Ben Lomond
Its 5:45pm, a time in the tassie newsroom where photographers are filing their pictures from a days work and journo’s are putting the final polish on their stories and for some still writing into the night.
But for reporter Chris Clarke and I we were just finding out about going up to Ben Lomond for the start of the snow season. I’d started at 9 and Chris well, he would have been there 30min before me to get a head start. With our shifts due to finish at 6.
But... The final phone call comes in letting us stay at Rover Ski Club overnight, Chris and I make the dash around the office collecting camera gear, phone chargers and laptops. We also steal the editor’s Subaru and Chris nervously sits beside me whilst I’m tasked to drive us up the mountain. Chris had also never seen snow (he was excited to say the least) and for me this was just another awesome experience working in Tassie.
We were told that we needed something for tomorrow’s paper. So deadline was in like in 3 and a half hours. With travel time of about an hour to get up the mountain via getting as much warm gear from home as possible.
We get up the mountain in once piece, a few swear words but we made it.. Its pitch black and there are a group of people unloading their car, we quickly convince them to be in a photo and setup a shot of them unloading their car with huge frosty smiles and bam, I’m done plus I still need to send off some pictures from earlier in the day.
We setup in the lodge and Chris begins to file his stories from the day plus cook, I’ve been tasked to the vegetables (smart really) and trying to stay quiet whilst we both finish our work and eat. Final calls are made to the night news editor to check the content and we are done. By this time the group have almost left and headed to bed. We stick around and chat till around midnight.
Oh thats right, we agreed we’d get up around 5am for the sunrise.
Thermals on and we head outside waiting for the sun to light up the snow covered mountain. Gloves would have been handy and proper snow gear. But its perfect otherwise. We got a stack of pics and returned inside for breakfast, also safely prepared by Master Chef Chris. Before adventuring outside to meet the locals and families that had came up for the day.
By mid afternoon we were filing and needing to get down the mountain before dark. We arrived back in Launceston fairly late. I dont know about Chris but I headed to bed around 10 exhausted, but no sleep in, back on deck at 9am sharp to do it all over again.
The Lock Up
When your told you'll be in a lockup for a few hours, you naturally think dark room, dripping water and a concrete bed..??
But actually it was the opposite, I was lucky to be sent down to Hobart for the Tasmanian Budget, where journalists and photographers are 'locked up' from 9:30 - 3pm - phone and internet devices confiscated, no leaving the top floor while you read and start to write stories about the budget papers..
Lucky for me I shot the budget rally outside Parliament before entering the dungeon, nice food actually and a serious mood, as 60 odd journalists from many media organisations absorb the numbers and well scripted words.
The Treasurer and State Premier's press conference begins.. my responsibility, the emotion, hands, nervousness and sweat, up close and moody - oh and the two of them side by side spreading cheer and hope,
Questions are yelled as they stroll out - press conference done the rush to return to the tables, before I knew it it was time to leave and dash for Parliament - the Treasurer to now deliver his speech to both sides of power - my mission to get reactions and body language from the room.
Now to file madly on an old laptop that's battery life is close to death...
I sat in Parliament for half and hour, kicked out, sat in a coffee shop, closed at 5:40, dashed back to the car park found a power point, security moved me on, went to McDonalds, no power point (WHAT!?), drove 20min to the next one and bam! One power point near the toilets - quickly filed 70 images, now the drive back to Launceston.
What a big day! To be an observer all day waiting for that right gesture and those reactions..