Australia, Tasmania – On the Other Side of the Planet VI

First we travel on an island of very strange shape. To some this quite small island (slightly over 100 km²) looks like the number 8. We talk about Maria Island situated on the west coast of Tasmania. There are only couple of residents throughout the year. Mostly in summer, however, people who love nature and adventure visit the island. You can get on the island from Triabunny town, which is about two hours of ride north of Hobart.

You can take a ferry at Triabunna to Maria Island. What is pretty nice is that once on the island you can either travel by foot or bike for cars are forbidden on the island which is entire also a national park. Walking through eucalyptus grooves is true reward. The same goes for observing local fauna – wallabies, wombats, or many bird species living only in Tasmania. BirdLife International, founded to protect birds, their natural habitats, and global biodiversity considers the island very important for many endangered species live there such as pardalote, lathamus discolor etc.

Staying over night is no problem here and it is some adventure. That we can tell you. For you sleep in former prison. Only tae a sleeping bag, some food and some light. For more comfortable tourists there are camps where they can sleep in timbered cottages, or another possibility is a renovated farmstead, once a residence of the Italian entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi. At the farmstead you enjoy the best of Tasmanian cuisine, delicious wine included.

We leave Maria Island now and travel to South West Wilderness, a territory located on Tasmania itself. It is considered one of the last truly untouched places on earth. South West Wilderness contains mountains, thick rainforest, wild rivers thrusting their ways in canyons they carved out in millions of years.

Strahan is what is considered the gateway to this beautiful wild land. Once the town was a port. Today it is famous for a theater that has played The Ship that Never Was, with 5000 performances the longest running play in Australia. You have to admit that it is quite a number.

Anyway, let’s get back to wild nature. For it to explore it you can raft the Gordon river. Its steep banks covers rainforest. Should you seek more adrenaline to your experience, you can raft the Franklin river.

GPS: 42°39'02.1"S 148°04'04.3"E

Text: Maxim Kucer

Photo: Wikipedia.org: JJ Harrison, JJ Harrison (2), JJ Harrison (3), Jjron, Jjron (2)