Upon
completing the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, and arriving
to Hobart in Tasmania, rest was not on the schedule. I was determined to
explore this beautiful and wild remote island, a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see what
Tasmania is about. The finish line celebrations, race prize ceremony, and New Year’s eve blended
into one – all spiced up by the Taste Of Tasmania food festival, located
conveniently right next to the docks.
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| New Year's celebration under the Rolex Sydney to Hobart battle flag. |
Watching the fireworks from the Constitution dock, right
over where the finish line of Sydney to Hobart race had been, and celebrating on the boat, together with the crew
members and their families, as a big family, was great. But I was also going to go from sailing to land exploration, so here's what I did.
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| More fireworks off the docks of Hobart. |
No party and no Tasmanian sparkling wines will be a
match for some proper adventure. My goal was to explore the historical heritage
of the island, as well as see as much nature as possible. Tasmania may look
like a tiny island on the map, but it’s actually very large and diverse.
There’s so much to see even in the vicinity of Hobart, that at least a week is
required to get the first taste of it.
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| View towards the Pirate Beach and the rugged SE coastline of Tasmania. |
Australian history is to a large part formed by the
shipments of convicts. The reason was two-fold: the streets of Britain were rid of criminals and rebels, and the lands that were colonized were to be
inhabited so they could be claimed as British colony. The first was a tragedy
for those who committed petty crime out of poverty, or whose crime was
oppositioning ideas – upon being sent off in inhuman conditions to a faraway
land, nobody had the means of getting back to their home country, and many
found painful death in the belly of the ship, in the waters of the ocean, or
soon after coming ashore. The second, inhuman violation towards the indigenous
people, has left a nation-wide scar that hasn’t healed even today.
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| Port Arthur historical site |
I visited Port Arthur, which was one of the convict sites.
Many parallels can be drawn between this and
Gulag, which is mentioned in the
museum that surrounds the site: mindless building projects, exploitation of
human labour, forced migration, equalling progressive political ideas with
criminality, penalism, experiments on convicts, mental hospital that was in
fact an isolation prison, and more. Also the fact that escape was virtually
impossible even without guards is comparable with how the
Gulag was run –
however, the latter was more industrialized, and existed in modern times which
is hard to grasp even for Tasmanians.
The heartbreakingly beautiful conditions in the height of
the summer (January) turn sinister as a chilly wind reaches into the bay. I can
imagine that the South-Easterlies fetch the Antarctic icy cold and relentlessly
through it into the faces of the rocks and hills during the winter months. We
are in the Roaring Forties here after all. I take a boat ride around the bay,
past the place where the child colony was, and watch in silence how the old
gravestones on top of the Island Of The Dead silently bear witness to so many
deaths in labor and suffering.
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| Island Of The Dead in a chilly breeze |
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| Boats would come to this tiny place and deliver bodies of the deceased, adults and children alike. |
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| Around the corner? Antarctica. |
The next destination is also due South-East. We passed the
Organ Pipes and the stark ragged coastline, now it’s time to experience it from
the above and inland.
The local sights include the Blow Hole, Devil's Kitchen, The Arch and several more. The erosion of the cliffs by the ferocious seas gives birth to magnificent art and architecture, all made by nature.
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| "The Blow Hole" is an underwater tunnel that violently blows seawater through when seas are rough |
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| The cliffs around The Blow Hole |
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| More dramatic cliff formations |
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| Barren rocks and rare vegetation |
On the horizon, I see a few sails that I recognize. The
racing giants, that we competed against in Sydney to Hobart, are leaving for home
port. The journey back is even more dangerous, without the constant attention
and backup by rescue team, without the other boats that can help out, often
without the professional crew that is present for the racing only, and
sometimes with a hyped approach to risk-taking after getting a good race
result. The weather is still unpredictable, the seas tricky, the winds fierce.
Just after I left,
2 boats were subject to rescue, one of them partookin the RSHYR, but sank on the way back.
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| The Tasmanian Arch |
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| A bit long to the surface... |
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| More Tasmanian cliffs |
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| The Devil's Kitchen. Hard to take photos that will do it justice. Here is just the entrance, from above... |
There is so much more to see in Tasmania, and as I say just a few days is not enough. I had wished for more running, biking, climbing and awesome hikes!
The last stop for me was Mt Wellington where I met the
sunset. These amazing views were captured just hours before I left Tasmania for
Melbourne, Sydney, and finally to Sweden. Tasmanian weather was like an OK
Swedish summer day, variable and around 20+C, but up there on the mountain top it was just around zero and quite breezy. I was thinking back to sailing Svalbard! The views were absolutely amazing. The summit is available by foot or bike, of though many choose to get a tourist bus or drive a car there. The electric disturbances may interfere with the car electronics, in particular the locking mechanisms, so there are warning signs everywhere. It's always advisable to visit a summit without a car! In addition, there is a descent t where you can get your groove on a mountain bike on the way down.
Last but not least, certainly I need to mention the food and drink culture of Tasmania. The island is unique with its chilly, sunny and wet conditions, and the local produce of the berries and mushrooms are legendary. The fresh seafood is abundant, and they specialize in oysters and scallops. Tasmanian Scallop pie is a local delicacy, as well as sea food generally.
There are a lot of vineyards, using the Méthode Traditionelle to create great sparkling wines. The reds produced here are most often lighter pinot noirs, but the white ones are abundant in many varieties, cold climate giving them a wonderful exotic fruit note.
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| Local Tasmanian sparkling wine |
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| Tasmanian curried scallop pie |
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| A choice of locally grown Tasmanian oysters |
I hopped back to Oz (Melbourne), then touched down in Sydney before the long trip home. Flying to Sweden takes about 1,5 days, even with short transfer times. But soon, I would be home, getting ready for next adventures - in proper Winter season this time!
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| Good bye, Tassie lush vegetation and dry outback trails. Hello, snow and mud! Swedish West coast awaits... |
