Flinders Island Attractions
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, lies in Bass Strait off northeastern Tasmania. It is named after Matthew Flinders, who sailed through Bass Strait in 1797.
The Furneaux Islands are named after Captain Furneaux, commander of Cook's supply ship Adventure, who discovered the group of 42 islands. They are probably a remnant of a land bridge linking Tasmania with the Australian mainland. Seal-hunters established settlements on the islands at an early stage. Off the rocky coasts are numerous wrecks.
In the 1830s Flinders Island was used as a place of internment for the last Tasmanian Aborigines on the main island, whose numbers thereafter fell sharply. The last survivors were finally removed to Oyster Cove, south of Hobart, in 1874, and a few years later the Aborigines of Tasmania were extinct. At Emita, on the west side of Flinders Island, are a cemetery and a chapel marking the site of the Aboriginal settlement (Wybalenna Historic Site). The main center on the thinly populated island, which was developed for agriculture after the second world war, is Whitemark, also on the west coast. Native fauna abounds, especially mutton birds, and the beaches are excellent.
The Furneaux Islands are named after Captain Furneaux, commander of Cook's supply ship Adventure, who discovered the group of 42 islands. They are probably a remnant of a land bridge linking Tasmania with the Australian mainland. Seal-hunters established settlements on the islands at an early stage. Off the rocky coasts are numerous wrecks.
In the 1830s Flinders Island was used as a place of internment for the last Tasmanian Aborigines on the main island, whose numbers thereafter fell sharply. The last survivors were finally removed to Oyster Cove, south of Hobart, in 1874, and a few years later the Aborigines of Tasmania were extinct. At Emita, on the west side of Flinders Island, are a cemetery and a chapel marking the site of the Aboriginal settlement (Wybalenna Historic Site). The main center on the thinly populated island, which was developed for agriculture after the second world war, is Whitemark, also on the west coast. Native fauna abounds, especially mutton birds, and the beaches are excellent.
Strzelecki National Park
Strzelecki National Park is named after the explorer Paul Edmund de Strzelecki. This unspoiled region is good walking country, particularly round the Strzelecki Range, from which there are magnificent views over the island, reaching as far as Cape Barren Island, home to a protected species of geese.
Strzelecki National Park
Box 41
Whitemark, TAS 7255
Australia
Box 41
Whitemark, TAS 7255
Australia
