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  • SHOP
  • EAT+DRINK
    • CAFES
    • RESTAURANTS
    • BREWERIES + DISTILLERIES + WINERIES
    • BARS + PUBS
    • COOKING SCHOOLS + FOODIE TOURS
    • FARM GATES + PROVIDORES
    • TOURS
  • PLAY
    • ADVENTURE + OUTDOORS
    • ARTS, HERITAGE + CULTURE
    • CAR HIRE
    • EVENTS
    • FOOD + DRINK
    • GARDENS
    • GUIDED WALKS
    • LIVE MUSIC + ARTS
    • PAMPER + WELLNESS
    • SHOPPING + MARKETS
    • WILDERNESS + WILDLIFE
  • STAY
    • LUXURY + BOUTIQUE
    • MID-RANGE
    • BOUTIQUE BUDGET
    • BOOK ACCOMMODATION
  • BOOK NOW
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT TASMANIA
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    • ALICE HANSEN

OUR 'DON'T MISS' DARK MOFO LIST

6/15/2018

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The darkness is upon us. The chill is palpable. Late in the night things are happening ... there's a man buried under a main street and a lady is sipping craft beer in a full piece leopard getup. Someone is self tattooing while metres away a man is having his hair cut blind folded. This can only mean one thing. Dark Mofo has begun.
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Matthew Schreiberart's Leviathan
Start with Matthew Schreiberart's Leviathan at Dark Park. Get your trance on. Walk through his red beams with a child's curiousness. In fact, don't be surprised if a mini human is moving at speed through the light. No matter which way you look at Leviathan it'll have you transfixed.
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Dark Park
Don't worry, heating is supplied at Dark Park.
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Matthew Schreiberart's Leviathan
Who doesn't like a good alpine ski bar? Black Diamond Ski Manor Bar has you sorted. Moo Brew and Moorilla flow freely here.
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Black Diamond Ski Manor Bar
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Black Diamond Ski Manor Bar
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Talisker Dark Bar
The wine glasses are pretty fancy with their red cross but it's the 'stubby holders' that are causing chatter. Only the Mona team would concoct the idea of 'Dark Muffs.' Nuff said.
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Dark Park
If you dare, the Submissive Salon is open for all manner of services. The Avant Gardge Hair Upstyle? This basically means for 150 bucks you get to submit your hair as art. You'll need the complimentary liquor considering these chops are done blind folded. Oh, and they offer massages complete with hot stones and they'll vibrate your head ... whatever that means.
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Submissive Salon
On the wander over to Winter Feast, stop and meet a fellow through a window at the Art School. He's got his phone number sticky taped to the glass ... ring him and have a natter. He's up for anything so the note says.
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Hunter St
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Dark Park to Winter Feast scenery
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Dark Mofo Entrance
This is where the hungry come to feast by candlelight. Pull up a pew if you can find one. Get cosy. It's winter time.
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Winter Feast
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Winter Feast - Heavy Metal Kitchen
Vince Trim, Mona's Executive Chef has been very busy with fire pit master Sao Paulo from Brazil. It's taken some 20 hours to cook an entire Scottish Highland cow, ethically farmed by Big River Highland Beef. The line up is well worth it.
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Winter Feast
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Winter Feast
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Winter Feast - Heavy Metal Kitchen
It's time to put those crackling fire pits to good use, toasting marshmallows of course. Scott will sort you with s'mores from his Krumbies outfit down the far end. Fun fact, he's also an acroyoga gun. What's acroyoga? Ask him.
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Winter Feast - Krumbies
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Winter Feast
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Winter Feast
There is so much to see, so much to do, so much to absorb. There's Night Mass, that refreshing nude swim, the burning of a giant spider, and at Domain House people feel like they've taken flight. The program is long and its bold. If you're a Tasmanian, you probably forgot to book stuff. If you did, be sure to pull on a puffer and get out to Dark Park and the feast.

Dark Mofo continues to re-invent and thousands have flocked in 2018 - drawn to the bitter cold not really knowing what they're moving towards on mass. The unknown doesn't matter though. It's what this festival is all about. So keep your mind and Narryna eyes open.

Words & images: Alice Hansen
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Narryna - Battery Point

Book Tasmanian adventures in real time and book accommodation with Tailored Tas. We've got your trip sorted and can also deliver the latest edition of Tailored Tasmania with free shipping to your doorstep.

