TRAVEL FEATURE - AUSTRALIA
LEIGH WILKINS
WILD , WILD WEST
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Oh yeah , right ,” my mind wandered , we ’ d heard all of this before , Tasmania , Australia ’ s smallest state with the biggest everything . I was trying not to come across rude , but there ’ s only so many times you can take being told ‘ you must see this , you must do that ’. “ Monotonous , isn ’ t it ?”, my partner , Megan , said as we moved on , I couldn ’ t tell if she was making a state or asking a question so , I chose the latter and confirmed . She seemed unimpressed .
“ Take note . You do go on a bit ”, it hit a nerve and I spent the next few minutes worrying that I was a bore that prattles on too much about places that are a must . I need not reply , perhaps she was right .
We ’ d been speaking with fellow travellers who had come from the opposite direction , heading south down Tasmania ’ s Western Explorer Highway . They ’ d suggested that the road , although a highway , was quite rough and heavily corrugated , and dirt the entire length . We ’ d struggle on motorcycles they ’ d suggested however , the wilderness was something that couldn ’ t be missed . We took the advice on yet , as always , would make our own decisions about conditions and in this case the epic wilderness that would befall us .
We ’ d spent the night camped beside the beach near Granville Harbour , on Tasmania ’ s west coast . A strange camp that as night fell and darkness swept across the coastal landscape beckoned a sinister presence . Our camp was amongst a stand of windswept tea trees that even in full sunlight were so dense that light was kept at bay . Overactive imaginations fuelled by the creaks and groans of the trees as they sway and bent in the sea breeze .
Morning light brought the realisation that we were still alive , no demon of the night had crawled from the undergrowth to feast on
TRAVERSE 111