SCUDDING ACROSS THE MERCURY PASSAGE aboard the Parla Dee on a blue-skied summer day marks a dividing line. Behind us, the south-east coast of Tasmania recedes, taking workaday life with it. Ahead lies Maria Island and four days of walking its long white beaches, forest trails and mountain tracks, exploring its abandoned farmhouses and convict ruins, and spotting its abundant wildlife.
We wade ashore, wave goodbye to and take stock. Our group of five walkers and two guides, standing around a pile of packs and boots on the sands of Shoal Bay, are the only people
