Tika left Hobart and headed south west, past Bruny Island and into Recherche Bay in Tassie’s crisp, extreme south….
Cockle Creek at Recherche Bay marks ‘the end of the road’- the most southern point in Australia accessible by vehicles. It is the departure point for treks into the vast South West National Park and we are already somewhat remote. There are no shops or services. 
There is something unique about the Tassie landscape; clear, textured, full-bodied!
Long beach walks around Recherche Bay and it’s fringing eucalyptus forest… a place where you can breathe…
Recherche was a landing place for the 1792 D’entrecasteaux expedition to find missing French explorer, La Perouse. It is named in honour of the Recherche, one of the expedition’s ships. During their time in the bay, the French made friendly contact with the local aboriginal community, were engaged in scientific research and the ship’s botanists planted a garden and collected and catalogued almost 5000 specimens.
Quaint beach shacks scatter the shore around the secluded bay. History, character and charm seem to waft from these weathered timbers…
The whaling industry was in full swing in Van Diemen’s land in 1830’s and 40’s and whalers were encouraged to take up land leases and set up whaling stations in Recherche Bay. There remains some solid stone gravestones, ruins and debris from the whaling stations, the pilot’s house and the infamous public house…
Below left; the south coast of Tasmania is home to the ‘Great Kelp Forests.’ Silky appendages of 30m and longer can snare a propeller in 2 seconds flat. We were often carefully navigating around long, leathery fingers of the stuff…
Above middle; the bronze sculpture by artist Stephen Walker remembers the slaughter of thousands of Southern Right Whales in the bay. After all this time, a local told me that the whales are slowly starting to return and she sees a few more ever year…
Below left; although we tried hard, we never actually got a good shot of one of the many albatross that would mesmerise us for hours as they gracefully swooped and glided around Tika…
Above; as we left Recherge and continued west, the majestic profile of Precipitous Bluff and the Southern Mountain range loomed off our starboard side…
Above; looking back after sliding past South Cape….
Next post; Louisa Bay- it is rare that the Southern Ocean allows for a pit stop at this remote bay at 43 degrees south- We stayed the night and relished every minute of our time in this far-flung wilderness. At this point, South West Tassie was slowly becoming one of our favourite places on the planet…
This entry was posted in The Sail.
