SIMON WESTAWAY – Actor

See we all make mistakes!   Trick is not to dwell on then eh!

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Just spent four of the most interesting days of my life in Tassie.   Yellow Boats rule! Rob and his mates showed me the ocean side of Bruny Island,Dororite cliffs and caves a lesson in the “Less Noble”….Less Noble things give way, erosion take there toll! an  ancient proposal,a bit like life actually.   Australian fur seals,dolphin, the Great Southern Ocean…ancient cliffs and Fauna…..people care !!!!!!

Tasmania  a beautiful place,and filled with really interesting people.!

Tassie is logging old growth forests,and using it for wood chips!     Myrtle over hundreds of years old cut and felled for wood chips!…this makes me as an Australian feel very uncomfortable.   I ponder at what the Australian fur seal hunters, of a bygone time, considered the right amount to take, or mutton birds.!     I ponder over understanding the thinking of sheep versus the Tasmanian Tiger.     Land and the expansion of the coloney,what do we need to protect and yet continue to prosper.

I regognise that “Bloody Actors” having a say ! what would they know, a bit like Garrett bashing!

I’m not an expert but I figure I know the difference between to much and progress, lets face it it all gets down to bucks!

Love some data around Eco tourism and its benefits for the future.

I hope the balance between “Return to the Shareholder” and the Idealism around preserving wilderness doesn’t tip so far that the damage done,creates a threat for future generations

Family”s that earn from mining and logging want the best for there family’s ,however will they be at more risk if the attitude changes towards is the current thinking?     Change happens fast,  the distance between Tassie and the rest of the world, is changing.

There is an election in five weeks!  my question is can Tassie lead the way in recognising the special place they have and share this with the world and turn this into an earn?

My time with 7th generation Tassie occupants was special,the place is special,I ask can we talk about a lass reliant wood dependence for the “Apple Isle”and a recognition,of extraordinary skills to survive in a harsh environment,with a balanced approach.     Moving into the 21st century!

However I’m a “Mainlander!” what would I know!

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Celebrity Tennis Day - Sunday 7th, February 2010 11am – 4pm

Hi Guys, Thanks for following me today for a really worthy cause. I am MC – ing today at the Celebrity Tennis Day at Chatswood.  Check out the Photos below as we post them up live during the day. 16 high profile celebrities along myself with Double Drummer hope to raise $20,000 for Diabetes Australia-NSW by demonstrating that being active helps prevent the fastest growing chronic disease in the world. There are going to be more Stars here than the Constellation.

Bring the Kids along…. Active Kidz perfomance on Kids Court at 1:15pm

Here is the list of great Ceebrities playing today in the Tournament.

• Layne Beachley
• Guy Leech & wife Helen
• Liz Ellis – Aussie Captain Netballer
• Kerri Pottharst – 2000 Olympic Games beach volleyball
• Lindy Olsen – A 3-Time Miss World Natural Figure champion
• Stephanie Brantz – The female face of sport at the Nine Network
• Corey Brown – Melbourne Cup Winner of “Shocking” 2009
• Trevor Chappell _ Ausse Cricketer
• Angie Akers – Beach Vollyballer
• Trya Turner – No.5 Beach Volleyballer, playing
• Mark Bosnich -
  Australia’s best ever goalkeeper, representing Australia 17 times and playing for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea
• David Peachey - Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin rep. fullback, ‘Peach’

Guy Leach

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I there…..been busy and disappointed to hear the news that the Tarkine wilderness may be mined!  This 60 million year old rain forest, one of the most beautiful places in the world., needs to be protected for future generations.    I am going down to Tassie  to get briefed to see what is the most balanced approach to working to find a solution on providing a shift in the State Govt thinking on this issue.    Tasmania to me should be treated as a Arc, and Eco tourism,is the future.    With the release of the new technology’s,newspapers will soon be a thing of the past! wood chipping and the destruction of wilderness will change!   I understand miners,and forestry people have a right to earn and provide for there familys,but we must find a balance.   Go slowly and with integrity!   The Planet is worth it!    What is the price of progress? I’ll be in touch

Simon

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El Toro Loco is the latest Spanish restaurant to open in Sydney and Miquel Maestre star of Miquel’s Tropical Kitchen is behind this exciting new venture in Manly.

Simon Westway (Me) Miquel’s Maestre caught up last Friday evening for some spanish Tapas.

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I’m in the Tarkine Wilderness in Tasmania and I’m staring at a map! It’s not something I do, what with ‘Sat Nav’ and GPS in every late model gadget. Its a good ole’ map with latitude and longitude and a legend and grid markings, There’s a model number informing the rescue services - if the game changes, they all know where I am.  How they will get here is another matter – there’s not many roads – its pretty much all undiscovered crown land.

