Maria Island

Maria Island is located on the East Coast of Tasmania, about half an hour from Triabunna via ferry. Not one of Tasmania's better known tourist destinations, it is none-the-less a wonderful place to visit and explore with amazing scenery, a rich history and home to many species of wildlife which roam freely around the island.
It is commonly done as a day trip although the magic of Maria tends to happen after the sun goes down so an overnight stay is recommended if you can. After the ferry drops you off at Darlington, there are a number of short walks that you can do within a few hours, most of which feature in this video, or you can just explore the historic buildings of Darlington and hang out with the animals. Also, apart from the occasional ranger driving past, there is no traffic so getting around is usually done on foot or bicycle. For the more adventurous, there are a number of longer walks including the walk up Bishop and Clerk and Mt Maria.
If you stay overnight, you can camp or hire out one of the rooms at the Penitentiary which are reasonably cheap and sleep up to 6 people. There are no shops so you will need to bring everything you need although there are well maintained toilets and the mess hall has drinking water, basic cooking facilities and charging stations for batteries and phones (solar powered). However there are no rubbish bins so you will need to take everything with you when you leave.
Dotted around Maria Island are a number of old relics and buildings that you can explore, which tell a story of island's history. Maria is often thought of as a convict penal settlement but actually that period was fairly brief as the convicts kept escaping! After it closed down, the island was leased by the Italian entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi who had grand plans of starting his own silk and wine empire, later building a cement processing factory which was plagued by financial difficulties, ultimately succumbing to the Great Depression of the 1920's. Maria Island became a national park in 1971.
Photography by Don Hawley
Music by Electric Den

[@ullar.marimamarima4445]

Amazingly place and very good video!

[@richardhawley8041]

Thank you. Yes it’s a pretty special part of the world

[@wombeabw]

I was on the island the same time as you with my mother. We stayed for a week and had some friends meet us there.

[@nic_tassie]

Nice one Richard. I need to get over there!

[@richardhawley8041]

Thanks Nick. Yeah I think everyone should visit Maria at least once if they get the chance.

[@nufe]

1:43 - 🤣