Shop Local, Australia

November, 2022

The tiny island of King Island is a speck off the Victorian coast but actually ‘belongs’ to Tasmania.  Just 64 km long and 26 km wide, it has 1600 residents and 140,000 cows!

Named after the third governor of New South Wales, Phillip Gidley King (1758-1808) it is a beautiful, green island with hikes, history, lovely scenery and arguably, Australia’s best cheese.

King Island Dairy is the major user of the milk produced by the local cattle population.  The lush, salty pastures of the island are perfect for grazing and the milk produced is unusually rich and sweet.  Five local farmers supply the King Island Dairy and deliver milk each day for processing into cheese.  Depending on what cheese you are seeking they are matured between 8 days and 12 months!

The cheese produced and exported is gorgeous and well worth a visit to their shop and tasting café at the dairy. They also offer a free tasting platter of 6 different cheeses.

The King Island Dairy Tasting Menu

I love a great cheese platter so enjoyed many of these cheeses.  My favourites, which I bought a few of to contribute to our upcoming family Christmas, were the Three Rivers Bay – Triple Cream Brie and the Roaring Forties Blue.  Although choosing was definitely tough!!!

Unfortunately, it is not possible to see the production areas, nor is there a video to explain the process and how the various cheeses come about.  However, the staff in the café are able to explain some of the process if you are interested.  Well worth a visit if cheese is your thing!

All Things Nautical

The island has been the site of more than 140 ship wrecks, getting a reputation for being the ‘graveyard of Bass Strait’.  Ships, once they had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, enter the relatively narrow Bass Strait.  Too far south and they ran into the often rocky shores of King Island, and too far north and they struck the Victorian coast.  The saddest of these was also Australia’s worst peacetime disaster when the Cataraqui was wrecked off King Island in 1845 leaving 399 dead.  Only eight crew and one passenger survived.  The ship had sailed from Liverpool bringing British who wanted to immigrate and build a better life for themselves. Most of the men, women and 186 children aboard were lost, just days from the end of their long voyage.  One of the stories recounted was a possible case of ego clouding good judgement, maybe?  Apparently, due to inclement weather, the captain ordered the sails be shortened.  However, when he heard his decision being criticised by the Surgeon Superintendent as overly cautious, he reversed the order, and the sad loss of life soon followed.

King Island also has three lighthouses, none of which are currently in operation.  The lighthouse at Currie has a small museum attached staffed by volunteers from the local historical society.  Its opening hours are short 2-4pm a few days a week so do confirm this before visiting. It holds the original lens for the Cape Wickham lighthouse in one of the original storehouses which supported the lighthouse keepers.

Australia’s tallest lighthouse, Cape Wickham, while only in use from 1861 until 1989, it is still impressive and worth a visit. Rising 48 metres of hand sculptured granite found on the island, it really is a thing to behold.  Past lighthouse keepers had to climb more than 200 stairs several times a day.  They would have been fit!

Something funny about this impressive lighthouse……..it has a golf course attached!  A pretty windy one where I’m sure golf balls are lost at sea!!!

Gorgeous Scenery

Whether its beach, lake, lush paddocks or interesting vegetation, there is much to photograph in nature on King Island.  We were particularly interested in these quite different tea trees which made for some stunning pictures.

Short walks uncovered swans in estuaries,

There are some swans there somewhere!

bright flowers,

An explosion of colour.

and lovely sunsets.

We were waiting for penguins and saw this!

A point of interest is an extremely rare ‘perched’ or ‘suspended’ lake called Penny’s Lagoon.  With only a few in the world, perched lakes are not fed by any streams, rivers or other water sources.  They are depressions which have been sealed by leaves, bark, compressed sand etc.  Rain water cannot escape and thus a lake is formed.  Penny’s Lagoon had exceptionally clean BBQ’s and picnic tables to make a day of it.

Another feat of nature was the Calcified Forest, where calcium carbonate from sand and shell had encased the dead and decaying remains of tree roots thousands of years ago.  So, while they look like bits of dead trees, they are in fact rock!

Quirky Bits!

King Island is home to a restaurant with NO food! Called The Boathouse, while not staffed, it operates on an honour system (if you wish to purchase local artists work, or not!).  BYO food and drink and enjoy the lovely views and the warmth of the house.

One of the few restaurants on the island in the second biggest town Grassy, Wild Harvest, is built from recycled materials.   A rusted iron roof, beautifully worn wood that use to be a sheep shed and rock from the island come together well.  Book in advance if you want to experience the Saturday night degustation menu with produce from the island.  And enjoy exploring their wine cellar primarily made up of Tasmanian and Victorian wines.

Overall, King Island was worth the visit – even if just for the cheese!!!