What is this blog about?
This is about the experience of two friends visiting the Tarkine. Through this blog I will record the stories of myself (Helen Tyzack) and Jeanette Banks from the time we decided to discover Tasmania’s Tarkine until we made the journey by car, on foot, in a kayak and by boat. We both took hundreds of photos of the glorious landscape and these will be liberally dispersed throughout the blog – without identifying who took which photo.
The intention of the blog is to provide inspiration for others to travel to the Tarkine.
In addition, we want people who have passed 50 years of age to believe they can be physically active with the ability and capacity to set out on discovery tours for enjoying the worlds of Tasmania away from the bigger cities and towns. We do not want to hear people saying ‘I could never do what you do’, because we know that the truth is you could – with planning. Followers of my recent blog Walking the Derwent know that I am a smidgin over middle-age, overweight, with a variety of health problems not to mention problem hips, knees, ankles and feet, but I refuse to give up and I believe I can do things and get to places with planning. My much more able friend Jeanette reminds me we are both mentally strong – if we want to achieve something we simply plan a way to do it. And you can too!
If you want to visit the Tarkine then this blog will arm you with practical information about what to do, where to go, how to reach your goal, and how to separate facts from ‘alternative facts’. I will do my best to answer any questions you ask on the Comments option on each posting, via email, on Twitter (TouchingtheTarkine), LinkedIn or Facebook (TarkinetheTarkine) – but please note; we are not setting ourselves up as experts rather as people who have been there in a certain time period. From our experience we may have information of use for others.
Jeanette and I were born on the north west coast of Tasmania and each of us left Tasmania for the mainland and overseas before the Tarkine was named and established as a tourism, historical and environmental treasure. Since returning to live in Hobart, neither of us had ventured to that remote part of our State. We felt a visit was well overdue. Early in March 2017 we travelled to and spent some days exploring the southern Tarkine.
Our plans to travel to the northern Tarkine will be developed over the coming months with the expectation of a March 2018 visit.
BLOG HEADER PHOTO: Heads where the Pieman River meets the Southern Ocean on the west coast of Tasmania; part of the Tarkine.
POST HEADER PHOTO: Reflections of the forest into the Pieman River with ripples from the boat in which we travelled along this waterway.
Touching the Tarkine 