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Tel: (+61 8) 9192 1829 | Email: cruise@northstarcruises.com.auWebsite: www.northstarcruises.com.au

30th YEARANNIVERSARY

CRUISES

The Art of Adventure

An adventure on the TRUE NORTH is one of Australia’s most revered holidays! Bigger ships cannot go where we go! Extended periods at sea are specifi cally excluded and daily activities can include scenic walks, fi shing, snorkelling, diving, scenic fl ights in the ship’s helicopter and cultural events. We deploy comfortable expedition boats (not rubber boats) and discover wilderness in small groups. An AUSTRALIAN crew uniquely chaperones every experience. Beware of imitations and discover for yourself why our guests consistently remark “that’s the best holiday I have ever had!”

See the Kimberley’s waterfalls at their best! Limited sailings during March and April!

The Sydney Morning Herald FEBRUARY 20-21, 2016 Traveller 29

Southern stunner: (Clockwise frommain) The famous viewpoint at Wineglass Bay; Maria Island; DarlingtonProbation Station onMaria Island; guests take to Bathurst Harbour in kayaks with the cruise ship CoralExpedition I in the background; a cape barren goose; the Marine Discovery Centre at Woodbridge, Bruny Island.

We are engagedby a pod of

dolphins and seeseals basking.

and the fragile ecosystem thatsupports them.About 90 per centof Tasmania’smarine life is uniqueand a lot of it is endangered.It’s better news atGrandvewe, a

sheep’smilk cheesery atBirchsBay. French cheesemaker andraconteusePaulineTreilliard issporting a ‘‘STRONGWOMANworthmany sheep’’ T-shirt as sheexplains the process frommilkingto vats tomaturation in an accentmagnifique.Wemeet theAwassiewes and sample theirwares asPauline provides tasting noteswithconsummate savoir faire. TheBlueSapphirewith a pinot paste chaseris a highlight as isGrandvewe’s‘‘ewenique’’ VanillaWheyLiqueur.Other landings includeCockle

Creek inRechercheBay on theedge of SouthwestNational Park,where aFrench explorer –Bruni

D’Entrecasteaux – brought ascientific expedition in 1772, andpicturesqueAdventureBay on theeastern side of Bruny Island.Here,a three-hourwalk onFlutedCapeends at theBlighMuseum,commemorating the adventures ofFreycinet, Cook andBligh, all ofwhomanchored nearby.An enlightening feature of all

Coral Expeditions’ tours is theirOpenBridge policy. If the door isopen – and it usually is – you arewelcome to come in, have a chatand get a captain’s eye view.The200-metrewide pass betweenTasman Island and the towering,multi-coloured dolerite cliffs of themainland is a great time to take upthe offer. Safely through the pass,we turn to port and thewindwhipsthe spray off the top of thewaves.In PiratesBaywepass the

Narrows, a sliver of land alongwhichPortArthur escapees ranthe gauntlet of vicious dogs.Statues of the beasts now standguard in their stead.We comeashore and explore a tessellatedpavement rock formation, andMike leads the tour and rattles offLatin names and fascinatingstories about the kelp, shellfish,molluscs, anemones, birdlife,geology and evolutionary tidal

pools. It’s like listening to threeDavidAttenboroughs at once.There’smore spectacular

orange granite coastline on theway toFreycinet Peninsula andWineglassBay, regularly listed asone theworld’s great beaches. Anearlymorning 10-kilometre trektakes the intrepid across theFreycinet Peninsula to thecelebratedWineglassBay lookoutand down to the beach.We run intomore heavy swells

and gale-forcewinds on the runalong the east coast of Freycinetto Maria Island andmostpassengers retreat to theircabins to ride it out. Theweatheralso turns our late-afternoon,wildlife-rich hike onMaria into anext-day,mid-morning,mostlyanimal-free encounter.We see a fewpademelons in the

scrub and some cape barren geesehunkered downagainst thewind,alongwith birds on thewing aswepause atop the howling cape ofPaintedCliffs. On a good day youare likely to find awhole lotmore –as the preponderance of dried poo

would suggest – asMaria Island isamodern dayNoah’sArk, a refugefor several endangered species.Wepass a creek andhear a frogcroak – andfind there’s an app forthat.Williamwhips out his phoneanduses Frog Log to identify it.Maria is also home toFossil

