Oliver hones his egg-hunting skills

IF YOU’RE ever in need of a professional Easter egg hunter, look no further than eight-year-old Hobart boy Oliver Cannell.

The pint-sized chocolate lover had a field day at the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation’s Easter egg hunt at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens yesterday.

Not only did he manage to fill his bucket to the brim with eggs, but he also found more chocolate than his 10-yearold sister Arielle for the first time.

Oliver’s mum, Mary Can- nell, said this was the fourth time the family had participated in the yearly event.

She said the Easter hunt upset had caused some con- sternation at home. “He collected 2kg plus of chocolate,” she said, laughing.

“Whether he can repeat that effort again next year re- mains to be seen.”

Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation CEO Heather Francis said more than 3000 people attended the event. “It’s the sixth time we have done the Easter egg hunt at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens,” she said.

Ms Francis said the foundation had invested more than $8 million into local medical research grants and hoped to have raised about $20,000 from the event.

“The purpose of the research foundation is to give a leg-up to local clinicians,” she said. “It’s very competitive getting funding from national bodies.”

Ms Francis thanked Cadbury Australia for supplying the chocolate.