Friday, June 15

King Island




We recently holidayed at King Island situated in Bass Strait not far from mainland Tasmania and about 35 minutes flying time south of Melbourne. The island’s history began with maritime explorers, and its first settlers were sealers who were almost responsible for their extinction. The waters of Bass Strait are particularly treacherous and have clamed hundreds of ships and lives lost. The island has sustained more losses than the entire Australian coastline.

Soldier settlement land schemes were set up on the island after the two world wars. Farmers prospered from a regular annual rainfall which supported green pastures ideal for sheep, beef and dairy cows from whose milk I can attest the cheeses are simply stupendous. The Island today has a population of 1700 and has many unique sights and points of interest. It main industries are agriculture, fishing and processing giant kelp which is exported around the world. The kelp is unique to the waters off the Island and is also suitable for crafted ornaments after treatment.

Above are pictures of some unexpected thick pockets of foliage, the giant kelp and the ragged and rocky shoreline.
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7 comments:

Lee said...

I hope you brought home some of the cheese with you...and the beef from King Island is delicious! Best rump steak I've ever had!

Great pics, Lindsay. :)

Val said...

I was just thinking about you this morning, Lindsay, and that you haven't posted in a while.

These photos are great, love the strange looking foliage in the first one.

Yep, that King Island beef is wonderful. Some supermarkets stock it here.

Anonymous said...

WOW! these pics are amazing. thanks for sharing.

lindsaylobe said...

Hi Lee Val & Veronica
Thanks for your comments.
We certainly enjoyed the produce, the best fillet steaks ever as well as the scenery!!

Jo said...

Lindsay, great photos! I love seeing pictures of Australia. My brother has spent a lot of time there, and it's one of his favorite places. I have a boomerang he brought me from there.

grannyfiddler said...

yowza!! those big leathery chunks are kelp!!!? i thought they were animal skins, and was expecting a dissertation on poaching or endangered species!

King Island sounds like somwhere i need to see one day. And being an Albertan Canadian girl, i do love my beef, despite the big BSE scare not too long ago.

White Square said...

Great timeout and great pics Lindsay!
No wonder the island is called the King Island!
Would love to visit someday but for the time being I must be happy looking at your cool pics!

Cheers!