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A 19-year-old Tasmanian girl has held court for days with her vast litter of exotic and exciting fables, upon returning home to her family’s village on the Western cape of the Apple Isle after a year abroad.
Aside from several trips to Hobart for the arrival of the yachts, Corinna Strathgordon had never left her family home of Strahan before her most recent Gap Year on the mainland.
Her detailed stories of traffic lights and pasta meals have made her the centre of attention, as the town’s children gather around the aspiring candlemaker and quiz her about life in the land across the Strait.
“They have these things called motorbikes. It’s a lot like the two-wheel-cycle that Arthur rides” she says.
“But on the mainland, it runs on petrol. Like the generator down at the theatre – you don’t even need to push with your feet”
The children let out gasps of disbelief as Corinna tells them about the mystical ‘eye of Brisbane’ ferris wheel in the Queensland cultural precinct.
“You can see the whole city from the top” she says.
“It’s as tall as twenty sailing clubs”
“Brisbane was as far north as I travelled. It was 22 hours on a bus from Melbourne – at the bottom of the Queen’s land”
While watching her from afar, Corinna’s father’s eyes begin to well up, as he hears about his darling’s year spent backpacking and working in the city coffee dispensaries.
He interrupts and insists she tells the town’s mayor her experiences in the northern hospitality industry, as a bigger crowd gathers around.
“They are called cafes, daaad” she says with an embarrassed tone.
Her father sits back in awe as his little girl shows off her newfound worldliness.
“She’s in good stead to begin a family of her own” says the 6th-generation timber-lopper.
“She’s the first Strathgordon to see the MCG”
