As regular readers will know I went to Tasmania earlier this year and out of all the places visited there Bruny Island really captivated me. I like the whole idea of islands, when things get a stressful with family I often tongue in cheek suggest that perhaps we should emigrate to the Falkland Islands, or even better South Georgia Island. I was brought up in a series of English villages and small country towns so I’m quite drawn to small communities and one of my favourite TV programs as a kid was the French series The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe which was re-aired every summer holidays. You’d watch Robinson at about 10am do something daring or solve some conundrum and then that would be the inspiration to go out all day playing the woods making camps or tree houses. His life was simple and my life at that age was very simple. The theme tune for the show is a classic and it takes me right back to those happy carefree times.

Since then I’ve visited a number of islands some like Santorini and Rottnest are idyllic holiday destinations where you go to relax and unwind. Others like Hayling Island  are naff miserable places and I’d never want to visit again. Bruny Island is in a category of its own. It is not beautiful but rather is ruggedly handsome, a robust island off of the coast of Tasmania and only a hop, skip and a jump from Hobart the capital of Tassie. There are towering sea cliffs, rolling hills, rainforest, seemingly an endless number of paradisal beaches and abundant wildlife. I would love one day to spend an extended period of time there – say  three to six months – just walking and photographing. I could become a later day photographic Robinson Crusoe.

 I suppose that all this a long-winded way of spruiking my latest calendar. So if you happen to know someone who wistfully daydreams about getting away from it all on a small island the this could be the ideal Christmas present for them. Just click on the image and you’ll be taken to my online store.

My book Tasmanian Tales is also still available through Blurb.