Flinders Island Adventure (and a little History)

Our second night's camp - right by the water at Lady Barron

Wild surf at North East River, with a lonely Pacific Gull.

Surf at North East River - just a few of the dozens of Sooty Oystercatchers; we've never seen more than 3 or 4 together!

Strzelecki Peaks, across farmland, typical of the lowlands.

Just 2 of the appealing Bennett's wallabies at Patriarch's Sanctuary.

This is what the local lads do on Saturday night.  We found out that the car(s) - there were 2, had been there through 2 tides already!

Farmland, complete with contented cows, with Strzelecki in the background.

A lucky orphaned baby Pademelon, being hand fed by a wildlife carer.

Camper's Beach (our favourite) at low tide.  Believe it or not, we went swimming at high, cold water and all.

Another view of Camper's Beach, with Trouser's Beach and the southern end of Strzelecki Peaks in the background.

One of the reasons we didn't get to the top!

Our last navigation point - it was all uphill over boulders from here.

A magnificent view of Fotheringate Bay from the first lookout point up Strzelecki.

Sadly, our last evening at Flinders.

Firstly, a little history.  The Furneaux group of more than 50 named and unnamed islands is situated at the eastern end of Bass Strait, off the north east of Tasmania.  Flinders, Cape Barren and Clarke are the 3 largest and the only inhabited islands of the group, situated in the middle of the “Roaring Forties”.  Flinders is part of the ancient land bridge which once linked SE Victoria with NE Tasmania, and has an area of approximately 137,430 hectares.

The area was named Furneaux by Captain Cook, as a tribute to Captain Tobias Furneaux, who accompanied Cook on his second voyage, 1772-74.  Originally called Great Island, it was renamed by Governor King in honour of Matthew Flinders, the great navigator, explorer and cartographer extraordinaire.

The capital(?) Whitemark, (White Mark) originated in 1886, after a “white mark” survey peg was placed there.  It was renamed Whitemark when telegrams cost per word, so White Mark (2 words) became Whitemark (1 and therefore cheaper).  The airport has a daily service from Melbourne and Launceston, with a freighter arriving in Lady Barron from Bridport once a week.  There is no public transport on the island, other than a couple of taxis (and our trusty little hippie van).

The second village/town, Lady Barron, is 28 km South of Whitemark, and contains the jetty and harbour.  It was named in 1911 after the wife of Sir Harry Barron, Governor of Tasmania, who, when asked to suggest a name for the town said “It would be nice if you called after my Lady” – and so it was.

Strzelecki Peaks, the largest “mountains” on the island, were named for Paul Edmund Strzelecki, a Polish explorer and scientist, who climbed them in 1842.  At 756 metres above sea level, with a walking track (to our eyes almost straight up), we were pleased to have made it to 480 metres, with the last 276 metres seemingly straight up over large boulders.  We have enormous admiration for his athleticism, and fortitude, having tried, and failed, to climb to the top on a well-made track. 

Furneaux Museum, at Emita (meaning “Sand”), which is staffed entirely by volunteers, (founded 1964), had lots of interest.  The day we visited we met Artie Withers, an island “original” who had lots of wonderful stories to tell us about island life, and who joined us afterwards at The Patriarchs Sanctuary (he was one of the founders of the Museum) for wine and sausage sangers.  It was a privilege to meet him, and we will long remember our time with him, and his interesting stories

Flinders is a step back in time, and with all stores closing at noon on Saturday (and all day Sunday), it behooves one to fill the car with petrol, and shop for the essentials before that time.  Of course, with most supplies landing by barge on Tuesday, and in the shops Wednesday, then by Saturday, the best of everything is gone.  We tried for some more meat Saturday morning (sorry the Butcher is closed) and all that was available was sausages, mince and some wallaby (not roadkill), and not much of any of those!

One story I couldn’t resist sharing is from 'Flinders Island' by Jean Edgecombe on Communication (of which there was very little, even during our 10 days).

“During the 1914/18 War, when the Islanders became desperate for news, someone would pass a hat round at the pub for donations and ‘young’ Leedham Walker, would ride to the Wireless Station and send a telegram to the Launceston Examiner “Please send thirty shillings worth of war news”.  The editor sent off the most interesting items in Morse.  When decoded they were put on the hotel notice board and Walkers’ shop window for all to see.  After telephones were connected in 1917, the officer on duty phoned war news every day to subscribers”.

There are lots of animals on the island: Bennett’s wallabies, potoroos, pademelons, possums, wombats and echidnas.  There seem to be a huge number of dead wallabies (and, sorry to say Katrina and Ingrid, wombats) by the side of the road, which indicates, perhaps, that there are myriads more still alive in the bush.  A wildlife carer we met at Trousers Point (see photo) says she checks each dead wallaby by the side of the road, and finds the occasional orphaned joey, which she then takes care of until such time as it is old enough to liberate.

So I’ve filled a blog with some of the history of the island without saying a word about our 10 days there in our little rented van.  Suffice to say that it’s an island without peer for scenery, with each little road leading to a magnificent, deserted beach or headland.  In 10 days we shared our island Paradise with no-one and spent 10 days and nights camping out under beautiful blue skies (alright, we did have 1 night of rain) and unbelievable bright stars at night.  It’s almost impossible to convey the beauty of the island but it’s a holiday we will both long treasure.