UNDER DOWN UNDER
The first direct flight from Auckland to Hobart in 23 years touched down slightly ahead of schedule, about 11am on 22 April. A result of the trans-Tasman bubble, the flight now allows New Zealanders to explore a place many have long overlooked. Spending a stint earning remarkably high wages in Perth, Melbourne or Sydney is de rigeur for Kiwis in their early 20s, and the Gold Coast is practically a family-holiday rite of passage. But Tasmania has never been high on most people’s list of destinations. A couple of years ago, however, I spent 10 days roaming around Tasmania in a rental car, and was so charmed by it that I have asked friends from my own time spent living in Melbourne if, on my next trans-Tasman trip, they’d meet me in Hobart instead.
Tasmania is a place of sublime beauty. Snow-capped mountain ranges, lush and dense forest, wide open bodies of water and sparkling white beaches stretching for miles all make up this island’s remarkably changeable landscape. In many places, a sense of moody isolation dominates, particularly in the west where mist hangs low in the valleys and sheer cliff faces close the sky in. Its natural wonder is evoked in Richard Flanagan’s widely acclaimed debut novel, , published in 1994. Much of the novel takes place on and along the banks of
