Aboriginal Name -Not found
Maria Island perfectly encapsulates the idea of seclusion. It's an island off an island off the island continent. The only people that live on the island are a few park folk that maintain the facilities. The only vehicles are their two or three maintenance vehicles. Yet it's actually easy enough to get to. It's just an hour's drive from Hobart - plus a 20 minute ferry.
We stayed on the island for a couple nights over January - with the intention to walk to the furthest extremities of the Island. But we paced ourselves to take it all in and only ended up making it to half of the island's scenery . We camped at Encampment Cove, a protected bay three hours each way by foot from Darlington and scaling Bishop & Clerk about two hours each way.
The Bishop and Clerk walk was particularly memorable. it takes you through abandoned convict built brick works, sweeping native meadows that are disrupted by shear cliffs, and when you reach the summit it feels like you're standing on top of a 700 meter high sky-scraper looking out over to Antarctica, highly recommend.
Secluded as it is it seems that the word is out about maria island and the people are flocking, but the number of animals will always out weigh the people. Maria Island is a sanctuary for native Tasmanian and Australian fauna, from a strengthening group of tumor-less Tasmanian devils to hundreds of Cape Barren Geese. Every field or valley on the island is covered with scurrying birds and marsupials at sunset.
The original inhabitants of Maria Island were the Tyreddeme people from the Oyster Bay area and may have used the islands as feeding and burial grounds for thousands of years, but there is little surviving evidence other than shell middens (traditional feeding areas). It doesn’t help that most of the information on the island is to do with the colonial era settlement and private industry.
Although close to the mainland (or main island) there are no shops or stores for supplies at all on the island so make sure you pack your essentials. While we were the it was relatively cold but we still managed to dunk in the ocean. It would make the perfect summer island beach holiday destination.
You better get there before they start building beachside apartments.
by - Andrej Vodstrčil & Max Blackmore
LFRF acknowledges all the Traditional Owners of the land [or country] and pay our respects to the Elders, past and present of all of Tasmania and urges you to please do the same
