Here is the next instalment of my monthly feature going
through the States of Australia in alphabetical order to check out how they got
named, what their flag is like and other things of interest.
Location –
Tasmania is different from other states – it is an island off the Southern
Coast of mainland Australia. The British
settled it as a penal colony.
Origin
of name – Tasmania was first called 'Van Diemen's Land' but in
1855 this was changed to Tasmania. The
name recognises the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who was the first European to
sight the island.
Nicknames –
Tassie, The Apple Isle
Flag
Capital –
Hobart
Flower –
Tasmanian Bluegum
Animal –
Tasmanian Devil ( a small fierce looking marsupial)
Signature
foods – Tasmanian Scallop Pie, Tasmanian Apple Cake, Farmed
salmon, wild abalone, honey
Famous
places to visit – Port Arthur (beautiful now but with a
violent history as a penal colony and the site of a massacre in 1996), Museum
of Old and New Art, Hobart (one of the oldest cities in Australia and is
overlooked by Mt Wellington), Wineglass Bay (great name), Sunset at Strahan
Famous
businesses/brands – Cascade Beer, Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Famous
people from Tasmania – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark,
Elizabeth Blackburn (first woman from Tasmania to get a Nobel Prize), David
Foster (wood chopping world champion), Ricky Ponting (said to be a cricketer)
I would like to visit Tasmania, and read about it in Douglas Gresham's memoir, "Lenten Lands". He is the stepson of C.S. Lewis and spent years in Tasmania working on sheep farms and as a radio DJ and he and his wife bought a small farm in Tasmania.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of those signature foods, the history is great. I like your Australian series.
ReplyDelete