Week 01/2025: Activities for a new year

Week of 30 December 2024

It feels weird to call this week 1 because it started in 2024. But hey, my diary says it’s week 1, and I’m beholden to a paper planner, so week 1 it is.

This week was half a week of holidays, two days of work, and a pretty normal weekend. It was just hotter than usual.

Activities for a new year

Two Metre Tall

When we lived in New Norfolk, we’d regularly spend time at Two Metre Tall’s Farm Bar for a barbecue lunch or dinner and a few ales.

Since we moved, however, it’s been a bit far away for regular visits, and now I don’t drink, much as I love the place, it’s not been a priority for me.

But this week, we arranged to meet up with a friend for lunch on New Year’s Day. Barbecue, ales (for the drinkers), and great company was a lovely way to end the break.

It’s been eight years since I swapped the Derwent Valley for the Derwent Estuary, and I do miss the views.

On The Edge

This Sunday, 5 January is the 50th anniversary of the Tasman Bridge disaster.

If this isn’t something you’re familiar with, it’s a defining moment in Hobart’s history, when the SS Lake Illawarra collided with the bridge bringing down two pylons and part of the road at 9.27pm o Sunday 5 January 1975. Twelve people died that night, seven members of the boat’s crew and five people in the cars that fell into the river when the bridge collapsed.

The enduring image of that night has been a photograph of two cars teetering on the edge, Frank Manley’s Holden Monaro and Murray Ling’s EK Holden station wagon.

There have been a series of events this week to commemorate the anniversary, including at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which hosted the two cars in the courtyard.

When I went to TMAG on Friday the Holden hadn’t arrived yet so I didn’t see it. Just the Monaro, which now lives at the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania in Launceston.

An error in the story

I did see the Holden a couple of days later, which was followed by a story in the Mercury reporting that this car is not, in fact, the EK Holden seen in the photos of the bridge. It’s an FB Holden owned by the person who had purchased the EK from Mr Ling. The Mercury reports that when the FB was damaged, the owner had used parts off the EK to repair it and consequently, “the majority of the station wagon is not the car that was on the bridge”. Here’s a story from the ABC about the mistake, which also includes a video of the news report and footage of the cars being removed from the bridge.

Memories

I don’t have any direct memories of this event as I was a very young child when it happened and we lived at the other end of the state. My only real memory is of a trip to Hobart, which might have been before the bridge repairs had been completed, and I bought myself a postcard like this.

I think I still have it somewhere in a box.

TMAG’s exhibition tells the story of what happened on the night and immediately afterwards, and pays tribute to the people who died and to the first responders.

Reading the stories and looking at the pictures makes me realise what a terrifying night this must have been.

It took three years for the bridge to be rebuilt, and a temporary Bailey Bridge was constructed at the site of what is now the Bowen Bridge, further up the river. That opened in 1984. The disaster was also the impetus for greater development on the eastern shore, which until then had few services, as explained in one of the storyboards.

Alice in Wonderland

On Saturday I went to see Big Monkey’s production of Alice in Wonderland at the Botanical Gardens.

It was a lot of fun, and I love going to the gardens to see shows like this. (Just don’t talk to me about the road works and the lack of bike parking . . .)

Big Monkey has been running these shows since 1994 and John X, who took on several roles in this production, also featured in their very first one, Wind In The Willows. I can also remember my mother taking Kramstable to see some of these performances when he was very young but I’d never been before last year. I’m not sure what took me so long to go!

Habit tracker

•  15 minutes morning exercise sequence (7 days): 6/7
• Hip exercises (5 days): 4/5
• Go outside before 8 am (7 days): 7/7
• 2 walks or bike rides or a combination (6 days): 6/6
• Long walk (1 day): 0/1
• Walk 8,000 steps (7 days): 7/7
• Evening exercise sequence (7 days): 7/7
• 9.00 shutdown (7 days): 6/7

Summary of the week

What did I learn this week?

The Canadian national anthem ‘O Canada’ was composed by ‘Canada’s national musician’, Calixa Lavallée, in 1880. Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier wrote the original French lyrics. Interestingly, the English lyrics/translations have changed over the years, with the most popular version written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir. This version was formalised in 1980, when the song was formally adopted as Canada’s national anthem.

Some people have noticed similarities between ‘O Canada’ and ‘March of the Priests’ from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Like this guy.

What did I notice this week?

An echidna on a mission in the back yard.

It marched up the side of the yard, busted under the chicken wire and kept going, eventually pushing its way under the side fence to the neighbour’s yard. And Shirlie the chicken just stood there staring at it.

What was the best thing this week?

Three days away from work was great. (And when I went back to work, hardly anyone was there.)

What am I reading this week?

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year by Allie Esiri.

What am I watching this week?

Halle Berry’s The Magic of Menopause Masterclass.

What am I listening to this week?

I had a craving to listen to ‘Húsavik’ (My Hometown) by Owen Wilson and My Marianne, which is from the movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. I don’t know where that desire came from!