Winter 2006

Australia's Clandestine Jewel

A honeymoon adventure off the beaten path
Tasmania, Australia

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BRENNA AND I MARRIED in the summer of 2002 and honeymooned in Australia that fall.Most travelers to Australia want to spend time in Sydney, see the Great Barrier Reef, tour around Queensland, and maybe go bushwalking in the outback. We had different ideas. After spending a couple of days in Sydney, we purchased reasonable airline tickets to Tasmania, a glorious, less-traveled island off the southeastern coast.

Aussies call Tasmania “Tassie.” They believe that Aborigines settled the island more than 30,000 years ago. Tasmania is about as large as the state of West Virginia. Perhaps its most notable feature is the diversity of trees, plants, birds, and other animals, all preserved by natural parks. Some of Tasmania remains unexplored, areas so thick with growth that some consider them to be among the most impenetrable in the world.

We were there for only about a week, so we focused on the eastern part of the island. Our flight from Sydney took us to Launceston, a small town in the north. From there we rented a car and drove south to Hobart in a couple of hours. Hobart is a town of about 100,000 that was founded in the early 1800s. It has an active harbor rimmed with Georgian buildings, tiny restaurants, and quaint shops. Ships that resupply the Australian Antarctic bases dock here, and the town has an Antarctic museum.

We were in Hobart on a Saturday, so we spent much of the day at the Salamanca Market, which features local arts and crafts and organic vegetables. Discussions with some locals helped us plan our itinerary.

We stayed a couple of nights in a cabin in the woods we found near the Tasman Peninsula, just to the south. We went for walks at night and heard the scary noises of the Tasmanian devil and other nocturnal animals in the forest along the Tasman Sea.

We visited Port Arthur Penal Colony, a well-preserved historic settlement begun in 1839 as a sort of natural penitentiary. We walked through the old buildings, including the convict church, took a short boat trip across the Tasman Sea to the Isle of the Dead, and enjoyed the birds and flowers in the botanical gardens.

From Port Arthur, we drove up the scenic east coast, which locals call the sun coast. The eastern coast is defined by small, tranquil towns with great pubs and seafood restaurants.We loved Bicheno, which has a population of about seven hundred.We took a bus trip to the beach at around 11 p.m. to watch the nightly migration of fairy penguins from the sea to their nests. The fairy penguin is claimed to be the smallest penguin in the world. It goes back and forth from the sea to sand dunes each night.With flashlights and a tour guide, we spent the evening following the path paved by penguins.

Before we headed back to Sydney, we visited Freycinet National Park. This might have been our best decision in Tasmania. The roads donÕt travel all that far into the park. The best way to explore Freycinet is by foot, on well-maintained trails that bring you close to native flora and fauna.While ÒbushwalkingÓ through Freycinet, we came across several kangaroos. We spent about three hours walking the trails (up, down, and all around) before ending up at a tranquil spot called Wineglass Bay, so named because from that spot, a peninsula looks like a wineglass.

Our decision to take a chance and discover a new place paid off. Tasmania has much to offer the traveler who is willing to take a less-traveled path.

Scott Palmer Õ91 lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife, Brenna, and daughter Kaleigh. He helps to administer an adult education program at Ohio Dominican University and occasionally teaches. He thinks about Tasmania every day and plans to return soon.