Launceston: An introduction to Place by way of a few ‘Firsts’:
This conference, the first under the Association’s incorporation of ‘Culture’ in its acronym, is to be held at the Inveresk Cultural Precinct a joint warehouse and railway yard restoration project carried out between the late Launceston Mayor John Lees and the University of Tasmania. It’s just across the bridge from the City of Launceston CBD, Map, and it’s Australia’s third oldest city. The Launceston area is the birthplace of composer Peter Sculthorpe whose compositions are inspired by indigenous landscapes and text; it is the birthplace of numerous writers such as ‘Louis Kaye’, Georgia Savage, and ‘Carmel Bird’, and of dramatist Edward Henry Thomas (d. 1837) who is credited with being the first in Australia to have a play (The Bandit of the Rhine, 1835) written, published, and staged—and it happened in Launceston. John Glover took up residence near the historic township of Evandale: a bronze memorial to the artist greets Sunday market-goers. Settled by colonisers in 1806, the north was governed from Sydney, making it then a separate colony from Hobart. Tasmanian writer CJ Koch comments on the ongoing North/South rivalry when he writes: ‘Northern Launceston, founded as an innocent market town, is more light-hearted: closer to the continent, looking to the warmer latitudes across Bass Strait’ ((1995).
Launceston lies at the conjunction of the South Esk River, the North Esk, and the tidal Tamar (indigenous name Ponrabbel). Population, including the outlying suburbs, is around 93,000.
The city is flanked by cliffs of the world famous Cataract Gorge Reserve just 15 minutes walk from the CBD. Practically slap-bang in the city, the Reserve consists of 192 hectares that include grasslands, woodlands, dry forests, wet forests and wet gullies. It contains 25 threatened flora species, seven threatened fauna species (including the rare Plomley's Trapdoor Spider (Migas plomleyi) and the Gorge Snail (Beddomeia launcestonensis) only known from this location).
Culturally, this is the site of Mrs W.I. Thrower’s romantic novel Younah (1894) about a white settler and fictitious indigenous tribe; it’s where Katharine Susannah Prichard went to wag school when she lived here as a child. The Duck Reach power plant, now an interpretation centre, began operation in 1895, making Launceston the first City in the Southern Hemisphere to be lit by electricity generated by water. The Gorge is home to the sublime and the pastoral, with the writers’ cottage, peacocks, and a 308m span chairlift, touted to be the longest single chairlift span in the world.
For more on what’s in the local, visit The City of Launceston website.
How to get here?
1) Sail the Bass Strait:
Being an island, you’ll not be able to hitchhike over, but you can drive. The Spirit of Tasmania sails from Melbourne to Devonport, and back, nightly. And there’s no luggage limit. This mode of travel gives delegates the option of saving on car hire fees by travelling with their car for an additional $79 (approx) each way. Devonport is 150 ks North West of Launceston.
2) Fly the Bass Strait:
Launceston Airport serviced by Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, and Tiger, with direct flights from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane. Delegates could chose to fly into Launceston, and out from Hobart (200k south) if they wanted to visit the state’s beautiful capital. The Launceston Airport website contains Airline booking information, car rental, and shuttle details. Taxis cost around $35 to the city; the Airporter Shuttle is $14 and will drop you at your door.
What to bring?
Launceston is located at 41.42 S, Longitude 147.12 W, with October spring temperatures ranging from 18° C high, 6.9° C low and cloudy days numbering 12. Protected by the Great Western Tier Mountains, it is usually 2-5°C warmer than Hobart, with a milder climate than Melbourne. Nevertheless you’ll need to bring a jacket or stimulate the local economy by visiting the family-owned shop ‘The Sheeps Back’, or the ‘Old Umbrella Shop’ (established in 1860), and now a National Trust property. Both are on George Street.
Accommodation
The Launceston Travel & Information Centre will assist delegates with accommodation and tour bookings. They can provide you with a wide range of information on the rest of the state. To book from the list of accommodation choices or tour options you will need to contact the tourism professionals at the Launceston Travel & Information Centre on free call 1800 651 827 (Australia only) or email travelcentre@launceston.tas.gov.au. (This information is contained on the ‘Completion’ page of the ASLEC-ANZ Registration site). Payment can be made over the phone, or once a booking has been made and emailed to you, payment can be made online using a secure link and other details provided on your reservation email. View accommodation options by following the links below, but keep in mind that the rates secured by the Launceston City Council for ASLEC-ANZ delegates are lower than those advertised. Costs can be reduced further by doubling up with another delegate. The closest venue is the historic Clarion Hotel City Park Grand, established in the 1850s, situated at 22 Tamar Street; and also the Arthouse Backpackers Hostel offering accommodation ranging from dorms to double rooms. Just steps away from the Inveresk Arts Precinct, Arthouse along with its Hobart partner, is the World’s first carbon-neutral backpacker hostel. Clarion Hotel City Park Grand; Commodore Regent; Hotel Grand Chancellor: Sandors on the Park.
