It is often said that Tasmania doesn’t have climate but weather.

This is a reaction to the changeable weather in Tasmania. The main controlling factor in the weather is the prevailing wind. The island lies in the path of “Roaring 40s”, named after the latitudes that they blow in. They come over ocean halfway round the planet’s southern hemisphere from South America.

Rain shower coming in over the mountains at Glenorchy

The high and low pressure systems contained in this westerly air stream dictate the weather at any particular time. In Summer hot wind from the Australian content produces very hot days while in Winter southerly wind from Antarctica brings the temperature down.

Remember Tasmania is in the southern hemisphere, so our seasons are reversed from the northern part of the planet; as I sit and write this in December it is shorts and shirt weather. We use the Celsius temperature scale in Australia, so I have included some Fahrenheit conversions for those more familiar with that system.

Most people live in coastal towns and cities where our summer temperatures typically are in the low twenties (70º F) and overnight it will drop to somewhere about 10 (50ºF). In Hobart an afternoon sea breeze will work its way up the Derwent River gently moderating the heat of the day.

In winter the average maximum is about 12ºC (50ºF) with minimums dropping to about 5ºC (40ºF) during the night.

Summer and sand by the sea at Bridport

These figures are averages and the actual conditions can vary quite a bit from day to day, depending where the wind is coming from. This may make the difference in the coastal areas between a cool and a warm day in the mountains it is a bit more serious. Rugged mountains and deep valleys cover nearly sixty per cent of Tasmania. The mountains aren’t high enough to have permanent snow, but it can arrive any time of year. Those that wish enjoy the magnificent of the central highlands should go prepared for any eventuality. Day walkers who set out in warm summer conditions have paid the ultimate price for going totally unprepared. If you are only wearing shorts, a T-shirt and thongs it doesn’t take long to freeze to death in a snowstorm.

The mountains provide a barrier that protects the eastern coastal areas of Tasmania and they are drier and warmer than the wet west coast and central highlands. From January to March the locals flock to the beaches to soak up the sun and enjoy a wide variety of water sports in the mild to warm summer weather.

For more detail on the weather try the Weather Bureau’s web site.

Disagreement amongst Greens spokespersons and contradictions of Wilderness Society surfaced in recent statements opposing the establishment of sustainable forestry without the felling of old growth forest.

A Green Party member of State Parliament, Kim Booth, expressed concerns about the return of existing farmland to trees at a meeting in the remote Upper Natone area of Tasmania’s Northwest Coast.

“More and more prime family farms are going under to tree plantations,” Booth told the Mercury.
This highlights the continuing decline in the rural communities, as young people leave small isolated farms and head to larger towns and cities.

Small-scale Tasmania vegetable farmers are having difficulty in competing on price with processed products imported from Asia. This resulted in a farmer’s campaign for country of origin labelling of processed vegetables sold in Australia.

The closure of Simplot vegetable processing plants in Tasmania is another indication of the difficulties facing farmers.

Tree farm in Northern Tasmania

One option is to sell the farm, retire and move to a town for aged care and medical facilities. The lack of buyers for uneconomic smallholdings is a problem. Usually the logical buyer is a neighbouring farmer looking to expand the size of their operation to try to remain competitive through improved economies of scale.

However, with the increasing demand for non-native forest timber, growing trees is now an economic proposition.

“Premier Lennon should adopt the Greens’ transition forest policy to base the future on plantations,” said Green Senator Dr Bob Brown in June 2005.

“It is high time the Tasmanian government, Forestry Tasmania and Gunns woke from the self deception that logging wild, beautiful, ancient forests in Tasmania is ‘environmentally sustainable’.”
The Wilderness Society claimed in promoting a book, Forest-Friendly Building Timbers   that, “Plantations are simply tree farms, like wheat fields, which can be regrown with fast-growing timber species. A plantation grows timber at 10 to 40 times the rate of a native forest.”

“This consumer guide can save forests, because if we can vote with our wallets by only buying plantation or recycled timbers, there’s no longer any justification for woodchipping or native forest sawlogging,” said Alan Gray, the book’s co-editor.  The Society claim the book is printed on paper made from plantation-grown trees.

