Okay, so a man looking for a horse in Tasmania gets distracted. During a recent shower outside Cygnet, I tucked into a small shelter overlooking a marine railway. That’s where I found “Chaparral”.

Chaparral is a tradition fishing boat of the sort used by fisherman in the Cygnet, Tasmania area. Descended from a long line of fishing boats, she still sports a sailing rig. Look closely and you can see the mainsail bent to the boom (it’s… Continue reading →

Greetings from Cygnet, Tasmania! Before I dive into the No Horse Pout, I want to extend a huge thank you to Pat and Sylvie Synge of Lymington, Tasmania. They’re friends of a friend back in New Zealand and are putting me up a few days while I collect my wits and transportation – if not the horse – I intend to find for this trip.

Pat’s a marine surveyor – the fellow you call before you buy the boat you… Continue reading →

You know I don’t cotton much to fancy gear. Nothing wrong with it. It’s just that you always end up buying too much of it. The only time I ever bought all the stuff the magazines told me I needed I ended up walking out the door with two backpacks strapped to me – one fore and one aft. Like the guy at the airport baggage pickup sandwiched between two massive rucksacks and he’s looking for another one on the… Continue reading →

Sought: Dependible Animal Transport for roaming Tasmania. Horse, mule, hoped for but camel considered

As long as you’re stopping by, please leave a note. Go ahead… write on the wall a bit.

Frankie
2010-10-27 15:17:18

Why can’t Woody go to Tasmania? You’re not very thoughtful regarding Woody.

Alfonse
2010-10-27 15:22:39

What if I want Woody to send postcards from his retirement meadow?

Marcy
2010-10-27 17:21:32

So if the moon hangs upside down over Tasmania, does your horse, when it throws you, run off in reverse….? Have a great trip.

Bennie
2010-10-27 17:50:54

Hey, what… Continue reading →

Your mail’s gone to hell hasn’t it? Remember back in the day when your cousin Benton used to send you those mashed up cards from the funky places he visited. The time he went to Tumbleweed Adventure in Wyoming, snagged his jacket on the gift shop jackalope (he was trying to light his cigarette) and brought down the whole row of stuffed heads….. Yeah, but he sent you a postcard, didn’t he? It was the one with the Jackalope Hunting… Continue reading →

It’s time to head for Tassie.

Come the end of October, armed with little more than an audio recorder and camera (oh, and one spare blue shirt), I head off to learn more about Tasmanian devils, tigers, wallabies and wombats – and the folks that call Tassie home.

Tasmania: it’s the land under the Land Down Under. In the image above, mainland Australia is visible at the 11 o’clock position. Tasmania is the island directly below it.

As always, you’re… Continue reading →

If someone gave you a world atlas and told you to put your finger on Tasmania, if you’re like I was until recently, you’d spend lots of time searching. Your finger would quickly pass over the major continents, Africa, South America, North America, Asia, maybe head out into the Pacific for a quick spin then start looking for island specks in the ocean.

Then, if you’re like me, your finger would drift landward and start hovering over places you’d read… Continue reading →

It’s a question I get all the time. “What kind of gear do you use when you travel?”

The answer is “less and less”

Over the years, after sailing alone around the world and traveling across the US by mule – both ways – I find that gear counts less while interviewing interesting folks counts increasingly more. I travel for immersion, not to compare tent weight with fellow wanderers. I want to hear the man’s story about how he came… Continue reading →