Tassie On My Mind, May 2012
- Tasmania leads the way

Welcome to the May 2012 issue of Tassie On My Mind, a free monthly newsletter keeping you informed of the latest news on what makes Tasmania such an attractive travel destination.

This month I'm celebrating how Tasmania leads the way. Educational excellence, sporting wins, saving Australian wildlife - Tasmanians know how to do all this and more...

Read on to see what I mean...

This issue:

  • UTAS a leader
  • Ahead of the rest
  • Learning through adventure
  • Saving the locals
  • French connection

Plus... your chance to be a part of tasmania-attractions.com!


UTAS a leader

How is the University of Tasmania (UTAS) a leader?

According to The MyUniversity website:

  • with a ratio of 17 students per staff member, UTAS has one of the best student-to-staff ratios in Australia
  • 73.8 per cent of UTAS graduates were in full time employment after graduating, and 24.7 per cent were in full-time study

A couple of UTAS graduates doing well would be Paris Buttfield-Addison and Jon Anning. In fact, while they were still undergrads, they founded Secret Lab, their mobile app and game development company.

Here are just a few of the apps produced by Secret Lab:

  • Taste of Tasmania
  • Foodie
  • Play School Art Maker
Buttfield-Addison and Jon Anning have already spent a couple of years in Silicon Valley working with Apple and Meebo, among others.

According to Anning,

"UTAS really provided us with the raw education we needed to be successful but there were a lot of other aspects of the craft we couldn't really learn here, so we moved abroad."

"Tasmania really has the potential to become a centre for IT development but we need more creative development here, which we hope to encourage."

Well we look forward to even more Tassie innovations!


Ahead of the rest

I'm referring to a couple of Tasmanian athletes who won gold at the recent Australian Athletics Championships.

Todd Hodgetts
Hodgetts not only beat his competitors in shot put - he broke the world record too with his throw of 16.09m. He is now the favourite to win at the London Paralympic Games.

Tristan Thomas
Thomas achieved his third national 400m hurdles win. His winning time did not qualify him for the Olympics, but he will have more chances to get a qualifying time at overseas competitions coming up.

Go the Tassie athletes!


Learning through adventure

Tasmanian teacher Andrew Hughes knows that students engage more with classroom learning when there are outdoor activities involved. When it comes to expanding your understanding, nothing compares to hands on activities "in the field".

Every year, Andrew's team leads students on a new outdoor learning journey. For example, see what happened in each of these years:

  • 2008 - paddling around Papua New Guinea by sea kayak to learn about climate change and culture
  • 2009 - travelling around Australia by bike, kayak and foot to learn about Australian geography
  • 2010 - tracking the Tassie Tiger through South West Tasmania and Papua New Guinea to learn about Australian biodiversity

You'll be pleased to know that Andrew's innovative and inspiring contributions to learning are not going un-recognised. He has just been awarded the "Power of One Australian Hero" for 2012, by Australian author Bryce Courtenay.

This means another $50,000 to fund Andrew's adventure education programs.

Find out more at the Exhibition Class website.

Thanks Andrew for your great work helping our students and our natural environment!


Saving the locals

Recently, I read about a disease threatening native frogs. Chytrid fungus kills frogs by drying out their skin, hence stopping the animals from breathing.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary has placed some frogs in quarantine, so as to keep them safe from the fungus. It is hoped that this will help keep the frog population from being entirely wiped out by the disease.

Already the green and gold frog and striped marsh frog are listed as threatened species.

We have seen what happened to the Tasmanian Tiger.

And we know how the Tasmanian Devil is in jeopardy. But thankfully, efforts are underway to save the Devil too.

Actually, I just heard about a Tasmanian Devil showing up in someone's yard in Battery Hill. Again, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary came to the rescue. Staff managed to catch the devil, then release it into bushland.

Let's hope that we will succeed in saving our frogs as well as our devils.


French connection

Did you know that in 1800 a scientific expedition left France and came to Tasmania?

Yes, Tasmania's East Coast has a French connection. In fact, Freycinet Peninsula and Freycinet National Park are named after the Freycinet brothers, who were part of the expedition.

To celebrate Tasmania's French past, a festival will be held from 4th to 13th May. From France to Freycinet will include activities such as:

  • Twilight Lantern Parade
  • French Dinner and Music event
  • French Nightclub event
  • French history exhibition
Visit the From France to Freycinet website to learn more about the activities to be held on the east coast of Tassie.

I have certainly enjoyed some of Tasmania's East Coast attractions, and there are so many more places there I have yet to see!

Well that's it for this issue.

A big Tasmanian event coming up is AgFest. The Tasmanian premier agricultural event showcasing everything for the farm as well as the home will be held from 3rd to 5th May. Visit the Agfest website for more information.

See you in June!


To contact me, click here.

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One Day In Tasmania

What if you had just one day in Tasmania? Where would you go? What would you do?

Share your dream with us. If selected, your dream will appear as a page at tasmania-attractions.com

It doesn't matter if you have never been to Tasmania. I would love to hear your thoughts too. It's easy to find out about Tasmania, at tasmania-attractions.com or elsewhere.

This is your chance. Join in the fun. Share your thoughts with us.

We all gain so much from each other's ideas.

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Your best wildlife shot, that is...

Have you ever been in just the right place at just the right time and snagged a great wildlife photo?

Share that photo with us. We would love to see it. Not only that, we would love to get your tips on how you got the photo.

How did you manage not to scare the animal away? What did you do to prepare for the shot?

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