Back to the Moon 2 @ The Triffid
In the noughties there was only one place you needed to know about for your weekly dose of broken beats and that was The Moon Bar! Those days (and venue) has sadly left us but the spirit of club lives on and has been revived in the special “Back to the Moon” series of gigs. This was the second installment and it didn’t disappoint! Close your eyes and its an instant flashback to the golden era of clubbing in Brisbane, the only thing different is the dindgy club and basic lighting has been swapped for The Triffid’s aircraft style hangar and beer garden along with an epic laser show.
Don’t worry if you’re feeling kinda strange, I think its good đ
What’s that? You want more? Alright then, head on over to our Facebook page!
The Music magazine + Elko Fields
The Music Magazine’s (Brisbane) “In Focus” feature is back this week with Elko Fields after a bit of a break.
Read about them in the current issue of The Music (Brisbane) #123.
Get it FREE from all the usual street press outlets, read current and back issues online @ The Music magazine – Brisbane or download the new app for iTunes and Android.
Well thanks to the truncated activities on this stretch of the trip due to the weather, so is this blog entry!
The conditions varied between âMelbourneâ and âperfect stormâ as we made our way north so we pulled the pin on planned stops like Lake Dobson and Nelson Falls and continued directly to Queenstown where it started to let up around the scenic Lake Burbury. A little further along thereâs an old copper mine on the outskirts of Queenstown, take the goat trail to the top where youâll find a outset viewing platform to really take in the views and test your vertigo.
Coming down the mountain, just before the town there are a couple lookout points for photo ops with views of the road snaking around the mountains.
The next day we awoke to⌠oh look⌠more rain! The drive to Cradle mountain was slow and tedious, made worse with the traffic thickening and the very narrow parts of the road closer to the national park. You know youâre running out of room when you need to fold in your side mirrors so they donât clip a guide post or on coming cars! Thankfully the rental car survived unscathed even though we were ready to ghostie it off the mountain by then.
Travel tip:
Little towns like Rosebery are peppered through out the mountain ranges and are good places to stop for a bite to eat and for some supplies for the day ahead.
Travel tip:
If you didnât buy a parks pass for all the parks or are only visiting Cradle, you will need to stop at the visitorâs center to purchase a ticket. The lines can be quite long if there is a tour group, so factor this into your itinerary.
Pulling into the Cradle mountain car park we could see how grand the place⌠could be, alas the drizzle was becoming steady rain again and it was pretty much a white out. After having lunch in the car and watching many people walk half way down to the boat house and turn around for an hour, the rain radar showed no sign of letting up so we reluctantly moved on to our next stop, Deloraine.
Travel tip:
When they say the weather can turn quickly (and severely) they mean it, so come prepared. A small folding umbrella or emergency poncho is probably not going to cut it in anything more than the most mildest of conditions, but its probably better than nothing! A hardshell jacket, rain paints (or at least gaiters) and waterproof boots are a good start. Wearing your fave pair of Jâs is not advisable even in the dry, yep there were several people at the visitor center wearing these and other basketball shoes that you wouldnât even play basketball in let alone try to tackle wet trails with!
One small plus to the never ending rain, many of the small creeks had come alive with flowing streams which Iâm sure was also a nice welcome to some of the bushfire strickened areas we drove through.
Travel tip:
Looking for some good valued eats while staying in Deloraine? Check out Sullivan’s on the river. Classic “fish n chip” shop style snack bar on one side and dine in restaurant on the other. After eyeballing the heaped “I made this myself” homestyle pizzas it was an easy and filling choice đ
The next morning we woke up thinking, you know what we havenât had in a while? RAIN! And lots of it! Yep mother nature was still playing that ol’ broken record so it was another slow and tedious drive to Liffey falls. The unsealed parts of the road, replaced by flowing streams did little for the nerves nor the confidence we had in the rental car, which had gone from white to completely brown.
The plus to all the rain did mean the falls were flowing nicely and fellow sightseers were few and far between which made it was easy to get some photos without having to fight the crowds.
After all the fast forwarding of planned stops we ended up a little time spare before heading to Launceston for our flight home so we made a quick detour to the Melita Honey farm in Chudleigh, only the little store was open but it was nonetheless packed. They of course have plenty of honey and honey based food and body/health products âŚand ice cream đ There were also plenty honey and bee related souvenirs and trinkets along with a small display and information on bees and the harvesting of honey.
Travel tip: the farm is not really near anything else, not even toilets, but continue down the road for a minute or two for a rest stop if the rain and cold has gotten the better of your bladder.
The final coup de gras and bit of salt in the wound was a nice sunset as we were leaving, gotta love a place with a sense of humor even if we were the butt of the joke. Hehe butt. Ok, so there was alot of whinging about the weather but not enough to deter us from a return trip, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Tasmania 2014 part #1 â Arrival, Eaglehawk Neck
Tasmania 2014 part #2 â Port Arthur and Salamanca markets
Tasmania 2014 part #3 â Hobart to Queenstown to Cradle Mountain and Liffey Falls
Arczyk “Femme” collection
Last year we shot the new range of women’s fashion shoes for local Brisbane designer Arczyk which are now in stock. Head on over to the site and check out the whole range.
