Tassie - Take One

Saturday, 28 November 

Geography

·      Tasmania is a heart-shaped island off the southeastern coast of Australia.

·      It is approximately the size of West Virginia.

·      30% of the island is designated parkland or World Heritage Preserve.

·      Tasmania claims to have the cleanest water and air on the planet earth.

·      Weather changes dramatically. One can experience all four seasons – sometimes within a single hour.

History

·      Wrongly assuming the island to be uninhabited (Aborignal Peoples had already been in residence 35,000 years), the Brits landed here in 1803 to expand their Australian prison network. Then called Van Diemen’s Land, this was a rather harsh penal colony. Between 1833-1877, some 12,000 convicts were imprisoned in Port Arthur alone.

·      The island’s reputation discouraged free settlers. Therefore, the population remained small, the land unspoiled, and the ex-cons got first pick of the prime real estate.

On our flight, Ned chatted with a fellow named Rick who traced his genealogy back 17 generations. Many of his antecedents in England, Ireland and Scotland committed petty crimes so that they could emigrate to Tasmania as “guests of the King” and therefore not have to pay for passage Down Under. Rick can also claim aboriginal DNA (on his mother’s side). 

Friday Night

·      The Black Footed Pig @ 8 Brook Street is where we went for dinner because (1) it’s across from where we are staying, (2) it features tapas, and (3) it looked really cute when we peeked in the window earlier in the day. What a find! We love chef-owned restaurants, and this one ranks right up there with the best. 

The chef, Nasser, smiled the entire evening while turning out gorgeous plates of beautiful food from his tiny kitchen with only one sous-chef, a dishwasher and his wife, Cheryl. Nasser immigrated to Australia from the former Yugoslavia (Montenegro then Kosovo). Upon learning that we are from the USA, he treated us to a dessert. The Black Footed Pig is newly opened and is Nasser’s “retirement” – He and Cheryl own a very successful European Coffee House a block away (successful = 1200 people served a day…).

Chef Nasser of Black Footed Pig

Embossed Napkins

Appies