My name is Rob Harris, and I'm going
to take you on a rambling trip around Tasmania. We will poke into the nooks and crannies
that make this interesting island different to Mainland Australia - not in any particular order,
but rather as the mood takes me. Let's keep it interesting and flexible.
All of us travel for different
reasons. Some to explore new territory, some to say they have been there, others
to discover the differences, others to find similarities to our own background.
Tasmanians have for many years adopted policies that have preserved the natural
and historic things that now make the Island a unique, scenic, cultural and
natural environment. Tasmania is truly cool, green, wild and friendly.
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| Hobart from Mt. Wellington |
So, let's try and throw Tassie into
perspective...
Tasmania is on the "crossroads to
nowhere" - this is part of what makes it so special. You are not going to be
driving from Sydney to Adelaide and drop in to Tassie to look around. Because it
is separated from the Mainland by the 240 Kms (150 Mi) of Bass Strait, getting
to Tasmania requires a deliberate act. A plane flight - or a 10 hour ferry ride
if you want to take your own car - does the trick. Then you will have a whole
island to explore.
Don't be fooled by its apparent size
on the map. At around 65,00 Sq Kms (25,00 Sq
Mi) in area, Tasmania is about the same size as Ireland, West Virginia, Sri
Lanka, or Lithuania. It is about 90 times the area of Singapore and about 60
times larger than Hong Kong. It is 5 times larger than Connecticut and one and a
half times bigger than Switzerland. The population of Tasmania is approximately
500,000.
To drive from Stanley in the far northwest to Hobart, in the southeast over main highways takes
about 6 hours, but get off the main roads and into the rural areas and you take
a surprisingly long time to cover the distance.
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| Tasmanian Seafood |
There is evidence of the original
Aboriginal Tasmanian inhabitants some 35,000 years ago. At this time, Tasmania
was joined to the Australian Mainland before rising water levels cut through
Bass Strait to make it an Island. This happened about 10,000 years ago. The
cutting of the land bridge to Australia isolated not only the human inhabitants,
but also a range of unique plants and animals, of which the Tasmanian Devil is the most famous.
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| Tasmanian Devils |
The first European discovery of
Tasmania was by the Dutchman Abel Tasman in 1642. He named it Van Diemens Land.
It was settled from Sydney in 1803, renamed Tasmania in 1856, and became a State
of Australia at Federation in 1901.
OK, enough of the background for the
present. Let's get started on discovering Tasmania.
In my next post we will arrive into Hobart, have a look around and explore
the city.
Stay tuned…
Cheers,
Rob