Food
Delegates will be treated to a Welcome buffet on Wednesday evening with locally-sourced food; morning and afternoon Fair Trade tea / coffee breaks on Thursday and Friday; refreshments on Thursday before the viewing of ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ with director Jonathan auf der Heide. The conference dinner on Friday night is not covered by the registration fees. Food will be local, sustainable produce; for omnivores this includes kangaroo, wallaby, and Tasmanian farmed salmon. Special dietary needs will be catered for with the same attention as given to mainstream eaters. (Please let the organisers know your needs). Restaurants, open-air cafes, Nature’s Own foodshops, are all plentiful in Launceston.
Getting Around
Launceston CBD is a remarkable human-scale city. It is easy to walk to most of the major services and facilities, such as the Town Hall, hospitals, shops, restaurants, cinema, and theatres. It’s been made easier with the introduction of the free Tiger Bus (routes and timetable), which travels within the CBD and goes right to the Conference venue. Traveling between venues and accommodation will involve a couple of blocks only. A shuttle bus for delegates with special needs will be available; those delegates should indicate their needs and place of accommodation.
Cycling Tracks
For delegates wishing to explore farther, thanks to the efforts of the Tamar Bicycle Users Group (TBUG) the number of dedicated bike lanes around the city is increasing. In addition, the municipality has numerous trails developed by Council for locals and visitors. Doug Snare offers bike and camping hire at special rates for delegates; and the Launceston Environment Centre is hoping to have bikes available in time for the conference. Beware: riding around the CBD is effortless, but the outlying streetscape is unforgivingly steep due to the dish-shaped topography of the city.
What to do? Tours.
A range of tour options have been set aside especially for ASLEC-ANZ delegates. The link will direct you to The Launceston Travel & Information Centre site; keep in mind that to receive ASLEC-ANZ discounts bookings should go through this site. To book from the list of tour options you will need to contact the tourism professionals at the Launceston Travel & Information Centre on free call 1800 651 827 (Australia only) or email travelcentre@launceston.tas.gov.au. (Information is on the ‘Completion’ page of the ASLEC-ANZ Registration site). Payment can be made over the phone, or once a booking has been made and emailed to you, payment can be made online using a secure link and other details provided on your reservation email.
The types of tours available range from a special local sightseeing four-hour bus tour on Wednesday for the early delegates, to canoeing down the Franklin River after the conference. The Franklin River, the last wild river in south-eastern Australia gained worldwide attention during the Franklin River campaign in 1982. This 5-day tough as guts trip features in Richard Flanagan’s novel Death of a River Guide. If you want a FREE water experience closer to home do what the locals do: hardy locals swim year round at specific sites in the Gorge; and comfort-zone folk frequent the brand new Launceston Aquatic Centre . Hire a bike and visit Tamar Island Wetlands a ½ hour bike ride from the CBD where you can walk to the island. A Half hour drive will take you to Notley Gorge State Reserve, the last wet sclerophyll forest in that area and the home of Brady’s Tree, named for bushranger Matthew Brady. 60 ks from Launceston, take a sunset tour to see Little Blue Penguins (Eudyptula minor) at Low Head. Hire a car and take the Tamar Valley Wine Route— Launceston’s sister city is Napa, California. It will also give you the opportunity to tour the area proposed for the controversial Long Reach Pulp Mill. A tour to the Blue Tiers conducted by Kumi Kato is being organised for Saturday; delegates will be notified as details are confirmed. Launceston is perfectly situated for self-drive tours to Cradle Mountain, Coles Bay, and the Bay of Fires—voted the world’s ‘hottest’ travel destination for 2009 by Lonely Planet.
Parks and Playgrounds
Launceston contains some of Australia's oldest parks and recreational areas. Many of these date back to the 1800s, the most notable being City Park (with its Macquque, or Snow, monkeys—a gift from its Japanese sister city, Ikeda); Princes Square; Windmill Hill (a signaling station during the colonial period); Royal Park, and the Cataract Gorge Reserve. Launceston City Council organises Gorgeous Guided Walks—a series of interpretive walks throughout the Gorge Reserve. Walks depart from the Basin Cottage Volunteers Centre, which houses photos and other memorabilia dating from the 1860s. Walks range from 1.3 kilometres to the 5.1 kilometre walk.
Heritage Park is where delegates leave their mark on Tasmania: one native sapling for each delegate will be donated to the Launceston City Council and planted at Heritage Park, Invermay, as part of a regeneration program.
Cultural browsing in the city: art, books, music
The conference site at Inveresk puts it next door to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. There are numerous galleries in town but this is a good place to start.
For literature-focused delegates Launceston is home to Birchalls, Australia’s oldest bookshop, which began operation in 1844, and still operates from its original premises (Brisbane Street Mall). For bookstores don’t miss gems such as Martin Stevenson’s ‘gentleman’s hours’ bookstore a block up from Fresh (vegetarian) Café and the Wilderness Society shop, on Charles Street. Germaine Greer, whose father grew up in Launceston, writes of the amazing number of opportunity shops in the city: she omits to mention what a fabulous outlet for second-hand books these can be.