Happy adventuring,
Alice :)
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BEHIND THE SCENES PEEK ABOARD SPIRIT OF THE WILD

6/4/2018

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Quiet cruising in ​UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
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Par Avion flight
Some may say the Gordon River is a spiritual place. I’m with them on this. So it’s fitting Gordon River Cruise’s new vessel is named Spirit of the Wild. When RACT invited me to join a photo shoot on the new boat ahead of the public launch June 16, I replied with a spirited yes! ​We hopped on a little Par Avion plane beneath the stars Monday night and were on our way.
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The Gordon River has the power to move. Through its stillness, majesty and silence. For some, it’s that mind-shifting moment when reflections confuse up from down. For me, it is gliding nose-close past a 500-year-old Huon pine. Across 23 cruising kilometres there are moments where this ancient river pulls time to a standstill.
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Heading to the Gordon River
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Aboard Spirit of the Wild
Come June 16, trips will depart 8.30am for 6 hours of cruising, set to deliver a new level of luxe to the region. The boat is a beauty. It’s slick and oozes with style. Like a small child I head straight for the Premier Upper Deck. The plush wide leather seats line either side, angled with anticipation of what’s to come. It whispers of first class airliner comfort but with the tannin-stained waters of Tasmania’s wild west coast in place of clouds.
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Spirit of the Wild
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Heading to the Gordon River
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Action time
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Chief models hard at work
The boat itself is a diesel and electric powered wonder – a first of its kind in Australia for this specific engine designed by German company MTU. When I draw myself away from the ‘top shelf’ with its Hydrowood communal centre tables (the timber reclaimed from the depths of Lake Pieman) I ponder the international chats that will occur over this Myrtle. After all, the West Coast draws strangers from the world over, some becoming new friends....Don't let me mislead you - the main deck is gorgeous too.
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Premier Upper Deck
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Main Deck
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Aboard Spirit of the Wild interior: Premier Upper Deck
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Morning treats
Ours isn’t your typical cruise. It is shoot day and the crew busily set about capturing all manner of still, video and drone footage as we leave the Strahan docks behind. In days to come, guests instead will be charmed with what hospitality consultant David Quon describes as a “cocktail party in the wilderness.”

When Skipper Paul Brown enters the Gordon River’s calm, petite cups of pink eye potato and leek soup topped with parmesan crumbs shall emerge. The seasonal menu is all about fresh, wholesome, local fare. The steamed local ocean trout is straight from the harbour and served with lemon myrtle butter sauce.
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Gordon River
As we glide up the river, silence overcomes all. The majesty commands us so. We’re enveloped by a world largely unchanged for millennia. Dark waters meet a shoreline crowded with impenetrable green. Not just any green but species not found elsewhere on the planet. Huon pine, my all-time fave and one of the oldest living organisms on earth, humbly appears on a bend. It’s been hanging out there some 500 years according to a guide whose enthusiasm is contagious. Its close neighbours include everything from Sassafras, Leatherwood, Celery top and Southern Beech myrtle.
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Huon pine
About 11 kilometres up the river we come to Heritage Landing. Here, we walk through the temperate rainforest, breathing in air that deserves bottling. It’s cool, crisp and pure. I’m stopped by fungi clinging vibrantly to a mossy trunk. It’s tiny. Perfectly formed. Strikingly beautiful. It’s another moment of pause.
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Heritage Landing
Heading back to the boat, wafts of that fresh ocean trout call. It is look don’t touch for us though, as photographers swarm to the delicately-presented plates. Mixed grain and char-roasted vegetable salad, smoked Macquarie Harbour salmon and a rustic tart gather with freshly poured Tasmanian reds and whites. Afternoon sun streams in as we motor near-silently across to Sarah Island.
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Lunch time aboard
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Sarah Island
The island has its fair share of harsh convict tales. Speaking of, the cat of nine tales was an enhanced version known as the Macquarie Harbour Cat, complete with lead beads. What’s more, each windowless solitary jail cell had the same dimensions as a grave. Intentionally. Let’s just say it was nice to walk off the island rather than swim like an early, desperate escapee. It seems at odds with the idyllic beauty of this tiny patch.
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Sarah Island
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Spirit of the Wild
Next stop, Hell’s Gates. A place of grief for so many sea captains, the name dates back to early convicts who saw the narrow 80 metre stretch as the ‘entrance to hell.’ Today in its relative calmness it’s hard to imagine the many lost lives as we start on a cheese board.
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After an about-turn we sink into our lush leather comfort and head for Strahan. It’s a time for quiet reflection, just as the river gave us earlier. This is a place where beauty and tragedy collide; where charm and harshness drift side by side. Today the weather is golden. Tomorrow it will be in another mood. Unpredictable like yesterday. It’s the wildness and rawness that captivates me.
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The sun begins to sink on our rare blue sky day, as I chat to the captain. It is only now he speaks of his connection to place. He talks of his love of Huon pine. I nod in agreement at our shared awe. Only thing is, I don’t have a son named Huon after the species. We laugh that one day he may just be the mayor.
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Hells Gates
Hop aboard Spirit of the Wild today. FIND OUT MORE
Upper Deck: $265
Main Deck: $135 ($165 for window recliner)
​
Words & images: Alice Hansen

Book Tasmanian adventures in real time and book accommodation with Tailored Tas. We've got your trip sorted and can also deliver the latest edition of Tailored Tasmania with free shipping to your doorstep.

Happy adventuring,
Alice :)
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