Frank Sinatra branded it the city that never sleeps, Alicia Keys famously sang about it being a concrete jungle where dreams are made. And Carrie Bradshaw brought the nuances of the bustling, vibrant city into the living rooms of TV audiences across the world as the fashion-loving lead character in hit series Sex and the City.

Countless other movies and TV shows have been set in the Big Apple, and travellers continue to flock to the city from across the globe, hoping to broaden their horizons, build their careers or fall in love.

Hobart’s Liza-Jane Sowden is one of those starry-eyed travellers, who has had her own fair share of serendipitous encounters in New York. A born and bred Tasmanian – who says she’d never live anywhere else – Sowden has visited New York more than a dozen times in the past 15 years and has become an unofficial ambassador for Tasmania, spruiking the Apple Isle – and our produce and our designers – internationally.

The Tourism Tasmania marketing manager’s first trip to New York was for work – introducing Tasmania to Americans as part of the G’Day USA campaign – but most of her visits to New York in the years since have been purely for pleasure.

But still, she’s flying the flag for Tasmania wherever she goes – whether that’s wearing Tasmanian-designed outfits from brands including Pony Black and Miss G & Me, delivering Bruny Island Cheese and other Tassie produce to her overseas friends, or going viral thanks to an unexpected photo opportunity.

Sowden, 46, was in New York in November last year, and marked her first day in the city by visiting the Edge observation deck at Hudson Yards, which offers sweeping views of the skyline.

She was dressed in a Tasmanian-made tutu – she never travels to New York without one – and wanted to get a quick photo on the edge of the glass viewing platform.

There were two corners of the viewing platform where Sowden could potentially have been photographed, and there were queues for both corners. And given she was short on time – as she was due to meet some friends at a concert – Sowden joined the shortest queue.

Sowden made it to the front of the line and edged out on to the glass platform, posing quickly for a photo, which was taken by the person next in the queue.

She had no idea that, at that exact moment, across the river in New Jersey, someone else was also taking a photo.

Renowned photographer Gary Hershorn often takes his camera to the Hudson River waterfront in October and November to shoot the moon rising over Hudson Yards and the city skyline. On this particular evening, Hershorn photographed the scene with a more powerful lens than usual, and was able to capture the silhouettes of the people on the viewing platform.

And he just happened to snap a photo of Sowden in her tutu, which created a perfect silhouette against the giant full moon behind her.

“The next morning I was having coffee with my friend Jennifer Mitchell (who is also a photographer) and she said ‘there was an eclipse last night, you should see Gary Hershorn’s photos, you should follow him, he takes amazing skyline photos’,” Sowden recalls.

“She showed me and I said ‘oh yeah, wow’. And for some reason, I zoomed in … and I said ‘Oh my god, I think that’s me’.’’

Sowden commented on the photo and got in touch with Hershorn, who had been hoping someone would recognise themselves in his photos.

The two were able to connect and compare their photos, which Hershorn posted to his large social media following, prompting an incredible reaction on Instagram and Facebook.

And suddenly a fun-loving woman from Tasmania – and her Tasmanian-made tutu – landed in the global spotlight, in an unexpected explosion of positive publicity for the state.

Sowden kept in touch with Hershorn and when she returned to New York for a three-and-a-half week holiday last month the pair met up again.

“I said ‘I’m coming back to New York, I’d love to have coffee and go on a shoot with you’,’’ Sowden explains.

“Not to take photos of me, but for me to tag along, because he captures this beautiful city that I love.’’

Hershorn was keen and again – unexpectedly while admiring the view – Sowden ended up in some of his photos, this time at sunrise at Liberty State Park. And of course she was again wearing a Tassie tutu, which created a perfect silhouette against the rising sun and the Statue of Liberty in the background.

In another twist of fate, Hershorn then introduced Sowden to an Aussie slice cafe in his neighbourhood of Hoboken, where she hung out with some Australians, talked up Tasmania, and even donned an apron.

