Reached by air from Launceston (and also from Melbourne on the mainland), the island lies 60 km off the North East coast of Tasmania in the Bass Strait. Flinders Island didn’t appear on the maps until as late as 1798, when it was charted by Matthew Flinders, who modestly put his name on the map.

Flinders Island quickly became a haunt of seal-slaughterers and wreckers, who took to part-time piracy when trade was slack. The island played a similarly iniquitous role in the extermination of the Tasmanian Aborigines.

Nowadays, Flinders Island has a permanent population of around 775, and the island’s wrecks are a great attraction for scuba divers. It also has some superb beaches, a great variety of birdlife, and some great remote bush walks.