Rowena Scott, Writer

Walk a beach on Flinders Island, Tasmania

Walking a beach on Flinders Island, you can often see other islands suspended on the horizon. With 120 beaches curling around the perimeter of Flinders Island, mountains are visible in many directions. They’re old, ancient, rounded from the weathering of millions of years, barely mountains at all, let’s call them hills. Some of the 52 other Furneaux islands across Bass Strait seem close enough to paddle a kayak. Certainly, today the sea is flat and blue, mirrored in the sky. Fairy floss clouds like the gentle whisps of white waves tumble to the shore. Sand is soft but easy to walk at low tide. We wander on as far as possible. Stopped by giant boulders, a little clambering around the rocks leads further. Our group spreads out. We jump from rock to rock, a sense of carefree fun. Our leader calls but, like adventurous children we don’t heed the call.  By the time we gather, the tide has risen. Distances deceive us. Around the boulder we saunter then race the tide as we must return along the same beach. Another set of rocks demand a choice: wet feet or scramble. No track through thick bush is to be found above the dunes despite our search. All a bit of frivolity though we weren’t expecting sunset before we reached the cars. It’s a long drive through darkness at the time of wildlife on the verges. We’ll be more thoughtful about tides tomorrow.