Within an area about the size of West Virginia lie trackless mountains spangled with crystalline lakes, deep gorges slashed by free-flowing rivers, dense temperate rain forests, rocky headlands and white-sand beaches, grassy moorlands and alpine plateaus. Perhaps most compelling of all are Tasmania's natural landscapes. Indeed, the place frequently reminded me of England, especially on the eastern half, where sheep fleck the green, rolling countryside, inviting little towns are graced with handsome Georgian and Victorian architecture, children walk to school in neat uniforms, and flower gardens brighten almost every home. Named for Abel Tasman, who landed here in 1642 on an expedition for the Dutch East India Company, the island has a history that is primarily British, going back to the early 1800s, when Tasmania was the site for numerous penal colonies, the remains of which still exist (as do Aboriginal sites dating back some 35,000 years). People smart enough to visit here discover that unlike the multicultural, cosmopolitan Australian mainland, Tassie (as locals call it) is one of the world's best kept secrets, a place that at times seems closer to the 19th century than the 20thless affected by outside influences, more provincial, quieter, more relaxed. By the same token, Tasmanians struck me as a warm, welcoming lot, happy to share their home with outsiders. They know they've got something special, and they don't want to see it changed by tourism. In a way, that lack of familiarity to the outside world is fine with most of the 470,000 people who live here. At any moment you might see a hobbit or an elf pop out from behind a tree." I almost believed him. One day, while I was hiking in the wilds of the mysterious Great Western Tiers, surrounded by eucalyptus forest and shallow caves once occupied by Stone Age Aborigines, my guide whispered to me, "Keep an eye out. The Tasmanian devil is an apt symbol for the unfamiliarat times fantasticcharacter of this place. Not the devil, but the animal that looks like a cross between a small dog and a pig, the high-strung creature with a propensity for growling, baring its teeth, and spinning around in circles, like the character in the Saturday-morning television cartoons. So it's not surprising that most people know little about this Australian state, except maybe the fact that it's the home of the devil. But Tasmania lies a long way from Africaover 6,000 miles east across the Indian Ocean, a small, heart-shaped island 150 miles south of the Australian mainland, far off the usual tourist track. Tell someone you're off to Tasmania and you might get a funny look. A boat shed stands on the shoreline of Tasmania.
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