Despite Senator Brown and the Wilderness Society promoting the use of only plantation timber, Green MP Kim Booth told the Mercury “Tree farms threaten the viability of the state’s agricultural sector and are causing enormous anxiety and distress throughout the north of Tasmania.”
If the policies of his fellow Green politicians and the Wilderness society continue the trend away from logging old growth native forest then there will be more tree plantations around Tasmania.

This stretch of water plays an important part in the lives of most Tasmanians. Bass Strait separates our island state from the Australian continent and the only way across is to fly or by sea.
Tourism is a major Tasmanian industry and Bass Strait presents a double-edged sword. The separation creates a difference and uniqueness that is one of the island’s major drawcards. This separation makes it harder for people to holiday here.

Australian’s love their cars and will travel long distances on the federally funded National Highway One, connecting all the nation’s capital cities.
One popular holiday is a “Fly-Drive” where travellers fly in and then tour the state in a rented car. This is fine for the upper end of the market and those on short stays.

Devil Cat on a North American Run

The alternative is a 400 km trip on one of the ferries currently connecting Tasmania to Melbourne.
The main ship is the Spirit of Tasmania, a conventional “roll on roll off” steel monohull  crossing the strait every night, carrying a mix of cars trucks, and of course passengers. This is a slow but regular service and passengers need accommodation, adding to the expense, but for holidaymakers it’s all part of the adventure.

Over recent summers, the ferry operators have trailed one of the new wave piercing aluminium catamarans on the route. The Devil Cat is fast enough to make the crossing twice and in daylight hours providing a daily service in each direction without the need for sleeping accommodation for the passengers .

This is how the operators describe the journey;
Experience the exhilaration of crossing Bass Strait at 80 kph in Australia’s largest commercial high-speed catamaran. As one of the fastest passenger ships of its type in the world, it will whisk you from Victoria to Tassie in just 6 hours. Built in Hobart, the 91 metre Devil Cat holds 740 passengers and 200 cars.

This is a revolutionary design for a fast ferry. While it is described as a catamaran, it is really a form of trimaran, or a three-hulled vessel. The two outer hulls are designed to support the vessel and are sealed to allow wave tops to break over them, hence the wave-piercing name. The middle hull, that carries the passengers and vehicles, sits out of the water and the wave tops pass below it, usually providing a fast, smooth ride.

Bass Strait lies in the “Roaring Forties” and here the Southern Ocean swells encounter relatively shallow water. The change in water depth turns the long ocean swells into taller waves with much steeper fronts.

Because of its wave perching design the front of the boat does not rise quickly, so when the waves get too tall the main hull hits the top of the wave. This dramatically slows the vessel, making it uncomfortable for the passengers. The boats can handle the conditions, as they are incredibly strong; during sea trials, one hit some shallow rocks at high speed. The only real problem was that the boat ended up beached on the rocks and took a major effort to pull it clear. It was a very severe, and unintentional, demonstration of the structural integrity of the design. However, Australian maritime authorities introduced regulations that prevent the Cats from operating when the wave heights on any part of the route exceed a certain height. Hence, the TT-line has this disclaimer;

PLEASE NOTE: Devil Cat is subject to operating regulations which may on occasion lead to cancellations during severe weather and sea conditions. We recommend travellers purchase appropriate travel insurance as TT-Line will assume no financial obligations for passengers delayed due to weather conditions.

Only a few crossings have been cancelled in the trial period, but they have created a negative reaction and publicity as the service has been under scrutiny with the impending choice of a replacement for the ageing Spirit loomed. When choosing what sort of ferries to buy the State Government owned TT-line has had to balance supporting, the local ship builder with the need to provide reliable transport that would boost the tourist industry.

A problem with the Devil Cat is  it was never built for the unique requirements of the Bass Strait run. The designers and builders, International Catamarans, have never built a boat specifically for Bass Strait and they are reluctant to spend millions of dollars on a special boat unless they have a buyer.

In the end, the TT-line came down on the side of a proven design with the decision to buy two near new fast conventional ferries. They still require an overnight crossing but with two, they provide a daily crossing in both directions at peak periods.

They are longer, narrower and lighter than the Spirit, resulting in a faster vessel cutting the crossing time to 10 hours from the present 14.5 hours. Each new ferry carries more passengers and significantly more cars; 650 compared to 350.

For current information on sailing schedules and fares, visit the TT-lines web site