the island

The largest of the Furneaux Group, an archipelago of 52 islands and rocky islets, Flinders Island lies at the eastern end of Bass Strait, 30 kilometres off the north-east coast of Tasmania.

Just 29 kilometres wide and 64 kilometres long and covering an area of 137,000 hectares, Flinders Island is dominated by magnificent granite mountains and ridges including imposing Mt Strzelecki, which rises to 756 metres, and the beautiful Darling Range, which runs like a spine through the centre of the island.

Flinders Island was first identified by Europeans when Tobias Furneaux, the commander of Captain James Cook’s support ship HMS Adventure, became separated from Cook’s Endeavour in heavy fog and discovered the Furneaux group of islands in March 1773.

The nearby hamlet of Emita is home to the small yet fascinating Furneaux Museum, which houses displays of Aboriginal artefacts and old sealing and sailing relics salvaged from shipwrecks over the past two centuries. The museum is open most afternoons during summer, at weekends, and other times by appointment.

The waters surrounding Flinders Island are unique for their biodiversity, harbouring the greatest proportion of endemic marine species anywhere in Australia.

Striped marlin, yellow-fin tuna, blue-eye trevalla, striped trumpeter, hapuka and mako, blue marlin, spearfish and broadbill are hooked in the temperate waters of the continental shelf, 30 nautical miles offshore. Closer to shore anglers reel in gummy and school sharks, squid, kingfish, snapper and the large flathead and Australian salmon for which Flinders Island is renowned.

There are no rabbits or foxes on Flinders Island, meaning that native wildlife such as echidnas, wombats, Bennett’s and pademelon wallabies, possums, potoroos and over 150 species of birds thrive here.

A mild maritime climate means the island enjoys average summer temperatures of around 22 degrees, although it is not uncommon for it to hover in the low thirties. Summer and autumn are popular seasons to explore the island’s 120 beaches.

During the winter months the average minimum temperature is around 13 degrees – a perfect time to rug up and experience the invigorating panorama of nature at its very best.