Tassie Love Letter

I had initially intended to write this upon my return home to Canada in August 2020, during my two-week quarantine. I was returning from a six-month exchange at the University of Tasmania, in Tasmania Australia, and wanted to pen something that expressed just how exceptional a place I believed Tasmania to be. Now, over a year later, despite the elapsed time, I still feel compelled to go out of my way to make that publicly known.

Shortly after arriving in Tasmania, it was clear, due to the pandemic, that visiting mainland Australia would not be possible. However, what first appeared to be catastrophic to my time abroad was promptly regarded as a gift, as it provided me with the opportunity to explore Tasmania more in depth than I otherwise would have.

I made it my goal to see as much of Tassie as I could, and that I did. Although I come from a small university town of five thousand people, in one of Canada’s most rural provinces, that shares much in common with Tasmania- geographic size, being a smaller portion of a much larger country, extremely coastal, and largely forested to name a few, I found everything about Tasmania to be new and exciting. No matter where I ended up on the island, I was never disappointed. Each destination was unique and seemingly more breathtaking than the next.

At one point during my stay, it was brought to my attention by an individual who, while working at a popular tourist seafood eatery on Constitution Dock in Hobart, would often overhear tourists comment on how they felt as though, they had just “discovered” Tasmania. Although this person’s account was followed by the punchline -“Hello, I live here!”, I think it touches on something truly notable. In many ways what those tourist’s comments encapsulate is Tassie’s greatest strength, because those tourists earnestly feel as though they are discovering Tasmania for themselves. The fact that Tassie can accommodate such a robust tourism industry and still feel like an undiscovered paradise is what makes it truly unique. I too can admit to being guilty of believing that I had stumbled upon a relatively unknown Eden. In large part this feeling came from Tassie’s overwhelmingly exquisite natural beauty. The fact is that Tassie is a rare beauty, one that is becoming increasingly uncommon globally as more and more the natural environment is taken for granted and exploited. As someone who, by the age of twenty one, was fortunate enough to have travelled to five continents and lived on three, I can unequivocally state that I have never encountered such immense sublimity, in such a geographically condensed area, as is found in Tasmania.

During my exchange, I listened to a deeply disheartening radio interview that argued for the relinquishing of more of Tasmania’s protected forested land for commercial exploitation. I’m not familiar with the politics surrounding this issue. I want to make it clear that my intention is not to vilify Tasmania’s lumber industry which is presumably a significant state employer and economic contributor. Rather, my intention is to, in the most passive way imaginable, advocate for the continued preservation of as much of Tassie’s natural beauty as possible. Not simply what is economically justifiable but also ecologically responsible.

I guess I’m just taking time out of my life to declare that Tasmania is so rich in splendor! Hopefully that is recognized and efforts are made so that it remains that way. For those who find themselves blessed to still be there I implore all to soak in as much of the awe-inspiring state of Tasmania as possible.

Jealously,

Elijah