Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 343

Take to any number of paths and Forester
kangaroo, pademelons and Bennetts wallabies
can be seen bouncing away into the bush. Cape
Barren geese, a breed near extinction in the
1950s, trim the grass by the jetty - just one
from a spotter's book of rare birdlife - while in a
marine park you can see dolphins, seals or even
whales in season.
Of course, you can also just loaf about on some
spectacular sands such as Reidle Beach, the sort
of improbably perfect arc you ache to tell friends
about. Or on second thoughts, maybe not.

466 Maria island, TasMania

“No cars, no shops, no worries” was how the flyer
for Maria Island National Park read a few years
ago. But it forgot to mention no people. If part of
the park's appeal is casting yourself adrift on an
island that has barely changed since Europeans
first waded through its aquamarine shallows
around 250 years ago, another is that most
tourists haven't yet cottoned on that it's there.
Because it's 14km offshore - and only
accessible by a small ferry - Maria (pronounced
“Ma- rye -a”) remains a hauntingly beautiful
Treasure Island while the much-lauded
Freycinet National Park just up the coast is
besieged by coach tours. And it is the isolation
that saw it swing from convict sink of the British
Empire to Victorian health retreat, preserving
the wildlife in the eucalyptus rainforest and
making it Tasmania's very own Noah's Ark for
endangered species. Thank Professor Thomas
Flynn, Errol's father, who proposed it as a
sanctuary for the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger.
Too late for the tiger, but perfect for the other
indigenous species.

Need to know The Maria Island Ferry ( W www.
mariaislandferry.com.au; T [phone];
reservations recommended) runs from Triabunna
to Darlington on Maria Island. A Parks & Wildlife
Service office at Darlington ( W www.parks.tas.
gov.au; T [phone]) manages
accommodation in the former convict penitentiary
(bunkhouse A$15; rooms A$50) and camping
(A$12 at Darlington; free elsewhere); it also hires
bikes (A$15 per day). Maria Island Walk ( W www.
mariaislandwalk.com.au; T [phone])
provides four-day luxury treks on the island from
October to April.

Sunrise on Maria Island;
Kangaroos and wombats are
just some of the animals you
can see on the island