After sailing all the South Seas, stopping in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Fiji Islands and New Zealand, 370 years ago a Dutch navigator called Abel Tasman saw a coast which he thought wasn’t actually part of the Australian coast. He called that land Van Diemen’s Land, to honour the the Governor of the Dutch East India Company. It took 135 years for the explorers to realise that it wasn’t actually just a coast, but an island.
It was Matthew Flinders who discovered this. But unfortunately for him, the island continued to be named after the person who discoverered it, and soon became Tasmania. On the other hand, Flinders gave name to the central train station in Melbourne.
Tasmania is a beautiful place, it has everything you need, except the weather. It is full of parks to hike in, such as Cradle Mountain, and beautiful beaches, such as The Bay of Fires.
You can also find interesting historical sites, like the Port Arthur Penitentiary, MONA (one of the nicest modern arts museum in the world), the Strahan cruise, Launceston Gorge and many many others. And, last but not least, many different species of animals, except for the Tasmania Tiger, which is actually extinct.
Living in Tasmania: useful information
Tasmania is for those who love nature. No doubt about it, Tasmania is the perfect place, a real paradise, if you don’t mind the wind. This island is one of the southernmost island in the world, close to the Arctic. It’s hard to find something similar. It’s considered a regional area, which means you can do your 88 days of farm work in order to apply for the second Working Holiday Visa.
September to March is the best period to live and find job in Tasmania. The island becomes a destination of a lot of tourists, therefore the hospitality industry is on fire in this period. There are also a lot of music festivals during the year, once again especially in summer.