For music history, note that Tasmania is the birthplace of ‘Tasmanian Nightingale’, Amy Sherwin (d. 1869), prima donna absoluta at Covent Garden Opera House; and a trip to St Leonards a few kms from Launceston will bring you to the childhood home of ‘Living Treasure’ Peter Sculthorpe. If you get a copy of his biography Sun Music (1999) you can see the buildings he describes, such as the village store his parents owned, opposite the Village Inn hotel. For music browsing visit the water-organ at the Albert Hall (built 1891), and pick up an instrument at Barratt’s Music store.
Following is an alphabetical introduction to some of the ASLEC-ANZ delegates. This site will be updated at regular intervals leading up to the Conference:
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Jonathan auf der Heide Filmographer. Director, writer, of ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ which follows the true story of convict escapee and cannibal, Alexander Pierce. The film will be shown at the conference after a discussion on the relationship between environment and sound, including the use of Gaelic dialogue. auf der Heide received the Melbourne International Film Festival ‘Emerging Australian Filmmaker Award’ for Hell’s Gate which he developed into the feature film, ‘Van Diemen’s Land’. (Photo source: Luke Buckmaster) |
| John Bradley A Keynote Speaker: Author of Singing Saltwater Country (2010) a compelling account of three decades living with the Yanyuwa people of the Gulf of Carpentaria. John is Deputy Director, Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies, Monash University. |
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Damian Candusso A Keynote Speaker: ‘Clean Sound: Sound designing an Environment for Film’. Sound designer for ‘Australia’ and ‘Happy Feet’; awarded the Centenary Medal for Contribution to Australian Culture by the Commonwealth of Australia. His soundscape ‘Nature Man Machine’ will be on display at the Academy of the Arts |
| Debbie Bird Rose Plenary session ‘Animal Calls’. Anthropologist, author, Professor, Macquarie University, at the Centre for Research on Social Inclusion; and author of numerous works including Dingo Makes us Human; Nourishing Terrains; Country of the Heart; Reports from a Wild Country. |
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Katherine Johnson Author of Pescador’s Wake, a novel based on the true story of an Australian patrol vessel in pursuit of a Uruguanyan-flagged boat suspected of illegally fishing the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). |
| Kumi Kato (Wakayama University, Japan) teaches environmental studies in Japan, Australia and Korea. She believes in the power of creativity in environmental advocacy and considers herself a positive activist. She is a founder of ecco: exchanging culture for conservation. She has produced work on Japanese whaling communities, and Japanese seals. |
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Dierdre Kessler (Prince Edward Island, Canada) is a Charlottetown-based writer, video broadcaster, poet (Afternoon Horses: 2009) and author of numerous books for children. Her awards include the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice Award; and the Distinguished Contribution to the Literary Arts in PEI Award. will be holding a nature writing writers’ workshop for delegates and community participants. |
| Amanda Lohrey Author of five novels, multiple essays, and the winner of the ALS Gold Medal and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Camille’s Bread. She .will speak on the demographic phenomenon of the sea change as a retreat from the anxieties of economic rationalism and the future time that characterises postmodern capitalism. She will look at recent Australian writing in that context. |
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Ron Nagorcka Birdsoundings and Beyond Composer, performer, and active Field Naturalist, Ron takes a keen interest in the science as well as the aesthetics of the bush. With David Stewart of ‘Naturesound Australia’ he produced a comprehensive identification CD for Tasmanian birds. His nature recordings are the basis for many of his compositions; digital technology enables him to explore the ancient tuning known as ‘just intonation’. |
| Grace Pundyk Author of The Honey Spinner (2008) a book pollinated by travels to the Yemini deserts, the jungles of Borneo, to Indonesia, Russia, and the leatherwood forests of Tasmania. Grace’s exploration of the Food of the Gods ranges from ‘orgasmic honey’ to colony collapse disorder. (Photo source: Carol Rooney, ABC). |
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Ronnie Summers Musician, plays Cape Barren Island music, a mixture of folk and western influences. Ronnie is an elder in the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and is active in the Aboriginal Sharing Knowledge Program. His autobiography Tasmanian Songman—Ronnie (Magabala: 2009) contains a CD of Cape Barren Music. (Photo source: Siobhan Maiden, ABC) |
| Tim Thorne Author of 11 poetry collections, founder of Cornford Press, and the Launceston Poetry Cup. Tim’s presentation ‘Poetry and the Earth’ will explore some of the relationships between the arts (especially poetry) and the earth. The main medium used will be poetry, which will be performed (recited or read) within the context of an explicatory spoken prose text. |
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Bruce Watson Musician, based in Melbourne. Bruce has received songwriting awards and had his songs recorded by prominent singers. He has produced 6 albums along with '101 Songs' containing the words and music of his songs. Bruce’s connection to the conference, through his great grandfather, Horace Watson, will be explored through his presentation ‘The Man and the Woman and the Edison Phonograph’. Bruce also has a day job, working in Aboriginal health. |
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