"I told you..." shouted Simon above the whistle of the wind and the slapping of the waves, "in Tasmania we embrace the elements!"
I gritted my teeth into what seemed to be a driving gale - actually nothing more than a baby's mewling sigh compared to the real power of the roaring forties - and put renewed effort into the paddling. It crossed my mind that perhaps the elements were about to embrace us but, even with the white-caps breaking over our spraydecks, the ocean-going two-man kayak was amazingly stable. Around us, the four canary-yellow spears of the rest of our little 'fleet' sliced through the icy water.
 This was just another experience of the wildness and unpredictability of Tasmania. Simon Stubbs has been leading kayaking tours around Freycinet Peninsula for thirteen years and he welcomes the weather as just part of the adventure of life in the land 'under downunder.' When we had set out earlier that morning, lathered in sunscreen to protect us from a glaring Southern Ocean sun, the dramatic granite peaks of The Hazards were still throwing unblemished reflections into the mirror-like face of Great Oyster Bay. Only the gentlest of wavelets rippled across the rock-pools to feed the bright orange lichen that is an icon of the area.
Even while we were still trying to find a comfortable paddling rhythm a sea eagle soared over, bound for some craggy nest high in The Hazards. Then a V-shaped wedge of black swans passed over the bay, en-route for the shallows of Moulting Lagoon. Part of the lagoon is still open to hunting, but frustrated sportsmen point out that most of the wildlife always seems to be smart enough to stay just to the right of the 'no hunting' sign. This has always been big hunting country and, at the turn of the last century, a large proportion of the Thylacine, or Tasmanian tigers, that were killed for the government bounty (a pound a head) were slaughtered in this area.
In 1916 Freycinet Peninsula became one of Tasmania's first two national parks and it is now home to a spectacular variety of wildlife, including healthy populations of Bennet's wallaby and the smaller Tasmania pademelon. Tasmanian devil are still seen here but, as elsewhere in the state, a horrific disease known as Devil Facial Tumour is decimating the population.
We paddled onward around the gentle curve of Coles Bay and our shadows rippled across the shallow sands of Richardson's Beach to herd a couple of large rays ahead of us. It seems that there is a tale of adventure behind the name of every landmark in Tasmania. Silas Coles was an early settler who made a living burning oyster shells to make lime and Ron Richardson was a World War II fighter pilot who, locals say, was in the habit of setting 'land speed records' for the dirt track that links the little village of Coles Bay with the peninsula. He did it in his Rolls Royce!
 The names of 'Freycinet' and 'Shouten Island' pay homage to early French and Dutch explorers but later settlers came up with some of the more memorable names. A reckless, drunken Irish adventurer by the name of John 'Paddy' Harte is credited (apparently after some ill-fated late night ramble) with 'Break Me Neck Gorge' and 'Bust Me Gall Hill.' The Hazards themselves were named after a remarkable Captain Hazard, a liberated African slave who had risen to the level of a skipper and, legend has it, saved his shipwrecked crew by climbing over the mountains. It would be nice to imagine that the local Hazard Beer was named in honour of this heroic captain rather than the mountains.
Sleepy Bay and Promise Bay seemed to have been named specifically to compliment the glowing autumn light and the tranquil waters of a perfect kayaking day, but the wind was whipping up slightly by the time we paused for a high-tea of Milo and muffins on the squeaky sand of Honeymoon Bay.
Just a mile or so over the isthmus, on the ocean-ward side of the peninsula, lies the famous Wineglass Bay. With its magnificent snow-white scimitar of sand (a product of the high quartz content of the hills), bracketed between an emerald forests and a turquoise sea, Wineglass is rated as one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. To the casual observer it seems perfectly named for its elegant bowl-shaped curve. But the real origin of its name is far more disturbing: so many whales were butchered at the three whaling factories here in the 1820s that, for decades, the whole bay was stained the colour of claret.
This became one of the world's busiest whaling centres and more than a hundred Southern Right Whales (so called because they were the 'right ones to slaughter') were once harpooned in Great Oyster Bay in a single day. This is still the most likely place in the world to see Southern Right Whales, but they were hunted so ruthlessly that the worldwide population is now thought to be less than a thousand. The previous afternoon, from the oceanside cliffs, I had seen a pod of seven humpbacks breaching and tail-slapping with their calves. Like elephants, whales have a long memory. There might be many more humpbacks in the 1,600 miles of ocean that lay between me and the icy wastes of Antarctica, but in the last decade Simon reckons that he has seen whales actually enter the bay only a handful of times. Dolphins are more common and, since there are large seal colonies and penguins on some of the outlying islands, sharks are also likely to be around in large numbers. I was happy to hear though that they also maintain a low profile and are almost never seen in the coastal waters.
