Exploring Tasmania's Precious Tarkine Region
Despite coinciding with one of Tasmania’s worst ever flood events, my first visit to the ‘Island State’ has left me hungry for more adventures in what is truly an incredibly beautiful and wild place.
Tasmania is home to some of the most authentic wilderness on earth, with large expanses in the west of the state largely untouched. The Tarkine region in the north west of the state epitomises this wildness. It's home to ancient rain forests and an array of unique plant and animal species.
It is in this region that many believe the legendary Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) still exists, despite it being tragically hunted to extinction in the 1900s. Driving across the Tarkine and getting a feel for the true enormity of the region, it was hard not to imagine this famous creature still surviving in some remote valley out of sight.
Unfortunately the Tarkine is coming under increasing threat from mining, development, logging, as well as ongoing impacts from climate change. It is distressing to think more iconic species may go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger.
All up despite some horrendous weather our two weeks in Tasmania were brilliant and I can’t recommend the place enough. The opportunities for hiking, kayaking, fishing and numerous other outdoor adventures are absolutely world class.
To quote one of Australia’s leading environmental activists Bob Brown when speaking about the famous Tarkine region, “Visit it, drive around it, take a cruise on the Pieman river, just go there and you will come away wanting to do something for it”.
Written by Joe Park, a THISWORLDEXISTS Ambassador. See more of Joe's adventures on Instagram: @j.park16
