Canadian Celtic-folk group The East Pointers took the crowd by storm at Woodford Folk Festival last NYE.
The band will return to the festival this year along with a number of other festivals as well as The City Sounds, the country's largest, free programme of live music.
After their travels last time, the guys will be better prepared for their brush with Australian nature this time. “Google 'travelling to Australia' and you're inevitably going to get multiple hits telling you how to survive the deadly Australian wildlife.
“We were nervous, some of us slept in bug nets, while sweep downs for spiders and snakes became a night-time ritual... We waited.... We survived... Our first tour of Australia last year was awesome, here are our top five brushes with nature.”
1. Watch Your Step
While on a hike in Bundeena National Park – just outside of Sydney – we came a footstep away from stepping on a red-bellied black snake. Much to our relief the poor little guy/ girl was just as surprised as we were; it scurried off into the bush and we continued on towards the amazing views waiting for us at The Balconies!2. A Wink And A Stare
One of the towns we hung our hat in quite a bit on tour was Caloundra. One night we were having a bbq on the water when, much to our delight, a stingray jumped out of the water and did a nice little air dance for us. Jake swears there was a wink involved. Koady is convinced it stared deep into his soul. Either way, what a stingray!3. Perseverance Pays Off
We were lucky enough to spend some time in Tasmania on our first tour down here, so we decided to take a day off and go on a search for the majestic wombat. Our journey took us to Narawntapu National Park (close to Devonport). It was mid afternoon when we arrived and we were greeted at the park entrance by some wallabies. Wallabies are awesome, but we were there for wombats. We searched for hours and nothing. Then just as the sun was setting we seen one [sic] about 100 yards away; we went for a closer look, beautiful.4. Attack!
Snakes, spiders, sharks, saltwater crocodiles... magpies? We were terrified to hear that even the sweet-singing magpie wants to get at you. On an adventure to the outback we pulled off to the side of the road to admire a mob of kangaroos when it happened. The first swoop came out of nowhere; luckily it missed. The second and third were more terrifying – we could see the height the attacks were being mounted from. We ran, some faster than others, for the car... We made it, thankfully fully intact.5. Nemo Found
Diving the Great Barrier Reef has always been up there on the bucket list and just recently we got to cross it off. Apparently it wasn't the best conditions ever but compared to the waters off Prince Edward Island the visibility was pretty damn good. It will take a long time to process the colours, and although Nemo may be the most popular fish on the reef it was the giant clam that takes the cake for the most amazing thing we came across that day. We estimated (probably very inaccurately) that it was the size of a small car. We can't wait to go back!The East Pointers Tour Dates
28 Dec - 1 Jan Woodford Folk Festival (Sunshine Coast)Sun 3 Jan – City Sounds @ Queen Street Mall (Brisbane; 12 & 2.30pm)
Sun 3 Jan – The Old Museum (Brisbane)
8-10 Jan - Cygnet Folk Festival
Thu 14 Jan - Gaelic Club (Sydney)
15-17 Jan - Illawarra Folk Festival
18-24 Jan - Festival Of Small Halls
26-28 Feb - Cobargo Folk Festival
4-7 Mar - Nannup Music Festival
11-14 Mar - Port Fairy Folk Music Festival
24-27 Mar - National Folk Festival