Also a note for the guys, their whole men’s range is currently on sale with some models over 50% off, get in quick!
Seminal hip hop group The Wu-Tang Clan wound up their Aussie tour with a ripper show at the Brisbane Riverstage last week. Even in the absence of some of their star players, namely Methodman and ODB, the champagne flowed and a good time was had by all!
Check out all the action below >
Ah Thievery Corporation, you guys never disappoint! TC brought the whole gang of vocalists, MCâs and full band for a grooving good time at the Tivoli
Best of 2015
Its been awhile since weâve done one of these but ânew year, new meâ right?? Yea I want to punch myself in the face too, but here goes anyway, a bit of a run down of our fave photos and gigs from last year.
2015 saw a big shift in the live music scene, namely the fall of music festivals. The first year without Big Day Out and the last year for Future Music Festival (which I incidentally thought was one of the best in the way of general production and logistics) and finally confirmed, the last year for Soundwave â going out on a massive 2 dayer binge and then unfortunately leaving quite a few workers and punters with a bad taste in their mouths.
Closer to home, our editor (The Music magazine, Brisbane) and all round top bloke moved on from the top dog position to the lucrative world of vinyl record salesâŚ. beginning to think heâs a glutton for punishment! After many years of chasing deadlines and wrangling bands and gigs together it was sad to have to part ways but on the plus side his replacement has been going great guns to fill (or is that empty?) the big pint glasses left before him đ The magazine, and print media in general, wasnât immune to the shift away from physical publications and has since gone from a weekly to a fortnightly issue. Our southern counterparts however are still lucky enough to get their music news weekly.
On the travel front, it was a painfully long year of minimal travel bar a couple trips to Melbourne. All this lack of international travel makes me something something! Thankfully weâll be rectifying that in a couple months time with a return to Japan, can not come soon enough! Anyways, on with the show!
We kicked the year off with one of our fave drink and dance your ass off DJâs, Krafty Kuts.
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Like previous years the highlight of festival season is with its two stellar closing events, Soundwave and Future Music Festival and they didnât disappoint.
Soundwave Day 1 and Day 2
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Our buds The Iron Eye smashed out their first gig at The Triffid then followed it up later in the year at the Foundry.
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We got asked to write an article for G-Street for those who use and abuse their G-Shocks (or are just grots).
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2015 was also the year of weddings with a few great couples getting together and tying the knot. We were lucky enough to photograph two of them.
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Motion City Soundtrack always has the perfect amount of wit, sarcasm and angst. Standing ovation on top of your mates kinda stuff.
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We got together with some lovely models and mocked up some ads for G-Shock
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Us old foagies like a boogie too and the Candee Flip gang continued to provide the nights and the tunes. 1 2
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Our love for G-Shocks and Halloween came together in a spooky late night photo sesh
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Two of our fave bands of all time came head to head in a night of ska punk awesomeness. Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish
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90s hip hop legends Naughty by Nature still have plenty of energy and gusto putting a lot of current hiphop to shame.
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Years in the making, two of our favourite things, G-Shocks and sneakers came together and gave birth to the G-Shock x Sneaker Freaker âNightowlâ collab …then had a party to celebrate.
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Just when we thought 2015 was over, two concerts came in to finish the year off strong, Rise Against and a double header with A Day To Remember and The Amity Affliction.
Rise Against
A Day To Remember
The Amity Affliction
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And finally it would’nt be us if there wasn’t a peppering of random G-Shocks, sneakers and a spot of scenic travel đ
So that was the year in a pretty damn big nutshell, looking forward to just as much fun and craziness in 2016! đ
Port Arthur
Port Arthur is only about 30min from Eagle Hawk Neck but with the weather souring it took much longer. Iâm not sure if it was because we were heading closer to Storm Bay but I wouldnât discard the notion as part of the reason things went from bad to full blown craptastic.
Weâre not afraid of a bit of rain, even less of a bother when we were prepared for the worse with plenty of wet weather gear and even a sealed cover for my camera but as we pulled into the Port Arthur Reserve our hopes started to diminish greatly as the heavens opened and it really started to come down. Rivers of ankle deep run off flowed through the carpark and visibility had dwindled down to under 10m.
Inside the visitor center it was a madhouse of drenched tour groups or those about to be, clambering for the overpriced disposable garbage bag ponchos. For half an hour we watched the tours bravely yet futilely go out into the white out, waiting for the rain to pass but to no avail. So we decided to do a quick drive around the surrounds, stumbling around a little âbeachâ area before heading into Hobart.
The approximately 90min drive took hours with the abysmal weather and only started to let up as we got closer to the city.
After checking into the cool little Alabama Hotel we took a short drive around town and to Rosebay Esplanade for some photos of the harbour and a distant Mt Wellington. Thankfully by then the rain had stopped so we can actually show you a couple photos!
