Bruny Island Fare

As I have told you, my husband and I went camping with a bunch of friends on south Bruny Island from the 27th of December, 2009, until New Years Day, 2010.

While we were there, we partook in some freshly caught seafood (though let it be known we didn't catch any of it, we only ate what others caught):

Abalone... it was cooked a bit fast, I think, so it was a bit tough, but you still feel super special eating it because you know how expensive it is!

Crab. This was cooked to absolute perfection. Delicious!I think if you spread the legs out it would have been close to 2 feet (60cm) from leg tip to leg tip. Slightly bigger than the ones you find under the rocks around rockpools!

There was also flounder once or twice (which I helped to get on one night! They are freaky!), but that stopped after a midnight shark scare that actually left one of the guys knocked over in mid-thigh depth water (thankfully I wasn't helping that night).

While eating the freshly caught seafood, I couldn't help but think of the Aboriginal tribe that used to roam Bruny Island and how they would have eaten the very same things that we ate during that camping trip. 

I wonder if they considered Abalone a delicacy like we do?

Bruny Island: An Overview

Bruny Island is a beautiful place and it has quite a lot of significance in Tasmania's history. 

Captain Cook landed on it at Adventure Bay, on the east side of South Bruny. Lots of other explorers also visited (or at least tried to) Adventure Bay: Abel Tasman, Tobias Furneaux  (who named it) and William Bligh.

A globe at Adventure Bay.

 

The island itself and the channel of water between it and mainland Tasmania are named after a French explorer, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. The channel is called the D'Entrecastreaux Channel.


Truganini, the most famous of all the Tasmanian Aborigines, came from a tribe which lived on Bruny. 

At the south end of Adventure Bay. The water was beautiful but FREEZING!

 

Bruny Island is made up of a north island and a south island, which are joined together with a narrow isthmus, called "The Neck". So original! North Bruny is less than half the size of South Bruny. Here's a map so you can take a look. On it you can also see Captain Cook's landing place.

An artistic shot of the lighthouse... the person in the front seat was trying to ruin the photo but I love how it turned out.

On Cape Bruny, which is way down south, is a very old lighthouse: The Cape Bruny Lighthouse. It was built in 1838. When it was first in use, there were no roads on the island. To get supplies to the lighthouse boats would land at Jetty Beach (now a camping site in Great Taylor's Bay - look for the green 11 on the map). Supplies were then carried overland to the lighthouse on a track that became the first road on Bruny. Now, it is probably the bumpiest!

The lighthouse is no longer in service, but it remains a popular tourist attraction, which is understandable because it really is a gorgeous lighthouse in a stunning location. 

Tas Lit Tues: Nan Chauncy

I have a love hate relationship with Nan Chauncy's books. I love them becuase I wrote a thesis on them when I did Honours in English in 2008. That is also the reason why I hate them. Nevertheless, her books are steadily increasing in value, so I'm planning on holding onto the two I own, Mathinna's People and Tangara.

Now, Nan Chauncy was actually born in England in 1900, but her family moved to Tasmania while she was still a child. Her family bought land about 40 kilometers from Hobart. Today, that land is known as Chauncy Vale and it is a wildlife sanctuary, open to the public.

 Nan Chauncy, c. 1950.

She wrote over a dozen childrens novels, all set in Tasmania. Three of them won  Children's Book of the Year awards. Two of her books are about the Tasmanian Aborigines, and these were the books that I wrote my thesis on.

As we were talking about Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin the other day, I thought I would share a quote from Mathinna's People. Mathinna, if you remember, was the little Aboriginal girl who was adopted and then abandoned by the Franklins.

"About a year after Towterer's* death, the new Governer of Van Dieman's Land, Sir John Franklin, came to visit the Wybalena Settlement on Flinder's Island, with Lady Franklin. Both were eager to help the native people. Lady Franklin was very taken with one child, exclaiming, 'Oh, what a pretty infant! What is her name?

"It seems likely that this was Towterer's child, and that Mr. Robinson** answered that her name was 'Mary'.

"A little after this her mother, Wongerneep, died: only Parlin now remained to look after the child.

"She is next seen at Government House, and with a new name. Lady Franklin disliked the unsuitable and sometimes absurd names Mr. Robinson gave his charges: since the orphan 'Mary' had no native name of her own, she choe Mathinna for her. The little girl may have arrived wearing a string of tiny blue-green shells to suggest it, for the name means 'a necklace'.