Cliffs, where a sandstone quarryreveals a plethora of 290-million-year-old fossils aswell as severalheritage buildings, including an oldpenitentiary and the somewhatambitiously namedCoffee Palace,where displays and recordedreminiscences chronicle theisland’s history.On theway back toPortArthur,

captainNathan nudges the bowofCE I intoWaterfall Bay,wherechasm-filled cliffs rise verticallyout of thewater. A little further onat FortescueBay, Explorer takesus towithin just a fewmetres of thecliffs and a shipwreck near theshore.We are also engaged by apod of dolphins and see sealsbasking on rock ledges, casuallywaving their flippers. Anhour laterwe see humpbackwhales, onewithinmetres of the ship, and ourmorning is complete.At PortArthurHistoric Site, our

guideColinKnight parses thehorrific story of the 72,000‘‘incorrigible’’ convicts sent toVan

Diemen’s Land. The prison systemwas knownas ‘‘TheMachinery’’,the pinnacle ofwhichwas theSeparate Prison,where convictswere subjected to inhumansolitary confinement. Thewalk andColin’s narrative build an appetitefor a function at theMagistrate’sHouse supping local BreamCreekwines and some of the finestcanapes and oysters imaginable.A late addition to the itinerary is

a trip up theHuonRiver to thetown of Franklin, wherewe visitthe very impressiveWoodenBoatCentre and learn about the timbersof Tassie, including the huonpine,which is no longer logged, grows amillimetre a year and sells forabout $10,000 a cubicmetre. See itif you get the chance anddrop in fora tasting at Frank’s CiderBaracross the road.While theweather – and that

grumpy sea –mayaffectwhat youdoon this innovative cruise, youwillnever bebored.And thepanoramais truly stunning.As our expeditionleaderDenis observedwhen the seawasparticularly indignant: ‘‘It cangetworse than this but not veryoften.But howgood is thisscenery?’’ Andhe is right.Coral Expeditions’ southern

Tasmanian cruise is an extensiveexplorationwith an intrepiditinerary. If you have the stomachfor it. t

TRIP NOTES

MOREINFORMATIONcoralexpeditions.com

GETTING THEREAll major domestic airlines fly dailyto Hobart.

CRUISING THERESeven-night cruises start at $3990a person twin share, includingexcursions and captain’s events, all

meals, port and park chargesand guest lecturers on board.Phone 1 800 079 545; seecoralexpeditions.com.

Mal Chenu was a guest of CoralExpeditions and TourismTasmania.

At Port Arthur, our guide shares the horror storyof the 72,000 convicts sent to Van Diemen’s Land.

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* Conditions apply. Subject to availability. See our website for details. Airport transfers valid within 35kms of international airport. ABN 24 003 926 366, ATAS #A11344, CLIA #101081. Office hours 9:30am to 5:30pm Mon-Fri.

Package includes 13 night “Aranui 5” cruise in an Ocean View Stateroom, shore excursions, all meals aboard incl. wine with lunch and dinner, economy class return air fares with Air Tahiti Nui, four nights pre/post accommodation at Manava Suite Resort with Continental Breakfast, airport and ship transfers in Tahiti, and all pre-payable taxes.

Sail from Tahiti to the Marquesas Archipelago aboard the new “Aranui 5”, a modern working freighter, that carries 260 passengers, delivering supplies in one of the world’s more remote and beautiful regions.

2016 GROUP SPECIALS: Departing 19 May, 30 June & 22 September 2016YOUR SPECIAL PACKAGE:

17 nights from $8,689*pp twin share ex SYD 18 nights from $8,789*pp twin share ex MEL/BNE

And great savings for Past Passengers !

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To order a brochure or to make a booking call Ultimate Cruising on 1300 4 ULTIMATE (1300 485 846) or visit www.ultimatecruising.com.au

2016 SPECIALS

Save up to $1200

per couple

Call for package prices on other 2016 dates.