The first white 'pioneers' to settle in Tasmania were bands of tough and ruthless sealers who had established skinning stations five years before the first village was built on 'Van Diemen's Land.' They began the long tradition of persecution of the Aboriginal people, with killing sprees and raids that resulted in forced labour for the Aboriginal men and sex-slavery for the women.
Most of the Aboriginal stories have been lost and even the ancient place names were long ago replaced by foreign names (in French, Dutch and English) given by men who presumed to have 'discovered unknown lands'. Friendly Beaches was named for the hospitable and happy nature of the Aboriginal clans that English sailors met there...nevertheless, it is said that a trading argument that took place during an early meeting was settled very quickly with musket-shot.
In truth Aboriginal people were already here 12,000 years ago when rising sea levels first separated Tasmania from the  mainland, and they had spent a total of 35,000 years evolving a lifestyle that was perfectly adapted to harvesting its sustainable resources. Until Europeans arrived in this area the scattered bands of Aborigines in the Great Oyster Bay area had lived something of a charmed life. With limitless supplies of shellfish in the shallows there was no need even to go to the trouble of fishing and, although there was plenty of game, the nomadic clans need not bother with hunting until they took to the hills in the warmer summer months. The ever-shifting communities that are known to historians today as the Oyster Bay Group numbered perhaps seven hundred people, but they left little behind apart from shell middens that marked the locations of countless feasts.
"All the aborigines have been removed to an island in Bass Strait," Charles Darwin complained when he visited Hobart in 1836, "…thirty years is a short period in which to have banished the last aboriginal from his native land."
Few of Tasmania's Aborigines survived the years of malnutrition, homesickness and disease that followed their forced translocation to a 'reservation' on Flinders Island.
In 1997 the Tasmania parliament became the first in Australia to formally apologise to the Aboriginal community for the abuses that were inflicted on 'the stolen generation.' It seems likely that little will ever really be known about the beliefs and customs of the islands original inhabitants.
By the time we turned the noses of our kayaks back towards home the gnarled faces of the Hazards were already beginning to glow gold in the setting sun. The daily 'light show' that takes place on the towering screen across the water from Coles Bay is one of the unforgettable aspects of a visit to Freycinet. Even the most blasé villager will often stroll down to the waterfront to watch the mountains glow, first peach, then gold, then scarlet and finally purple.
Perhaps we paused to watch the show for too long because it was when we were rounding the point by the town esplanade, in rapidly fading light, that the squall hit us. We fought against it for about ten minutes - feeling pleasantly exhilarated and revelling in the feeling of mild adventure that comes from being in a small boat on the edge of an immense and mysterious ocean.
Then we rounded another point and the wind whipped around behind us. Suddenly we were surfing on a little 6-inch wave that seemed to be sent by some divine spirit to carry us to shore. We rested our oars up on the deck and 'embraced the elements' while the little wave carried us towards Muir's Beach and the refuge of the warm pub beyond it.
Tasmania's Top 5 Kayaking Locations
1
Name/location of kayaking spot
Freycinet Peninsula, East coast of Tasmania
Length/grade
Trips from short 2-3 hour paddles up to week long kayaking adventures
What's great about it/what I'll see
Fantastic coastal scenery, beautiful beaches, spectacular sea cliffs and crystal clear waters. Lots of birdlife and occasional marine life.
2
Name/location of kayaking spot
Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur, South Eastern coast of Tasmania
Length/grade
Trips from short 2-3 hour paddles up to week long kayaking adventures
What's great about it/what I'll see
Paddle around the historic convict settlement of Port Arthur and explore the rugged sea cliffs (Tasmania has the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere).
3
Name/location of kayaking spot
Bathurst Harbour/ Port Davey, South west Tasmanian
Length/grade
Several days minimum would be required to explore this area.
What's great about it/what I'll see
There are no roads in this region at all so access is by light airplane. The isolated and exposed bays, inlets and rivers in this region are recommended for experienced kayakers only, or for those with a specialist guided group.
4
Name/location of kayaking spot
Bruny Island and the D'Entrecasteau Channel
Length/grade
Trips from short 2-3 hour paddles up to several day kayaking adventures
What's great about it/what I'll see
A good range of easy access kayaking from sheltered bays and islands to coastal cliffs. A good range of accommodation (and a warm, friendly pub) is always within easy reach!
5
Name/location of kayaking spot
Gordon River, West Coast Tasmania
Length/grade
A wilderness trip up the Gordon River to the world famous Franklin River. This is an extremely isolated part of Tasmania so only for experienced paddlers or on a guided trip
What's great about it/what I'll see
Explore the temperate rainforest and ancient Huon pine-forests of Tasmania’s South West world Heritage area.
Recommended operator: Freycinet Adventures – www.freycinetadventures.com.au |
"He who dies with the most experiences wins"
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