LUTRUWITA TASMANIA

People have been living in Lutruwita (Tasmania) for at least 35,000 years. Aboriginal culture stems back to an era when glaciers carved out these mountains and valleys. They endured and thrived in the harshest of conditions and became the definition of living with the land. You travel to come home and to me, Tasmania will always be my identity. From the Fagus leaves turning yellow as winter approaches, to the ancient calls of the yellow tailed black cockatoo to the spectacular mountain ranges, it doesn’t take long to feel like you’re the last person on Earth. A large section of Tasmania seems to be devoid of any form of human life, but despite this (and probably fitting), it gives way to some of the grandest and most stunning landscapes. You drive for hours and where you would expect to see farms or towns, you see dense forests, rugged coastlines and buttongrass plains. Close to one third of Tasmania is untouched and inaccessible. If only the same could be said for the rest of the world.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Tasmania and the flooding of the once iconic Lake Pedder sparked a Green movement worldwide. There are still plenty of wilderness battles ahead for my beautiful island home.