seal.

It was not to be a long drive but is quite hilly into the highlands via Bronte and the trip would be the first test of my vehicle handiwork.

One daughter wasn’t feeling too well before we left and by the time we arrived was getting worse. B&B looked flash in the pix but we found only half a bog roll left between two dunnies, a busted toilet seat, stains on the messed up blankets, and it all looked like someone had moved out 10 minutes before we moved in. Owner didn’t answer the phone.

It sleeted in the morning but soon warmed up. Decided to fish bait to maximise chances and minimise effort, found a rare grassy spot with adjacent weed (most of the lake is lunar landscape-type rock/sand bank) and we soaked worms for a few hours for not a touch, nor saw any feeding activity.

Back at the B&B that night we got a free disco bass treat from two houses away, with some bloke raging in anger early on from the same house about God knows what.

Next day was to be spent at the fly camp but by now my girl had double ear-aches so it was time to head home, we apologised to the fly fishing camp folk for not showing up.

Sounds like a sh.tty weekend but it was actually mostly pleasant (not so much for my daughter), we saw interesting country in decent weather, and there’s nothing nasty about sitting around soaking worms on a sunny day.

With the water level down, bank fishing was unlikely to be red hot anyway, it tends to be better on rising lakes.

Saw a deer near the cabin, a group of wedge-tailed eagles, heaps of rosellas, the stark alpine scenery, and we cooked up a storm. In other words pretty much like a standard day on my farm, lol.

Best of all the front wheel didn’t fall off and fuel economy improved, although the rebuilt hub ran a bit warm, maybe the new grease pack or I might have to loosen it off a touch.

Lastly, driving back into town, I saw that diesel fuel is cheaper in the highlands than at my local bowser, although a servo just down the road from town is 40c/L cheaper. Very odd.

Will return, but next time with the boat, clean blankets and a couple of bog rolls.

They have released a few tagged prize trout across Tassie, but not for $25k each, and they didn’t put one in my local river.

Never forget how good you northern fellas have got it!

Pic of the water running in is Tod’s Corner, a spot where there are heaps of trout but you can’t fish in the running water and you can’t use bait in the vicinity, it is probably where old mate $25k trout is happily resting.

I asked Chatgpt if the proposed $2b Hobart stadium could turn a profit.

The question came to me after I attended the Hobart public hospital emergency department. It was PACKED, with stretchers in the aisles.

Why spend on a stadium when the hospital desperately needs resources?

Here’s Chatgpt’s answer.

****

A $2 billion stadium for an island of 500,000 residents is very unlikely to be profitable in normal conditions. Here’s why:

—

⚖️ 1. Population and Market Size

A population of 500,000 is relatively small.

Even if every resident attended a few events a year, the total ticket revenue and concessions would usually fall far short of recovering a $2 billion capital cost.

Large, profitable stadiums (e.g. in New York, London, Tokyo) depend on millions of nearby residents, tourists, and corporate buyers.

—

💰 2. Scale of Investment vs. Economic Base

$2 billion equals $4,000 per person on the island — a massive per-capita cost.

The local economy likely cannot support enough high-value events (international sports, concerts, conventions) to cover the cost without heavy subsidies.

—

🎫 3. Revenue Streams

Typical stadium revenue sources:

Ticket sales

Concessions & merchandise

Naming rights & sponsorships

Corporate suites

Non-sporting events (concerts, expos)

In small markets, most of these are limited. Sponsorship deals and TV rights are usually smaller too.

—

🏗️ 4. Operating Costs

Even after construction, yearly maintenance, staffing, and utilities can reach tens of millions.
If events are infrequent, the operating cost can easily exceed annual revenue.

—

🧾 Bottom line

A $2 billion stadium on an island of 500,000 people would almost certainly lose money in direct financial terms.

Some pix from Geeveston’s annual car show. This was only a few of the vehicles displayed. Made me wish I bought that old FJ back in the day!

My kids were enjoying a school holiday movie when they saw something staring at them from the other side of the glass.

It was a big tiger snake moving along the brickwork.

It was either very curious or staring at its own reflection in the windows.

I went out to move it along. It was not happy to see me, doing the cobra thing with its neck.

We rarely see tiger snakes on the farm, but when we do its not around the dams, as you might expect, but at the house.

A few years ago we had a small one banging its nose against the back door.

We had a bigger one lying next to the bins, which my wife discovered as she took out a rubbish bag.

We forget they are around and get lazy watching our step.

Suffice to say, the recent visitor made us wary again, especially in warm weather.

We hear secondhand stories about horses, dogs and cattle getting bitten in farmer’s paddocks, but it’s not happened here, as far as I know, and we have many pets and other animals roaming around.

As a former Adelaide resident, I found SA’s eastern brown snakes more concerning, as they were common, very fast, and actively hunted in daylight.

The tiger snakes here seem to just mooch around, until disturbed.

Out in the forests, around the button grass and rivers, they are abundant. We often see them while walking.

They move quickly at times and one raced out onto a bush track in front of us, presumably while hunting.

We also see them on roads.

Tassie has two other snake varieties. I know they occur locally, but I’ve never seen a copperhead or whip snake in the Huon.

Keeping the grass short is important in fire country in summer.

I run a Kubota TG1860 ride-on mover, which I have kept going without resorting to buying pricey OEM parts.

The alternative belts that worked for me are an 11A0890 on the fan, B2692 on the 48″ deck, and a B57 kevlar on the clutch.

I’ve added a relay to the starter solenoid to make sure the starter motor gets 12v+ every time, otherwise it just “clicks”.

The stop solenoid packed it in so I ran a stainless wire though to the engine and tied it to a lever to turn it off.

