Description

Islands of the Island State

Islands of the Island State is a celebration and exploration of Tasmania’s off-shore islands. It is a narrative non-fiction, a richly illustrated love story of place, multiple mini-adventure, and wild food guide.

By Rees Campbell, author of best-selling Eat Wild Tasmanian, Eat MORE Wild Tasmanian, and The Seaweed Supplement comes our next adventure into wild foods.

There are 6,500 islands, islets, rocks and reefs around Tasmania. Each has its own character; an entire tiny world. Every island is, and tells, a story. Rees’ challenge is to visit many islands – from the biggest – Flinders Island in the North East; to remote inhospitable Pedra Branca and Mewstone in the Southern Ocean; to some of the smallest and closest such as the Harbour Islets in the far North West. We travel with her to the virtually unknown, uninhabitable and inhospitable; to learn their individual stories.

The journey is a big part of the story – we fly to Three Hummock, board a bird observer’s boat trip to Pedra Branca, kayak to Hunter, ferry to Maria, swim to Bear, horse ride to the Wallabies, walk to Goat…

Each of 40 off-shore Tasmanian islands is described:  a look at the history, naming, Palawa and subsequent white settler use; meeting some of the characters with lots of photos. We explore the geology, flora and fauna, often highlighting one edible plant, and identifying the wild food there.

Rees continues her thread of understanding our wild foods with a meal on every island from the raw ingredients found there – with recipes like rock pool soup for the truly hungry, or squid kebabs for those with some extra ingredients.

The 600 photographs illustrate the journeys and the destinations, the transport, the creatures and the meals.