"Mathinna did not forget her 'father'.^ Preserved in Eleanor Franklin's Journal is an 'unprompted' letter which she wrote at Government House to Parlin.

"'I am good little girl, I have a pen and ink cause I am good little girl. I do love my father. I have got a doll and a shift and a petticoat.'

"It then becomes a little confusing, lacking punctuation; but mention is made of the celebrated red frock. She wished her 'father' could come to see her, and says: 'I have got sore feet and shoes and stockings.'

"Lastly, the words 'I am very glad' seem to mean present happiness, and since there was little of this in her brief life--a tragic one ending in squalor and despair--it is best to part from the last of the Toogee now.

"Now--as she runs happily down the steps of old Government House to the waiting carriage, dressed in her dainty red dress, ready for the delights of driving through the streets of Hobart Town in the Governor's carriage. Now, while she looks half-proudly at the feet infine stockings and painful shoes--never before worn by a child of the Toogee!^^

"She will kick them off when the Old Ones come for her, and run free with the wind and her sister Djuke over the long beaches of the west, and hide in the parllerde [sacred place of the spirits], where the white men cannot find her."

* An Aboriginal chief.

** Go here and here for more infromation about George Robinson.

^ Referring to Parlin, who married Wongerneep after Towterer died.

^^ An Aboriginal Tribe that lived on the west coast of Tasmania.

Go here and here to learn more about Nan Chauncy

The Truganini Reserve, Mount Nelson

Last week was all about Mount Nelson. Hopefully you feel like you know more about it now.

There was one post I didn't manange to fit into last week (the fog threw my plans off...) so I am going to post it now, as I feel it is important. 

Mount Nelson is surrounded by reserve bushland (land that cannot be privately owned or built on). There are actually two reserves: the Skyline Reserve, which extends along the ridge of Mount Nelson, and the Truganini Reserve.

 The offical Parks and Wildlife sign, indicating the start of the reserve area and who the reserve is dedicated to.

Not so much a vantage point to look at the view, as it is a place to remember the first people who live in Tasmania. The Aboriginal tribe most likely to have visited Mount Nelson would have been the Mouheneenner tribe, who lived where Hobart is now.

The Truganini Reserve covers the south-east side of Mount Nelson, from the very top right down to Lower Sandy Bay. There is a walking track, but I have not walked it (though apparently it is only a 90 minute return!). What I wanted to show you was the memorial to the Tasmanian Aborigines, which is near the Signal Station.

Here it is:

My husband looking at the memorial. He was told "look thoughtful", but I don't think he is acting.

Tokens of remembrance: small bunches of bark and flowers.

 A close up of the memorials text.

In case you are unable to read the writing on it, this is what it says: 

Truganini Died 8 May 1876

Truganini Park 8 May 1976

Dedicated to

The Tasmanian Aboriginal People

And Their Descendants

Mount Nelson: The Hill I Live On

Earthquakes have epicentres.

People have bellybuttons.

Possums have homes in hollow trees. Some of these trees I can see from my loungeroom window.

Here are some of the trees that are possum homes.

I love where I'm living at the moment. At an elevation of approximately 300m, Mount Nelson is high enough to get snow, and on hot days the cool breezes come mid afternoon. If I walk just a little way I have a magnificent view over Hobart and the Tasman Peninsula, which I will show you later this week.

Just a hint of the view that you'll be seeing soon!

Mount Nelson has a tavern, a local shop, the Signal Station Restaurant (my photos in few days!), a B&B, a firestation, a medical centre, a pharmacy, a sports oval and playground (with public toilets), a primary school and Tasmanian Polytechnic (formerly Hobart College). There is no petrol station. There are buses only once a hour. On the weekend there are practically no buses at all. If I catch the bus it takes me twenty minutes to half an hour to get to the centre of Hobart. About a third of the trip goes down "the bends" - a stretch of road buses were never meant to travel. One day soon I'll take you along with me.

Here's a bus trying to prove me wrong... they really aren't very frequent!

There are walking tracks all over Mount Nelson, which is surrounded by bush reserves. One reserve is dedicated to the most well-known Tasmanian Aborigine: Truganini. There is a small memorial to the Aborigines near the Signal Station, which I will show you in a few days.

Hmm, I don't think there are any possums up here.

This week is all about Mount Nelson. Tomorrow, I'm taking you on a walk around the bush reserve near my house, so there will be lots of photos for you.

If there is anything you would like to know about Mount Nelson that hasn't been mentioned leave a comment!