Crown Land is owned by all of us isn’t it?   This remote untouched wilderness, one of the last temperate rainforest stands in the world is 60 million years old!   Cook’s Ship ‘The Endeavour’, made of oak, was a seedling when the trees in front of me were young saplings. Australian dinosaurs lived here once and later the indigenous Tarkiner people.Their ancient middens on the Tarkine coast are reminders of  thousands of years of undisturbed living.

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A D9 Dozer (a bulldozer with a large blade it the front) cut an exploratory track through here six years ago, the evidence it left behind is heartbreaking, This area is fragile and old, Trees 400 to 600 years stand proud – myrtles, eucalypts, celery top pines.  Old man ferns by the hundreds thrive as nature intended below the dappled canopy. The Huskisson River, wild and pristine, seen by only a handful of persons, flows undammed and uninterrupted an hour or two’s walk away.

I’m here for an ’Into The Blue Writers and Meditation’ course, hosted by Tarkine Trails, a group of people who care passionately about raising awareness about this extraordinary place. In our intelligently designed low impact camp, nestled in the moss covered wonderland, I’m reminded of  Banjo Patterson ‘s ‘ visions splendid’ and ‘wonderful silence deep’.  Black Cockatoo’s punctuate the sound of air moving through the wind swept canopy above me. Its a long way to the top – I don’t think that’s what AC/DC had in mind,

I am informed by my Tarkine guide Trev, that this area may still be logged – a  60 million year old wilderness brought down for toilet paper and wood chips, with mining exploration and a 23 million dollar tourist road posing an immediate threat. I accept that for some, driving the latest SUV to a car park to see the giant   600 year old Myrtle, a waterfall and some ancient mega fauna may be as close as they are going to get, but there have to be far less invasive ways to enter a place like this.

The wind carries a unique cry  – the Tarkine needs conservation action!  It is now a contender for world heritage listing but the movement needs support. These former tree hugging greenies set up Tarkine Trails to illustrate the potential of eco tourism in this area and to give it the value it deserves. Visitors from all over the world have traveled with them on a range of walking trips through the old growth forest and along its spectacular coastline.  Tapping into an international tourist market of people who want to make a difference as they travel, is just one part of the campaign.

Cradle Mountain and the Franklin are great Tasmanian success stories! Getting those ‘little buggers’ out of the trees would have been very tricky, but thank god for them. Integrity has a higher value in a place like this.  The time is ripe for another success story in the Tarkine and I aim to be a part of it. My boots are going to get muddy if D9”s are the future!

As you can see my New Years trip to Tassie was more than a little life changing, but I must leave you with this important question:

Sleeping bag

Sleeping bag cover

Why do you never fit with each other!

Simon Westaway is an Australian Actor and Voice over Artist

If you want to visit or help the Tarkine:

Tarkine Trails: www.tarkinetrails.com.au

Tarkine Coalition: www.tarkine.org

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Here I am at Circular Quay watching the Tennis….Wish I was there…

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Ever had one of those days that just gets better and better?     Drop off bike at Scooter City for service,I’m trying to reduce my carbon emission, a scooter is perfect!  See Avitar 3 d with Max Markson and his mum at IMax in Darling ,feed the Sydney sea Gulls!Cockle Bay!    Now Max’s mum was an Ole” theater “Rep” actor from way back!      Wonderful stuff and English of course!   the storys of the Human torch high dive act ,the time on the road! the “Ole’ days”, respect!    real entertainment,! courage… and daring and the ability to think quick on the ole feet….Real Pro’s…….so with the Ole’ Gal, and an invite from Max off we go!, the message respect of the planet!     Entertainment comes in so many forms and Max’s mum must have been on the Space Shuttle, well this “Thinker didn’t miss a trick!    respect the planet    Money’s not everything! Trust and the value of patience…the wisdom and all in a lifetime not even finished!     I love the power of film!

Thank you to the film makers who make us think! its such a beautiful medium

Gotta catch a ferry     havn’t checked the type but here goes!

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Day with Roo!   My young son!  Mini Golf and Motor Scooter!    Helmets and pie and  being close together .   Father and Son time!    I write a poem and feel for every Dad who has to “Give them back”     Storm Clouds and thunder       Elvis “My Boy” runs through my head.  Stumble and get up!   Thank you for all the wonderful people who have expressed there support,friends and family.     The thunder is rolling in the distance, but …in the distance! Is this to personal for a blog?     C ya

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What a day !Lamb cutlets,F18′s,and Qantas jets family,cricket,and a day in Sydney that was only a 10/10 weather wise.I hope you and and your friends and family had a special day to remember.  Gotta love this country !Can Pakistan chase Bad luck for HEWITT  FREEDOM is what we have and we live in then best country in the world!      C Ya

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