Boomerang Bites serves up “fresh baked Aussie goodness” while giving 20 per cent of profits to local charities.

With menu offerings like hedgehog slice, caramel slice, passionfruit slice, Anzac slice, Bondi slice, vanilla slice and fairy bread shortbread, Sowden says the cafe is a hit with Americans who aren’t familiar with the concept of a slice.

She says Americans are fascinated by all-things Australian – and Tasmanian – which is one of the reasons she takes a huge haul of Tassie produce with her on each of her trips to New York.

On her most recent trip she was slugged $200 in excess baggage charges before she’d even left Hobart Airport, with three large suitcases making up the checked baggage component of her luggage, in addition to her carry-on luggage, which included a massive bag of Pony Black tutus that she didn’t want to risk being crushed or lost.

The suitcases were largely filled with outfits from Tassie brand Miss G & Me, which makes clothing for tall women, and for which Sowden is an ambassador.

And they were also filled with Tassie presents for her overseas friends – Red Bunny Says T-shirts, Francesca jewellery, Tailored Tasmania books, multiple flavours of Tasman Sea Salt, frozen Meander Valley Dairy Salted Butter and Bruny Island Cheese, which she packed carefully on ice. There was also Tasmanian chocolate, whisky and gin, among other offerings.

“This is just what I do,’’ Sowden explains.

“Even if I didn’t work for Tourism Tasmania I’d still be doing this. During lockdown I was sending Sydney friends – and random people I made connections with – a Bruny Island Cheese box and saying ‘here’s a taste of Tassie’.

“I did the same for friends in Melbourne as well. I’d say ‘you can’t come to Tassie, but we’re thinking of you, here’s some Tassie love’.

“I’m always taking gifts from Tasmania with me wherever I go. Why wouldn’t you?’’

Sowden was photographed across New York wearing various Tasmanian-designed outfits and says the clothing – especially the tutus – are a conversation starter.

Initially inspired by fashionista Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City – whose pink tank top and white tutu became one of the most famous on-screen outfits of all time – Sowden has made Tasmanian tutus one of her own statement fashion pieces.

The tutus are designed and handmade in the state’s south by independent boutique clothing studio Pony Black, which has a focus on producing ethical and sustainable fashion.

“I put on a tutu and it’s just magical,’’ Sowden explains.

“Maybe it’s the size of it – the space around you grows. I feel like I’m not going to have a bad day in a tutu. And other people smile – you connect with people.

“People will be like ‘great skirt’. I’ll be walking down the street in New York and someone says that to me. And they’ll say ‘What’s with the tutu, what’s the story?’ And then the whole Tasmanian story comes out and they’ll say ‘Where’s that? Oh my goodness me’.

“It’s fun. I’ll go shopping in a tutu and (the shop assistant) will say ‘you’re off to a party?’ And I’ll say ‘No’.’’ And they say ‘But you’re wearing a tutu! How fabulous is that. You could break out into a dance at any time, you’re ready for an emergency party’.

“It’s a talking point, and it’s just great fun.’’

Sowden recalls walking on the Upper East Side of New York, through Central Park to the Upper West Side in the hunt for a lobster roll, when she had an encounter with a local. “This lady just looked up, as I was coming down a little hill, and she said ‘you are a vision, you just made my day.’ I said ‘Thank you’ and she said ‘What is this? Where are you off to?’” she recollects.

Sowden gleefully informed her that there was no special occasion, this was simply her “day wear”, but it was enough for the woman to ask where she was from – and again she found herself having a conversation about Tasmania, and Tasmanian brands, with a stranger in New York.

And Sowden says if it hadn’t been for tutus, she would never have recognised herself in Hershorn’s viral moon photo.

Sowden had a tattoo of the New York skyline inked on her wrist many years ago and she says she “got it because of how New York makes me feel”.

Having started her career as a travel agent with STA, Sowden had travelled widely but America had never been on her radar.

