History of the Central Highlands of Tasmania

At the Great Lake

The Central Plateau of Tasmania is such a significant location for our family. My father spent much of his early career building the infrastructure for the Hydroelectric Scheme. He then taught us about the history of the scheme and how to successfully catch lots of Trout. To take my little boy up there meant so much to me. To do it with his cousin Sharni meant even more. When we get to the shack we venture up the driveway to Pop’s memorial gate and bask in the memories of the man that meant so much to all of us.

We head back to the shack for Sharni and Moby to play around and they have so much fun, bending, twisting, and leaping around having pillow fights. Moby is pretty good at gymnastics, but Sharni teaches him a trick or too, she has an amazingly flexible body and balance.

We then teach Moby how to light a fire with some newspaper, and twigs. Then having some smaller pieces of wood to get the fire cranking. Building up some logs to keep the shack nice and warm. This is a another proud family tradition.

Unfortunately, the lake is a bit rough to take the boat out, but we can see birds diving into the water, so there must be some fish about. So we walk down to the lake shore with some fishing rods to try our luck. The lake shore is covered with medium sized rocks, with lots of sharp edges. Suddenly it….

Feels like I’m walkin on broken glass

We throw a couple of casts out, but don’t get a single bite. But it’s nice just to look around and talk with the kids. Moby picks up a couple of rocks he likes the look of and we wander back up to the shack so they can play around some more. He gets great delight climbing up the rock walls that Ashley had created with his excavator.

The wind eventually dies down and it looks like the rain/snow will hold off, so we decide to head out onto the Great Lake in Ashley’s boat. So we head to the boat ramp to launch the boat. This is the first time I had been fishing up the Lakes since I can’t even remember when! It definitely would have been with Pop. It bought back such good memories.

On the distant hills, we can see snow flurries. We cast the lures out and trawl along the lakeshore back toward Ashley’s shack. Moby pipes up that he wants to drive and suddenly we have a new ship’s captain! We then cruise around the lake teaching Moby how to fish. Explaining that the best places to trawl are close to the shore, because fish like feeding on the bottom of the lake, so if you’re closer to the shore, the bottom of the lake is closer to your lure. We also explained wind lanes, where the wind blows floating bait into lanes on top of the water and by trawling through these wind lanes you’re more likely to catch fish.

Unfortunately, the Great Lake lives up to its reputation and we don’t get a single bite the entire trip. We didn’t even see a fish. But at the same time, it was so nice to take my little boy up the lakes to walk in his Pop’s footsteps. To learn some of the skills his Pop taught us. It was spiritually uplifting.

I have a very special connection with the Central Highlands of Tasmania. The indigenous understand this much better than I ever will, in western cultures it’s also known as a Soul Place. You know you’re there because there’s an inner sense of calm, it feels like home and you can relax.

I think I can also thank the cancer journey I’ve been on. I’m much more aware of the interconnectedness of life. I’ve explored how people and places have shaped me and helped me to be the person I am. Understanding these relationships brings me a greater appreciation for what they have given me.