Maria Island Day Trip

Maria Island, a half-hour by boat from Triabunna, sits on the southern rim of Great Oyster Bay. An early settler called it "one of the sweetest spots in Van Diemen's Land," and so it remains. Under the English, Maria Island became a convict settlement for political exiles like the Irish MP William Smith O'Brien. Framed on the wall of O'Brien's modest cottage is a heartbreaking letter to his son, written in 1850 with no expectation of a reply for 14 months:

My dear Edward,
I am glad to hear that you are about to go to school but you forgot to tell me to what school you are to be sent.

Maria Island was later turned into a resort by an egotistical Italian silk merchant who planted vineyards (many of the vines had originated at Château Lafite) that grew in abundance. Asked why he had emigrated to Tasmania, Diego Bernacchi replied: "Ah, that is romance!"


In 1963, in the same spirit of optimism, the island was acquired as a reserve for the Tasmanian tiger prior to an expedition made in the hope of capturing several specimens alive. Despite the absence of thylacines, Maria Island today is a menagerie. Squadrons of gray Cape Barren geese float through the eucalyptus, Tasmanian hens streak across the path like Mad March Hares, and if you're lucky you might just see, perched high in the manna gums, a 40-spotted parladotte, a small bird that breeds only in Tasmania. A day trip is highly recommended.

Maria Island ferry departs from Triabunna twice a day October 1-April 30, and once a day May 1-September 30. $ $18 for a round trip; 61-3-6234-9294.