She began working for Tourism Tasmania 17 years ago and a couple of years later she was fortunate to travel to America as part of Tassie’s involvement with G’Day USA, promoting Australia – and Tasmania – in the US.

She visited San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. And New York was the standout.

“I was like ‘wow’,” Sowden recalls.

“This city, it just made me feel alive, it filled me up, it lit me up … and I just fell in love with the city.’’

She met her friend Jennifer Mitchell during a photo shoot, where Aussie chef Luke Mangan was cooking up Tassie produce in department store Macy’s.

Mitchell and Sowden reconnected when Sowden returned to New York for a holiday the following year, and Sowden says being given an insight into a local’s view of the city made her fall in love with the city even more.

Sowden often tags along on photo shoots with Mitchell – she has been lucky enough to attend red carpet events, and has rubbed shoulders with Sex and the City cast members, as well as close encounters with celebrities including Catherine Zeta Jones, Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds.

During her most recent trip to New York, Sowden’s flight home was delayed, giving her an extra day in New York. She ended up meeting Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt – who was launching her Embrace Kids program in the US – and again Sowden found herself extolling the virtues of Tasmania.

Sowden loves that New York always has surprises like that in store for her.

“It’s so interesting because I hardly plan anything,’’ Sowden says.

“I kind of say to the city ‘what now?’ and then something else will happen’.”

When Mitchell travelled for work one summer, Sowden house-sat in New York, looking after Mitchell’s apartment and her dog. Which Sowden, a dog-lover, says was a dream come true.

“I got to live the life of a New Yorker, I was walking a dog in Central Park,’’ she laughs.

She has made the pilgrimage to New York every year since – apart from when Covid shut the borders – and even when she’s holidayed to other places like Iceland or Greece she has included stopovers in New York.

She loves the architecture of the skyline, the fact that there’s always a new section of pavement to explore, and the fact that New York is home to so many interesting people with so many interesting stories to share.

“The reason I got that tattoo was because I wanted to encapsulate that feeling when I wasn’t there,’’ Sowden explains.

“I want to skip down the streets when I’m there. The city lifts me, it makes me feel alive. I have serendipitous moments. It’s vibrant and it’s loud but I don’t hear the loudness – I heard someone once explain it as ‘magical chaos’. It just makes my soul sing and nowhere else in the world does that for me. As soon as I see that skyline there’s nothing like that anywhere else, I just start singing in my soul.’’

But, she’s quick to add that while it’s her favourite holiday destination in the world, she’d never pack up and relocate.

“I wouldn’t move there,’’ Sowden says firmly.

“Why would we live anywhere else but here in Tasmania? I’m a born and bred Tasmanian, it’s island paradise.’’

She talks with equal passion about her life in Tasmania – whether that’s the people, the produce or the place. She loves the clean, fresh air, the laid-back lifestyle and the fact that everything is in easy reach. She also enjoys being in nature, walking her dogs, cold water swimming, or curling up in the sunshine reading a book.

“Wherever I go, people ask where I’m from, what’s the accent?’’ Sowden says.

I say ‘Tasmania’ and I say that I came from the Apple Isle to the Big Apple.’’

It’s a simple crossover between the two places in the world that Sowden loves most.

Flitting around New York in her Tasmanian tutus, Sowden says she can’t help but sing catchy tunes to herself like Alicia Keys’s Empire State of Mind or – more recently – Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York.

“I listen to the words and I think I also feel like that about Tassie too, I could change the words up for Tasmania,’’ she says.

“They are two passions at opposite ends of the world but they both make me feel the same. We’ve just got that beautiful lifestyle here (in Tasmania) – it would elude you in New York. But I don’t need to live there because I get my fill and I come back. People ask if I’m sad coming home, do I have post-holiday blues. But I say ‘oh, god no’.

“The view of the mountain flying into Hobart, it’s the same but different to the skyline flying into New York for me. I get that same feeling. They are both places that really make my soul sing.’’ •