Friday 29 December 2017

Goumet Farmer Afloat

On the surface, what does this DVD of a TV series have to do with family history? The six episodes, recently repeated on SBS, show a voyage aboard a sailing boat around the coast of Tasmania undertaken by Matthew Evans with two friends. As they explore the route undertaken by early European explorers they also catch, cook and eat varieties of seafood available to those explorers.

In Episode 5 they sail down the west coast of Tasmania and visit sites including Macquarie Harbour discovered and named by James Kelly in 1815. The trip was financed by Thomas William Birch and Kelly named Sarah Island after Thomas' wife. T W Birch was allowed exclusive access to timber on the shores of Macquarie Harbour for twelve months.

In this episode it is noted how little the scenery on the west coast of Tasmania has altered and perhaps it is similar to the coastline that the first Europeans encountered when they arrived in New South Wales.

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