⚡ WARNING: Tasmania is dreadful. Don’t come here! ⚡
At last year’s TasWriters/SCBWI Christmas function, Nicole Gill proposed that SCBWI TAS organise a retreat at Waddamana, a retired Hydro village in Tasmania’s Central Highlands. Nicole vouched for the quality and affordability of the accommodation, for she stays there with her working dogs, Zorro and Grommit, while conducting bird and bat mortality surveys beneath the turbines of the local wind farm.
Nicole Gill and friend
The eyes of writers and illustrators around her lit up at the idea of an affordable retreat.
Two months later, almost to the day, eight Tasmanian children’s book creators converged on Waddamana village for a high-voltage stay at the heart of our heart-shaped island.
The historic Hydro generation plant had been decommissioned and converted to a museum, but high tension power lines were very much in action. Julie Hunt remarked with a smile that could light up the electricity grid of Tasmania, ‘this place is zinging!’ She was right. ‘Wadda’ wasn’t just zinging with electricity but with creativity. The air was charged with exchanges of information, stories and images, punctuated by spontaneous outbursts of laughter.
On the weekend mornings, Reena Balding limbered up the minds and bodies of many of us long-suffering computer-slaves with yoga sessions.
Morning Yoga
From 9am until 4pm on Saturday and Sunday we had unstructured creative time. Tempting offerings from our hosts’ coffee-and-cake van kept our creative hormones buzzing.
Orphaned baby wombats, Fred and Wilma, (of the Flintstones fame), also provided us with photo opportunities as well as inspiration for future children’s books.
A visit to the Waddamana Hydro Museum was also inspiring. Its chessboard flooring and bright-painted turbines vanishing into the distance made me think of Alice in Steampunk Land – or in this case, Reena in Steampunk Land.
Reena in Steam punk land
Critiquing
From 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, we sat around long tables on the sunny veranda of Amy Cottage, reading from our works-in-progress or showing illustrations, and listening to feedback from a group of talented and knowledgeable peers.
The retreat was to be self-catered, with communal meals every night, but our amazing host, Llyr Otto, surprised us by delivering fresh-baked loaves of bread to our cottages. Prior to the retreat Llyr gave us the opportunity to order bespoke pizzas (with gluten-free options) for Saturday night, so those of us who wanted pizzas were able to buy them and contribute them to the evening meal. Llyr also provided us with the largest and most luscious cheesecake imaginable as a bonus.
On Sunday evening, at the end of our critique session, we had a happy hour, courtesy of SCBWI TAS, followed by a bounty of leftovers for dinner.
Llyr then provided us with some hilarious sit-down comedy when judging entries in the inaugural Waddamana Bulwer-Lytton Competition for the worst opening to a children’s book. Congratulations to Reena for winning, to those who received Dishonourable Mentions, and to the remaining creatives whose entries were judged too good to win.
All in all, we had an electrifying time.
