Lost Locations: Have you ever been to King Island?

We all know about King Island Cheese… but is that where your knowledge and insight into King Island stops?  King Island is in the Roaring Forties of Bass Strait, officially part of Tasmania but positioned midway between the northern tip of Tassie and Victoria.  My Aunt, a Tassie national raves about it, and I know we have a couple of residents of King Island in our Starts at Sixty community.  But if you’ve never been there, it might be time to consider this lovely lost world.

The island is noted for its production of cheese, lobsters, bottled rain water, kelp, and beef and has also become a safe harbour for passing yachts braving the sometimes treacherous ocean around.

As one traveller said:

“You know you are somewhere special when you can wave at one of the 3 cops on the island and keep going when they ask you to stop with no consequences, when a 4×4 rocks up on the beach while you surf and you start worrying about the “crowd” (there are only us 2 in the surf at that point!), when you can eat abalone that you’ve caught an hour earlier, when you can buy world class cheese right next to the airline counter inside the tin shed “airport” before hoping on a small plane in which all passengers know each other…since there is only 1300 people on the whole island.”

What makes King Island unique is that it is so relatively unknown.  No fancy tourism facilities, overhyped restaurants or tourist attractions, just pure beauty in nature along with a whole lot of normal, pleasant people.

The many glorious beaches are ideal for surfing, diving, and water sports.  In fact, it has become a rather secretly well-known surfing location. Excellent surfing spots are found at British Admiral Beach and Martha Lavinia Beach, which is reported to be one of the best beach breaks in the world.

King Island hosts a number of annual events to entertain both visitors to the Island, and locals:

• Festival of King Island, Friday evening 31 January to Sunday 3 Februray
• King Island Agricultural, Horticultural & Pastoral Society Show – 1st Tuesday in March
• King Island Imperial 20 (coast to coast footrace) 2nd weekend in March (long weekend)
• King Island Dramatic Society play
• Queenscliff to Grassy Yacht Race 2nd weekend in March (long weekend)
• King Island Golf OpenTasmanian Recreation Day/Melbourne Cup long weekend in November

The towns of Currie, Naracoopa and Grassy service the population and provide a base for tourism (usually no more than 3 people on a beach).  And there is a host of Tour operators offering a range of experiences include: Currie Lighthouse Tours; King Island Trail Rides, FJ Rock ‘n’ Roll; King Island Alpacas; King Island Coach Tours; KI Discovery Tours; KI Tours, King Island Golf & Bowling Club; King Island Historical Museum; King Island Photography Tour, King Island Wilderness Walks.