T is for Tasmania

Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Straight, with the archipelago containing the southern most point of the country. 

Some facts about the beautiful island state of Tasmania :-

*Tasmania is the world’s 26th largest island.

*Tasmania has the world’s cleanest air.

*More than 20% of Tasmania is Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

*Tasmania has the oldest trees in the world

*Tasmania has dense rainforests 

*The Tasmanian Devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world

*Tasmania has over 2000km of walking tracks and 18 national parks

*Tasmania was once known as the “Apple Isle” as it was one of the world’s major producers.

*Tasmania is home to some of Australia’s oldest rocks, dating back to the Precambrian era about 1.4 billion years ago. 

*Tasmania is the home of the world’s largest lavender farm.

*The Cascade Brewery, based in Hobart, is Australia’s oldest brewery that is still in operation, having been established in 1824 by Peter Degraves. 

*English-born artist John Skinner Prout and his wife, a harpist, spent time travelling around Tasmania, and it was in Hobart in 1845 that he held a painting exhibition –Australia’s first known art exhibition. 

*Henry Savery, who originated from Somerset, England, actually published what was Australia’s first novel in Hobart, although at the time this was published anonymously.He was living in Tasmania and writing for The Tasmanian newspaper when he wrote Quintus Servinton – A Tale Founded Upon Incidents of Real Occurrence, which was published in 1831. This also made Henry Australia’s first novelist.

*The island of Tasmania includes 334 surrounding islands, most are uninhabited, and some are privately owned.

*Holland, which is renowned for its tulips, actually imports tulips from Tasmania.

*There are no passenger trains in Tasmania. Only freight trains exist, and a few privately owned restored historic steam and diesel trains, which offer rides through the Tasmanian wilderness and coastline. 

*Tasmania is like a small town with only 2% of Australia’s population, of just over half a million people.

*Tasmania  has 69 golf courses.

* Mary, Queen Consort of Denmark, was born in Tasmania

Some personal thoughts about Tasmania:

For one reason or another I’ve been visiting Tassie every couple of years since I was 21 years of age. I love these trips and despite the island being small in size I continue to discover new and interesting places. I’ve toured in a camper van and have also played Lady Muck, sleeping in the same beds as Heads of State, ( and opting for the floor because their politics were offensive.)

Some of my favourite things about Tassie include scallop pies, apple cider, wombats, farmland, historic buildings, book shops, log fires, Grant Burge Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay, the Cradle Mountain National Park, and the glorious east coast.

And I didn’t mention Mr Flynn once.

Tassie : 4 Seasons In 1 Day but oh so Beautiful.

French novelist, Marcel Proust,once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Every time I visit Tasmania, Australia’s smallest State and separated from the mainland, I come across some fascinating gems.

Firstly, at 60 Duke Street in prestigious Sandy Bay, the childhood home of Errol Flynn.

From Flynn’s My Wicked Wicked Ways:

“A beach, Sandy Bay, was not far away and I was often there, swimming at the age of three. The beach was of hard brown sand, the water freezing cold. Mother was a good swimmer and she took me there very often. I have never been out of ocean water for very long since.”

In Kettering, where ferries transport people and cars to the beautiful and wild Bruny Island, I spotted this :

So you’re asking what’s the big deal, right?

The Oyster Cove Inn with its beautiful views of Kettering Harbour was built around 1890 for a wealthy British plantation owner named Alfred Cotton as a summer holiday home for his family. Cotton’s son, Sydney, was the model for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Sydney was a triple threat spy for the French, the Germans and M15 and a mate of Fleming’s and Hitlers 2IC, Herman Goering.( Yep, another biography I need to chase….)

At Margate Museum I learned the fascinating history of both the oyster and scallop industries within Tasmania. Better still one of the local Primary Schools was promoting The Young Archies Award. It is a take on The Archibald Prize, an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia and first awarded in 1921.

School children were asked to draw portraits of friends or family, with visitors to the Museum asked to nominate their favourites over a given period. The painter of the portrait voted the most popular would win an art set to the value of $200.

What a wonderful way to encourage and foster creativity. Loved it.

Lastly, in sleepy little Swansea on the glorious east coast we were fortunate to attend a performance sponsored by the University of Tasmania by the winners of The Ossa Music Prize. This ensemble, made up of a percussionist and a french horn, played compositions by other students from the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, which were all based on the lives and history of earlier Tasmanians. Storytelling by music if you like.

I learned about poet Gwen Harwood, colonial architect William Wilson, and Mary Roberts. Who was Mary Roberts? An absolute trailblazer. More about her soon 🙂

Will be home tonight, thank God as I do not waste time at laundromats whilst travelling and my clothes reek. All part of the travel experience, hey……

Swansea, Tasmania.

Swansea is located on the east coast of Tasmania roughly an hour and a half easy drive from the capital, Hobart.

In summer Swansea’s beautiful waterways make it a tourist hub for beach lovers and fishos. However, it should be noted that beaches and beach lovers in Tasmania differ vastly from those on the mainland where we tend to go bronze in the sun despite thirty years of lectures about slip, slop, slapping. In the winter it closes up shop – literally. Many of the restaurants close throughout these months because of the reduced through traffic though personally winter in Tassie is when I love her best. Its the sitting in front of a log fire with a pot of tea or plonk which I really enjoy or being able to walk for three hours without your makeup sliding off your face and dripping like a used dish rag ( * as you do in Queensland in summer).

Swansea sits on Oyster Bay. The land was developed for seasonal crops and grazing stock and a tannery and flour mill were established by the Meredith River. Whaling stations were also set up on nearby islands to enable the export of whale oil. There’s a fishing fleet only thirty minutes away where the popular produce is Scallops. Nothing beats a feed of fresh scallops I tell you…..

Swansea is home to Mutton Birds and Fairy Penguins. (Note to PC Police : They have always been Fairy Penguins and will always be Fairy Penguins, and NOT Little Penguins. Bite Me.) There are also Wombats, Wallabies, Tasmanian Devils and Echidnas. Friends tell me that seals are known to wash up on farmland.

Devil

The population these days is less than 1000 and that number includes working dogs.

When visiting Swansea I tend to enjoy the coastal walks after which I reward myself with a coffee at the Bark Mill Bakery ( where black wattle bark was once processed), or Devonshire Tea at the local Cafe/ Art Gallery which also exhibits works by local artisans. Only minutes away is an acclaimed Strawberry Farm and a cool weather Winery.

If you are looking to go nightclubbing give Swansea a miss. She’s an old fashioned township with an old fashioned vibe. Even the General Store, Morris’, has been run by the Morris family for over 100 years. But don’t just drive through Swansea either. Stop for a few days and be prepared to respond to the local’s “Good’ay, how ya going.” Tourists stick out like sore thumbs: they’re the ones without beards.

* It was snowing on Mount Wellington, the back drop of Hobart only two days ago. I have not turned the ceiling fans off in a week.

For more tourist information go here :https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/regions-of-tasmania/east-coast/swansea