Coastal Bush Tucker

Rafting up to Andante II was a stroke of luck because it introduced us to Col Meyers and Rees Campbell. Col had enjoyed such a large number of occupations (as diverse as professional off-shore fishing to bird-watching), that the Bloke kept checking that he hadn't been the US President at some stag! Rees is a 5th generation Tasmanian and passionate about her home state and it's wilderness. She is the author of 3 books (so far) and we purchased one called Brazenly Pure - the truth and beauty of Tasmania which is s lovely coffee table book compilation of poems, photos and descriptions of Tasmanian wilderness native plants and animals. Rees is also responsible for Feisty Tasmanian Wild Food Products and her gift of Native Pepper infused Leatherwood Honey was a welcome and exotic treat.  Col and Rees had plans to go out West the next day to harvest some native parsley and also fresh kelp. Always keen for new experiences, we accepted the invitation immediately. We had avoided sailing to the a West coast of Tassie but that didn't mean we weren't curious and we couldn't have stumbled on better guides!

Col and Rees bagging up some wild 'native parsley'.

Sea Parsley (Apium prostratum)

Salt Bush

Rees steamed this and served it as a vegetable at their BBQ.

A very soft texture and pleasant flavour.

While we were collecting the parsley near Stanley I spotted this sea eagle. 

It flew off before I could get a really close look.

The Bloke, Col and Rees enjoyed the flight of the eagle too.

One of Col's jobs has been to monitor and observe the habits of sea eagles in the vicinity of existing and proposed wind farms. He said that established adult breading pairs raised near the wind turbines, are 'spatially aware' of the turbine's presence and know to avoid them. It is mostly interlopers that are vulnerable. According to Col, preparatory observation of existing flight paths and territories can inform better placement of turbines too, thus reducing potential casualties. 

The land around Cape Grim on the NW corner of mainland Tasmania is actually owned by the Van Diemen's Land Company(VDL) and the road beyond this point is closed to the public. The company was established in 1825 and granted a 250,000 acre portion of land in 1826. They run an extensive dairy farming concern. We turned south at this point through coastal heathland which was full of flowering plants.

 

We had a look at a couple of beaches before arriving at one which had some extensive Aboriginal middens. Rees showed us some depressions above the middens in which Aboriginals would have sheltered from the winds.

The middens demonstrate an ongoing abundance of seafood.

The photo does not show the perspective well, but crouching in this spot certainly cut out the wind.

Why we won't be sailing down the west coast.

Col said that this was a mild day.

Fresh kelp is going to be used in a Kelp Chutney recipe. 

I've seen it but didn't write it down. Lol!

Beautiful lichen on coastal rock.

Mission accomplished. 

Time to get that fresh kelp home ready for Rees to cook up a batch of that Kelp Chutney!