I’ve lived in Tasmania three times. I came here first as a teenager with my parents – my father was the Tasmanian connection. He’d not been back in the preceding 20 years and Tasmania, then, was a different place. We lasted two years before we all decamped to Adelaide but I’m pretty sure we never…

James Griggs arrived from England in 1842. He settled in Franklin, some 40 kilometres southwest of Hobart as the crow flies. At the time, the township was known as ‘The Settlement’ and locals carved a humble existence from the land. They grew fruit and vegetables in the valley, fished in the river, and caught eels…

It’s ironic that the dolerite rock that was violently forced up thousands of years ago formed such a serene romantic southern sphinx. Her hair lying back towards Mt Wellington (Kunanyi), her resting profile flowing leftwards along the ranges – brow, nose, lips and breasts – Sleeping Beauty is a constant and welcoming landmark for travellers…

On the cliffs of South Cape Bay there’s nothing but deep sea and somewhere out there – Antarctica. When we hop in the car to drive to the end of Australia’s southern-most road, Tasmania is in a mood. Thoughts of blue bird skies are dashed with every defiant windscreen swipe. Sheets of rain dull the…

‘Winsome remembers her family would get a ride on a truck from their home to the hut on Monday mornings with their supplies for the week.’

It’s a delightful drive from Hobart to the riverside town of Franklin, through the farms and orchards of the Huon Valley and over the bridge across the broad Huon River. As you crest Vince’s Saddle and look out towards the peaks of the World Heritage Area, then cruise down the sweeping bends to the Grove…