Travel tip: the Alabama doesnât have any off street parking but there a plenty of overnight parking garage options nearby. You can also park on the street out front, just remember to check the post times.
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Salamanca markets
Next morning we got up early to pop into the Salamanca markets before hitting the road. It was a rather easy choice since very little else was open on the long weekend.
Getting there â The market is located pretty much on the water at Sullivanâs cove and is short walk from the town center. We recommend heading straight towards the water then following it south to take in the scenic bay views.
The market is of a decent size and is filled with all the markety things youâd expect, though the items tend to lean towards a more up market feel with jewellery, carvings, paintings and framed landscape photos. There are also a few clothing stalls but again with a more âgrown upâ feel. Of course, what would a market be without food and fresh produce? Plenty of fruit and veg in a separate pavilion and the food trucks scattered through out the venue make breakfast and brunch blend together and lunch unnecessary.
Tasmania 2014 part #1 â Arrival, Eaglehawk Neck
Tasmania 2014 part #2 â Port Arthur and Salamanca markets
Tasmania 2014 part #3 â Hobart to Queenstown to Cradle Mountain and Liffey Falls
Two heavy hitters came together for the perfect storm of metal to close out the year.
Bumper gallery below!
A Day to Remember
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The Amity Affliction
A few things usually dictate when and where we travel â time of year, events and price of flights. Cheap flights pretty much always take a precedent but we prefer travelling in between seasons to avoid crowds and public/school holidays where possible. This time however was pretty much the opposite of that. We were locked into a small window due to work commitments so basically it was the Easter weekend or nothing till the end of the year and who wants to wait THAT long amiright?? With only 5 days at our disposal we had to keep it reasonably accessible with minimal expenditure. Weâve heard rave reviews from our landscape photographer buddies championed by Mel Sinclair who mentioned (and was smart enough to go the following week!) that around this time of year the Fagas trees start changing colour (they even have a festival dedicated to it) so we thought, why the heck not.
Well the first problem was going when we had to not when we wanted to so we were actually about a week early for the colour changing, no problem, just need to look for places in cold areas where winter is coming early. Second problem, travelling during a batch of public holidays, surely not everything will be closed right? Sadly we were wrong on both accounts, throw in constant wet weather ranging from heavy drizzle to outright monsoonal downpours and a feeble rental car with no will to live and that was just the beginning of our Tasmanian adventure! It was trying to say the least but weâll try to keep the whinging to a minimum and stick to the facts đ
The biggest Keyzer Soze moment of making people believe the devil didnât exist was arriving at the airport to clear skies. The drive out to Eaglehawk Neck was reasonably uneventful, apart from a bit of afternoon/pre long weekend traffic it took a bit over 2 hours from the airport including the low speed limits, endless road works and unpaved roads with trucks and 4wds gunning it with no consideration of on coming traffic.
We chose the Best Western Lufra Apartments because they are pretty much directly above the tessellated pavements. The hotel was a little dated but that sort of thing never really bothers us, we go on holidays to do things other than look at the wallpaper! Meals were a little higher priced but when itâs the only option in the surrounding area the choice is pretty easy if you donât want to go hungry. The staff however were friendly and helpful.
The next morning we got up for sunrise, a little icy but nothing too unmanageable. The sunrise itself was rather uneventful – enough for a couple nice photos at the tessellated pavement, nature working its magic on carving out a rather intricate grid in the rock, but it did hold high hopes of a beautiful day of sightseeing. Back to the hotel the dining roomâs expansive windows displayed a spectacular view and the buffet brekky with most of the basics covered wasnât too bad either. Being a long weekend we were expecting a bigger crowd but it was rather tame, probably was a different story for the proceeding days though.
Conveniently, the Pirateâs Bay area is also very close where you can take in the blowhole, Tasman Arch, Fossil rock look out and Devilâs Kitchen all with in the space of an hour or so if you stick to the main lookouts and 86 the scenic walks. The weathering and layering of the rock formations at the Tasman Arch was tragically poetic to see nature creating and at the same time destroying history of the landmark. Like most natural landmarks there is no open and close times so getting an early start, beating the crowds and getting these sites out of the way is definitely the way to go to maximise your day.
Travel tip: about 2km from Eaglehawk Neck on the way to the blowhole there is a small town nicknamed âDoo Townâ, which lovingly coming about because⌠well they added âDooâ to everything. Its pretty much a âblink and youâll miss itâ blimp on the map but cute and quaint enough to stop for a quick selfie while trying not to snicker at âdoo dooâ jokes.
With the weather still clear and our sense of adventure high we headed further south to Port Arthur to take in the convict town and its historic buildingsâŚ
Tasmania 2014 part #1 â Arrival, Eaglehawk Neck
Tasmania 2014 part #2 â Port Arthur and Salamanca markets
Tasmania 2014 part #3 â Hobart to Queenstown to Cradle Mountain and Liffey Falls
