CONVICT ANCESTRY

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that no-one wanted to fess up to having a convict in their family tree but these days it seems everyone wants to have convict ancestry – and the wickeder, the better.

You can now adopt a convict’s persona for the day at Port Arthur Historic Site, home to thousands despatched to Van Diemen’s Land. Grab a Lottery of Life playing card, match it in the Port Arthur Gallery and you learn your convict’s name, his criminal background, an account of how he served his time and his eventual fate.

TASMANIAN DEVIL

Before coming face-to-face with a Tasmanian devil, the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, at East Coast Natureworld I regarded them as ugly carnivores with a face only a mother would love – those gaping jaws that deliver the strongest bite-for-size of any marsupial and those ferocious teeth that slice through bone as if it was butter.

Yet baby hand-reared devils are actually cute. Their fur is kitten-soft and they snuggle around their keeper’s neck like a fur stole.

Devils are now being hand-raised in captivity to complement the wild population, under threat due to Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Captive devil colonies have been set up around Tasmania until an effective vaccine is found.

DOO TOWN

In quirky Doo Town it’s the done thing to do as the neighbours do. 

It started when a Hobart architect named his shack Doo I. It wasn’t long before everyone was dooing-it. Doo-Me and Doo-Us (as in it’ll do us) came next and today most of the town's 30 or so shacks have “Doo” names – such as Doo Nix, Make Doo, Much-a-Doo, Just Doo It, Thistle-Doo-Me and Dr DooLittle. 

Even the Doo Town’s seafood van, Doo-Lishus, has got into the act. Picture: Sue Preston

LEGERWOOD TREES

During WW1 the tiny town of Legerwood sadly lost seven of its young men and the community planted an avenue of trees in their honour in 1918. However, by the turn of the century the now 80-year-old trees were deemed unsafe and their removal ordered.

The authorities, however, had not counted on the townsfolk who saw the trees as integral to the memory of the town’s lost sons. They raised $25,000 to employ a skilled wood carver to carve the tree stumps into the likeness of the men they were planted for and they have become a must-see attraction on the east coast. Picture: Sue Preston

LAVENDER FARMS

Each year during the eight-week summer blooming season tens of thousands visit Bridestowe Lavender Estate, the world’s largest privately-owned lavender farm. Interestingly, while the purple fields produce perfume-grade lavender oil it was a lavender-stuffed purple bear called Bobbie that brought Bridestowe international fame. 

A visiting Chinese model and actress triggered the Bobbie the Bear craze when she posted a photo of herself with the bear on social media. Bears flew off the shelf as sewing machines went into overdrive to cope. Now it’s just not the bears for sale - for those with cash to spare after a visit to gift shop stocked with all things lavender, the entire Estate is currently on the market.

POO MUSEUM

A poo museum – who knew?  Incongruous as it sounds, the picture-book town of Richmond with its beautiful 1820’s Georgian buildings has a museum dedicated entirely to poo. Before you poo-hoo the idea of visiting, Pooseum is a serious and altogether fascinating science museum about everything you can learn about animals from their scats. Plus, you get to see things you’ve never seen before like an embroidered pig intestine, a sculpture made from a cow stomach and a lamb intestine and some remarkable paintings done with, you guessed it, poo. Picture: Pooseum

DUAL NAMING

Today as you drive around Tasmania you will find dual names everywhere, thanks to the State’s Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy.

For more than 50,000 years, the palawa (Tasmanian aboriginal people) managed and cared for Tasmania but recognition was a long time coming. Trish Hodge, a proud palawa woman, now a school and community educator, was told in primary school that she “couldn’t be aboriginal as there were no Tasmanian aboriginal people left.”  This rebuke from her teacher made her angry but also fuelled her determination as she grew older to “tell the world that we not only exist, but that our culture is strong and we continue to grow stronger by the day.”

Today five per cent - around 30,000 Tasmanians - identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Sue Preston travelled the east coast of Tasmania as a guest of AAT Kings.