Replacing the deck bearings has proved easy enough though a bit time-consuming.

Keeping the deck going has required welding of small cracks on the outer edges.

Some day the diesel injectors and pump will need work and it will then be out of my hands, fingers crossed until then.

Can always bring the sheep and horses in when the mower is down and grass is growing.

I am told people used to make fun of the Huon Valley because it was so cold and damp everything went moldy.

Maybe that is true, I don’t know.

What I do know is that it is the driest I have seen it on the farm in our 12 years in Judbury, and the weather bureau is backing up my observation.

According to the bureau’s soil dryness index, Judbury had the driest soil in the state on January 25, 2024.

That’s right – not the dry midlands, not the dry east coast – part of the “cold and damp” Huon Valley was bone dry.

There is no data for neighbouring Glen Huon or Lonnavale, but the available figures show Huonville’s soil is far less dry.

We have had a couple of 40C days during our 12 years here.

But overall the climate has been mild, with a drying trend.

Twelve years ago we had to wear gumboots outside in winter and spring because the paddocks were boggy.

Not any more.

So we aren’t going moldy. Far from it.

What is in store next year?

The once reliable sorta-spring-fed dam in our gully is bone dry.

Yes, it is summer, but I don’t recall the dam drying out like this before in our 12 years here.

It has only emptied when a pipe burst or when I was irrigating too much and it drained out.

The dam was only half full during the winter and the soil has no moisture to top it up.

During our first five years here this dam was always over two thirds full.

Given the renewed interest in this subject, note that this story was originally posted in November 29, 2023. After this was written, Leggo’s said its tomato paste had reverted back to Aussie tomatoes again. Most recently, in July 2026, a testing company claimed Chinese tomatoes were found in tomato products claimed to be Australian … see the ABC report here.

Leggo’s tomato paste, which until recently was labelled an Australian product, is now labelled as having less than 10% Australian ingredients.

It doesn’t say on the jar where the other 90% comes from.

At Huonville Woolworths in southern Tassie a 500g jar of Leggo’s tomato paste was $4.80 (Nov 2023), while a 500g jar of generic tomato past labelled “Produced in China” was $1.40.

Looking further, I found that all processed garlic products in jars at our local Woolworths are from China.

I could not find garlic products from other sources other than fresh garlic cloves.

Given how polluted Chinese water sources are (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36022538 and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8631815/), and that highly toxic pesticides have been found in Chinese produce, including tomatoes (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651321005406), one wonders about the risk of Chinese food products being tainted.

And with tomato paste and crushed garlic products, it appears our only choices are to buy Chinese or from unknown sources, or stop using them.

It is not just potential heavy metal and pesticide contamination that is a concern.

In frozen imported goods such as berries, pathogens such as hepatitis have been imported in Chinese food in the past (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-16/how-did-frozen-berries-become-contaminated-with-hepatitis-a/6120872).

Is Leggo’s tomato paste now made from Chinese-grown tomatoes? Or do they use Italian or other tomatoes? And are Australian authorities on the ball enough to detect tainted imported food?

I put questions about their tomato paste to Leggo’s, they replied promptly but did not say where their tomatoes now come from. Leggo’s’ response, in part: Thank you for your email regarding the country of origin of the Leggo’s tomato paste. Leggo’s has been made in Australia with quality ingredients for over 100 years. We make our sauces and tomato pastes with love and care, sourcing our ingredients from local farmers and communities where possible. At the heart of our operations is Echuca, Victoria, where we make our delicious sauces. Unfortunately, due to extreme weather events in Victoria, there is currently a shortage of locally sourced tomatoes. As a temporary measure, we have partnered with trusted overseas suppliers to ensure you, our valued customers, can continue to enjoy our quality sauces with absolute confidence. Where possible, we continue to use Australian tomatoes in our products and look forward to returning in full to Australian grown tomatoes next season. Despite these difficult times, we continue to manufacture our delicious sauces at our Echuca site in regional Victoria to support local manufacturing.

I hope they revert back to Aussie tomatoes as soon as possible.

Australia’s food labelling laws appear to be woeful, allowing such horrors as “Made from Local and Imported Ingredients”, which is about as cynical as the sales slogan “Buy Now and Save”.

Lastly, below is a screenshot taken from the Leggo’s website today (30/11/2023).

I thought the Huon Valley was under attack on October 18.

Given world events, who can blame me?

But a closer analysis of the audio suggests it’s someone’s car.

Howz the serenity!

I have had some weird experiences on our Huon Valley farm over the years.

Today, while bent over to tend the vegie patch, a magpie crash-landed on my back.

I’ve been dive-bombed by magpies before but this felt a bit different.

Rather than fly off the magpie hopped onto a short fence just 2m away and stood there looking at me.

I politely told it off for being so cheeky as to attack me, and it just kept staring back.

So – as you do – I started warbling at it like I was a magpie.

It took a keen interest in this performance, and then – knock me over with a feather – it jumped down at my feet and started pecking around for insects.

I kneeled down and pushed bits of debris aside so it could grab worms, which it did, in some cases from my hand.

This went on for a couple of minutes, and I had to walk a few steps to find more debris and worms.

Then our bloody cat came along and started lining up the magpie as a prey item.

I hate cats, but that’s another story.

I shooed the cat away, but the magpie got a fright and jumped back on the fence.

Then a curious thing happened.

Two other magpies came flying in fast, very vocal too, and they started chasing my new mate.

They were extremely aggressive, and as the three flew off I felt that the tame magpie was going to be killed.

Perhaps it was someone’s handraised bird, and the other magpies knew it was odd?

Dunno, but I might have had a new mate around the farm if it wasn’t for the bloody cat.

Whatever its story was, I was sad to see the bird go.