Wild Places and Open Spaces

The ferry ride across the Bass Strait that I had been very worried about, turned out to be a very calm ride. (Don’t get me wrong though – if you went on deck, you were almost blown off due to the winds…) The boat – The Spirit of Tasmania – was quite a luxurious boat for us. We treated ourselves to the buffet to celebrate New Years Eve, and were totally stuffed at the end of it. We took a night rossing – the boat left at 8pm and arrived in Tasmania at the port of Devonport at 7am. We had purchased regular tickets – the cheapest way to go – so we ended up with seats that didn’t recline meaning that there was no chance of decent sleep, if any at all. Jim actually ended up getting some winks on a couch at the bar. So, we brought the new year in on a boat on the other side of the world! One we won’t forget anytime soon.

Tasmania is a state of Australia, and lies south off the mainland coast. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman arrived on the island in 1642 and named it Van Dieman’s Land. It wasn’t until 1798 that Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Van Dieman’s Land, proving that it was an island. Many exploreres before him – including James Cook – apparently believed it was part of mainland Australia.

Originally, the Europeans used Van Dieman’s Land as somewhere to send their convicts – a land far away and totally isolated. In recent history Tasmanians (and Australians in general) seemed to be somewhat embarassed of their convict ancestry, but now it has turned into bragging rights, and something people try to trace back to. It wasn’t until 1856 that Van Dieman’s Land was renamed Tasmania in order to try to get rid of some of the stigma associated with its penal reputation. It was this same year that the last convicts were sent to jail here from overseas.

The aboriginies in Tasmania suffered greatly when Europeans got here – it seems even more so than the aboriginies on the mainland. Many battles eruputed, but by 1834 all remaining aboriginies were shipped to Flinders Island to be ‘civilized’. The last full blooded Tasmanian aboriginal died in the 19th century. The stories we have read about what the settlers did to these people are absolutely horrifying.

Although Tasmania is an Australian state, don’t mistake it for being warm. Its summer days are pleasantly warm when the sun is out, but they can also be bitterly cold as well. I have had to wear a toque and long johns several times, and even Jim has been cold at night. They are currently in a drought here, but since we’ve been here it has rained numerous times – 3 days straight at times (which may not sound like much, but it is when you live in a tent!). We think that we could start a business…it would be called ‘Drought Busters’ and our motto would be, “invite us to your country and we’ll bring the rain”. It sure seems like that at times!

The aboriginies of Tasmania were not the only ones to have gone extinct in recent history. The Thylacine – the tasmanian tiger – is also now extinct. This carnivorous marsupial used to roam both the mainland and Tassie (short for Tasmania). It went extinct off the mainland after the introduction of the dingo, as the competition for food was too much for the tiger. However, Tassie does not have dingos, so they persisted here. Unfortunately a bounty was put on the tigers in Tassie because they were eating some sheep and poultry that were introduced here. The bounty didn’t include the over 2000 government and unknown number of private payments that were also made to people to kill the tigers. The last Tasmanian Tiger died in a Hobart zoo in September 1936. 2 months after it died it was declared a protected species. A little too late I’d say. There have been sightings of the tigers over the years, but no conclusive evidene has ever been shown. No pictures, no road kill, no foot prints, no droppings. So, officially the tiger is extinct. However, there is another apparent bizzare twist to the thylacine story. A Tasmanian Tiger pup preserved in alcohol since 1866 may be the answer to cloning the tiger. Scientists have allegedly scraped some DNA off it and have successfully replicated it…the first cloned Tasmanian Tiger could be ‘born’ in a decade… See http://www.austmus.gov.au/thylacine for more details.

Now the largest carnivorous mammal is the Tasmanian Devil. A few years ago one would have said they were abundant and healthy here. Now unfortunately they may go the way of the tiger – although for different reasons. A contagious caner is now being spread throughout the devil population. It appears to be spread via biting when fighting or mating. The cancer starts as a small lesion in and/or around the mouth and grows into large tumors around the face and neck. So far research has shown that mothers do not pass it onto their offspring and no cancer has been found in devils 2 years and younger. The cancer has been found nearly everywhere on the island except in the northwest population of devils. The cancer alone would likely not drive the devils to extinction. However, the fact that there is now an ‘increase’ in foxes on the island will likely be devastating for the devils.

This brings up another interesting tidbit about Tasmania. Foxes were deliberately brought here (maliciously) not too long ago. The state has spent millions on a “keep Tassie fox free” program, while in fact they have only seen road kill and captured a few foxes to date – it seems less than a handful. Many Tassies are upset about how much money goes into the program yearly. But, I tend to agree with the parks and wildlife people – the wildlife (not to mention agriculture) of Tassie would be devastated if foxes were able to multiply. It may seem like a lot of money up front, but I don’t see any other logical choice. The flipside would be a larger loss for the state. For more info on the facial disease, go to http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/dft

Now for the people of Tasmania…we were told that they are a ‘bit different here’, and the most ‘British’ of all of Australia. We have met several nice Tasmanians, however, for the most part we find them to be quite abrupt and often this abruptness appears to be rude. There is also a strange ‘head shaking phenomenom’ here in Tassie – although now when Jim thinks back he did see it in Victoria too. When a man passes by and we say ‘hi’, the man (more often than not) will shake his head at us, rather than say hi. The first time it happened, Jim though he had done something wrong – as if the head shaker was disappointed in us. But now we have realized it is just one of those ‘quirky’ things that goes on. I’m sure us Canadians have such quirky things ourselves…..

All of the roads in Tasmania (other than in Hobart area and a couple of other towns) are single lane with no shoulder. The single lane is barely wide enough for a car, so there is no room for error. Add the facts that most roads are very windy, and the speed limit is 100km/hr and you’ll understand why driving here an be treacherous. The Tassies don’t slow down for anything – they would sooner drive into your lane when taking a tight corner than slow down before it. It means that half the time we are pushed off the side of the road where there is no shoulder, so basically we are driving in a ditch or the bush. Oh, and they wonder why there are so many accidents?! Why wouldn’t the government just reduce the speed limit a bit? It’s not like it is a huge island to get around – it would take only about 7 hours or so to get from the top to the bottom…

Stay tuned for more about our travels….

This entry was posted on Monday, January 1st, 2007 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.