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PLUS: Chauffeur driven luxury car transfers*

To order a brochure or to make a booking call Ultimate Cruising on 1300 4 ULTIMATE (1300 485 846) or visit www.ultimatecruising.com.au

HURRY

MUST BE

BOOKED BY

4 MARCH

2016

10 NIGHT FLY/CRUISE HOLIDAY INCLUSIONS• Return economy class airfares*

• 3 nights’ pre-cruise accommodation at Manava Suite Resort

• Transfers (airport / hotel / pier / airport)

• 7 night luxury cruise aboard 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin including all meals, complimentary beverages including select wines, spirits and beer served throughout the ship, onboard gratuities, complimentary watersports and 24-hour room service

• All relevant taxes

Fly / Cruise Holiday fares from $6,559* per person, ex-Sydney/Melbourne $6,659* per person, ex-Brisbane

Tahiti & Society Islands by Paul Gauguin Departs Australia – 21 July, 25 Aug, 1 Sept, 6 & 13 Oct 2016

* Conditions apply. NEW bookings only. Price quoted cat. E per person, double occupancy -– Ex BNE requires an overnight stay in AKL(included). Subject to availability at time of booking. Offer may be sold out or withdrawn at any time. See Ultimate Cruising website for full conditions. Based on exchange rate of US$.69. ATAS #A11344. Office hours 9:30am to 5:30pm Mon - Fri.

BONUS Chauffeur driven luxury car transfers to/from SYD/MEL/BNE International airport (within 35km)

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CruiseAUSTRALIA

28 Traveller WEEKEND EDITION FEBRUARY 20-21, 2016 The Sydney Morning Herald

Swell times had by allCruising in roughweather only magnifiesTasmania’s romance,writesMal Chenu.

The seawas angry today,my friends.Not justpiqued, as shewasyesterday, or irritated, as

shewill be tomorrow, but full-blown furious.We are coppingheavy swells, gale-forcewinds andfreezing temperatures and thecommonareas of CoralExpeditions I are deserted aswebounce ourway down the south-east coast of Tasmania towardsMaria Island.Today – our fourth at sea – is

the roughest so far and the rockingand rolling of the ship isaccompanied by crockerytumbling from tables and regularreminders to use the handrails. Itis only the call to evening drinksthat rouses the passengers, andeven then only the hardy.Thisweather is part of the

capricious nature – and theromance – of southernTasmanianwaters andwe are getting an inner

ear full of it on this seven-daycruise. As the sea switches frommightily riled to slightlymiffed andback again,we are compensatedevery day by sublime coastlinescenery and eclectic localattractions. And a lot of our time isspent anchored in calmbays orexploring on land.Small ship operatorCoral

Expeditions,which already runsBarrierReef, Kimberley, SouthPacific,NewZealand andCapeYork andArnhemLand tours, hasrecently added this new southernTasmanian foray to its summercruising schedule.Coral Expeditions I is a sturdy

35-metre catamaran that sleeps 44guests in comfortable stateroomsand is also equippedwith a sundeck, two inside lounges, two bars,a dining roomand a superb crewwho seamlessly provide everythingfromdeliciousmeals andhousekeeping to pills and hand-holding for the seasick.A six-year veteranwith the

company, captainNathanClarktells us he prefers ships likeCE I. ‘‘Ilike small ships. You get to knowthe people on board,many ofwhomare on ‘life-ambition’ trips. Theoriginal owners’ goal was to be ableto ‘take anyone anywhere’ andthese are journeys of exploration,

which you just can’t dowith bigships,’’ he says.Thewell-used tender vessel

‘‘Explorer’’ is the key to theexpeditionary nature of the cruise.She canmotor close to toweringcliffs and sea life, and land onsecluded beaches.Each cruise also includes an

expert excursion teamandwe areescorted and entertained bymarine biologistMikeSugden andWilliamOliver, a discovery officerwithTasmanianParks andWildlife. No bird, reptile,mammalor large lump of kelp goesunexplained andno geologicalfeature is left unturned asMike

andWilliambring the knowledge.Theweather forces quite a few

changes to the itinerary andwehave to dump the two-day sojournto theWorldHeritage-listedTasmanianwilderness aroundPortDavey on the south-westcoast. As captainNathan tells us:‘‘The shipwould havemade it noworries but you all would havehatedmeby the timewe got there.’’While this news is greetedwith

both disappointment and elation(largely a function of individualconstitutions) thePortDaveysector of the itinerary promisesmuch for future, fairer-weathertrips. Accessible only by boat,plane or seven-day trek, thispristine landscape of gorges, riversand quartzite sand shorelines isalsowhere you can breathe theworld’s cleanest air. The coastlinethere is so spectacularMatthewFlinders noted in 1798: ‘‘Themountains . . . were amongst themost stupendousworks of nature Iever beheld.’’The surviving itinerary is still

impressive.We visitWoodbridgeSchoolMarineDiscoveryCentreand learn aboutTasmania’sincredibly diversemarine species