Firstly, I must apologise for being late. I lost track of the day I was supposed to write this amongst the busiest week of my working life. This month, on the ChristianWriters.com blog chain the topic is ‘Fresh Air’. I thought I might talk a little about the state in which I live – Tasmania, since it is famous for having very fresh air and water. In fact, scientific studies have found our air to be the cleanest in the world. It is somewhat Ironic though, that the city I live in – Launceston – is right in the middle of a valley, which can cause some air quality issues. This is mostly because of wood smoke, but government pressure to discourage the use of wood heating has made an impact on this problem.
Tasmania - Amongst the other states
Tasmania is the southern-most and smallest state in Australia. It is also an island – separated from Victoria by a body of water known as the Bass Straight. It was discovered by Europeans in 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. It was initially named ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ after Tasman’s sponsor, but renamed to Tasmania in 1856.
Tasmania is well known for its wilderness areas. Over 40% of the state is protected in either national parks or reserves[2]. Although our mountains are not overly tall in a global scale, Tasmania is considered one of the world’s most mountainous islands.
Walk through Launceston Show Grounds
I took this photo on a recent foggy morning. I walk along here every morning on my way to work. It gives me plenty of time to think about my fiction writing. On the right you can see Aurora Stadium.
Cataract Gorge
The cataract Gorge is a favourite place to relax in my home city of Launceston. There’ll be plenty of people swimming in the basin during summer, and the floods can be spectacular during winter.
Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake
While I admit I’ve never actually been up Cradle Mountain, it is one of our most iconic natural features. I have been to Lake St. Clair which is not far away.
Wineglass Bay
Climbing up ‘The Hazards’ at Coles Bay can be an energetic trek, but once you hit the midpoint you are greeted with an impressive view of Wineglass Bay. It is pretty difficult to get to any way other than walking.
About ten years ago I put together a little documentary about Tasmania. You can view it here: Travelling Tasmania with Mongo
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peak into my world. Don’t forget to check out the other entries in our blog chain.
Photo Credits
- Map of Australia: The Emir
- Cataract Gorge: Aaroncrick
- Winglass Bay: JJ Harrison
- Cradle Mountain: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen
Follow The Chain
- 1st Of June: Jesse Pettengill, Every Seven Days
- 6th June: Liberty Speidel, Word Wanderings
- 7th of June: Cindee Snider Re, Breathe Deeply
- 9th of June: Tracy Krauss, Expression Express
- 10th of June: Terrie Thorpe, Light for the Journey
- 11th of June: Lynn Mosher, Heading Home
- 13th of June: Nona King, Word Obsession
- 14th of June: Chris Vonada, I’m Just Thinkin’
- 15th of June: Victor Travison, Lightwalker’s View
- 16th of June: Sarah Grace, Write-Minded
- 17th of June: Edward Lewis, Sowing the Seeds
- 18th of June: Michael Galloway, Horizons
- 19th of June: Debra Ann Elliott, Writing with Debra
- 20th of June: Keith Wallis, wordsculptures
- 20th of June: Scott Fields, Dead Man Writing
- 22nd of June: Carol Peterson, From Carol’s Quill
- 23rd of June: Adam Collings, The Collings Zone YOU ARE HERE
- 23rd of June: Sheila Hollinghead, Eternal Springs
- 25th of June: Traci Bonney, Tracings
- 28th of June: Marilyn, Life 101 Understanding It All
- 29th of June: Chris Depew, The Beulah Land Blog
- 30th of June: Chris Henderson, TheWriteChris
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The Collings Zone 
What a beautiful place to live! And on an island. Lucky you! Something about living on an island is very appealing to me. Thanks for sharing a glimpse of the beauty surrounding you!
The downside of being an island is of course that when you want to travel interstate you have no choice but to fly which can make it a pretty expensive endeavour. Another interesting advantage though is that we have some unique wildlife not found anywhere else. I forgot to talk about some of our animals. How could I forget the Tassie Devil? I might have to do a follow-up post.
Thanks for the tour, Adam. Definitely a different take on our topic, and an enjoyable read. The pictures are great too; kind of makes me want to go visit one day. 🙂
It’s funny how inspiration hits just when you’re thinking “what can I possibly write about.” Then you think “how did I not see that earlier.” Glad you enjoyed it Traci. Come on down.
This was a nice little travel post. Thanks for a new glimpse of your part of the world!
My pleasure Carol. Glad you liked it.
I think I’m going to add Tasmania to my “places to visit someday” list. Never been to Austrailia either… 40% parks/reserves? That’s amazing.
Yeah if you come to Australia you must include Tassie on your list. Its good to see it through another’s eyes. We take so much for granted.
Adam,
Very sweet, I enjoyed reading about Tasmania and your world, thank you for sharing this!! Be Great brother 🙂
Thanks Chris. You too.
Adam what a beautiful place to live. The Lord certainly has blessed you and yours. I am a beach fan and I didn’t catch a description of your beaches, although being an island, the whole place is surrounded.!! Love it and loved the pic’s- like others that commented-I will have to add Tasmania to my “bucket list” LOL will look you up
We have some nice beaches. Coles Bay on the east coast was a favourite in my teenage years. Growing up as a kid we spent a lot of Christmas holidays at Ulverstone on the north west. There was a very popular beach there too, plus a water slide.
Thanks for the great tour of Tasmania. I always love hearing about other beautiful places besides here. I bet a post about your unique wildlife would be interesting, too. Everyone’s heard of the Tasmanian devil, but most people can only think about the Warner Bros. character. Like the roadrunner, I’m sure the real animal is nothing like what we see.
~ VT
I’ll definitely do that follow up. The devil deserves a post all his own really (and yes it is very different 🙂 )
Wow. Now I can say I know someone from Tasmania (besides the Bugs bunny cartoon character 🙂 To those of us from other parts of the world, it seems very exotic. to you, it’s probably just home. blessings.
Yes. It’s funny like that. It’s a lot of fun to see a place through someone else’s eyes.
Fascinating travelog…worth waiting for. I’m like so many others, say “Tasmania” and I think “devil.” For some strange reason, the idea of island life has always appealed to me. I mean small islands, not Hawaii. Growing up in Ohio, I often wondered what it would be like to live on one of the Lake Erie islands. Cold and windy, to say the least. Really enjoyed the pictures. Maybe I’ll do a similar post about Coastal Oregon someday. Peace and Blessings
I’d enjoy that EG. For comparison, Tasmania is said to be about the size of West Virginia, or the Republic of Ireland. So not a small island. Also, we get a good share of wind and rain in Tassie, although the weather isn’t as bad as the stereotypes suggest.
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Wow! Tasmania is beautiful! I would love to visit some day! Like the others, I am going to have to add it to my list! 🙂 Great post! It is always neat to hear about the places others call “home.”
Adam, I’m sorry I am behind on commenting on the chain. What a wonderful place! Thanks so much for the lovely photos. I so enjoyed reading about your corner of the world.