Bushwalking like a Tasmanian

BUSHWALKING — the word evokes a sensation of what it feels like to actually walk through nature, with bushes bristling at one’s legs and leaves crunching underneath all that walking. It simply sounds so much more badass than hiking/camping/trekking/other feeble American terms. I wanted to explore what a Tasmanian bushwalk is all about.

According to my travel guidebook, The Rough Guide to Tasmania, bushwalking is "the birth-right of every Tasmanian." The Tasmanian government website shares information on many bushwalking excursions, including the Overland Track. It’s a wild 65 km, six-day trek through the heart of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, which sits in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. There's abundant information about the track featuring gear checklists, a questionnaire on "Is this the right walk for you?" and this preparatory video. The government appears to put in a lot of effort to get people to experience their great outdoors.

After the bushwalking, Tasmanians can head online to partake in some splendid discussions at www.bushwalk.com. There are forums asking "how would you react?" and great wisdom shared on "Things I have learnt." My favorite is "never offer your finger to a possum."

From Tasmania’s adventurous style of bushwalking to their world heritage sites that cover one-fifth of the land, the island has a strong devotion towards nature and I’m curious what has prompted this epic love? The U.S. has its share of tree-hugging devotees as well, but it’s a 5x magnitude in Tasmania and it's culturally fascinating for me to unravel what makes this island tick. I wonder if it has to do with Tasmania’s isolation that leads them to revel in their wilderness. What do others think?

-Haiy Le