Both metaphorically and literally, Tasmania is a land apart. An island 240km off the southeast coast, it is separated from the mainland of Australia by the turbulent wind tossed waters of the Bass Strait. Further south lies the icy wasteland of the Antarctica. Tasmania was 'discovered' in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman who named it Van Diemen's Land in honour of the governor of the Dutch East Indies.

The British moved men and arms into the territory with the overt intention of using it as a penal colony - the covert intention was to prevent the French from gaining any ground. As a penal colony, its reputation was horrific and prisoners dreaded transportation to Tasmania. In an effort to move beyond its sordid and sorry past as the worst destination for even the most dreaded of men, it was renamed Tasmania but only after transportation was abolished in 1856.

Tasmania was thought to be part of the Australian mainland till 1798 when Lieutenant Matthew Flinders circumnavigated the island and conclusively proved it to be an island. The discovery of the Bass Strait that separates the island from the mainland cut down the distance from Sydney to India and the Cape of Good Hope by a whole week.