Situated between Victoria and mainland Tasmania at the western entrance to Bass Strait, King Island is only a 50 minute flight away from Melbourne, but it might just as well be 1,000 kms away, given the stark contrast between the laid back way of life here and the hustle and bustle of the Australia's second largest city across the waters of Bass Strait. Because of its relative isolation, King Island receives less than ten thousand tourist a year (compared with two and a half million in Queensland). This, combined with the windswept jagged reefs and deserted long sandy beaches, make it the ideal destination for those seeking peace, tranquillity and respite for the pace and pressures of modern day living.

The island itself is a pastoral idyll. Angus and Hereford beef cattle and assorted dairy breeds wander the fields. Wild pheasants, peacocks and turkeys wander the paddocks and roads, safe with the absence of foxes and rabbits on the island. King Island produces some of the world’s best produce, King Island Dairy's cheese and dairy products command boutique prices on the mainland and internationally. The island's crayfish and abalone have equally enviable reputations Most people who live on the island are either farmers or are involved in the manufacture of local beef, which is hardly surprising since the island's cattle breathe some of the cleanest air in the world and eat some of the greenest grass in Australia. According to legend, straw mattresses containing dried grass seeds were swept ashore from French and English shipwrecks and germinated in the island's rich soils, creating lush pastures.

This 64km long by 27km wide stretch of land is rich in history, with shipwrecks and lighthouses all telling stories of the island's colourful maritime past. The infamous Roaring Forties gales which even today bring westerly winds of 100km per hour are said to have caused more than 60 shipwrecks along the island's treacherous coastline during the 1800s. A few Aboriginal middens have been discovered pre-dating the end of the last ice age when the island was connected to Tasmania and the mainland by a land bridge. Incredibly, human occupation seemed to have ceased for unknown reasons after that time.

Storm cast Bull Kelp is collected from King Island’s beaches, processed and mostly exported to Scotland. Kelp processing has become an important part of King Island’s economy. Visit the Kelp Information Room at the factory or view the harvesters at work along the foreshore near Currie. King Island Cultural Centre (Gallery); King Island Historical Society Museum and the Maritime History Trail (a Self Guided Drive) bring the history of the island alive to visitors.

The island's natural attractions include a 7,000 Year Old Calcified Forest, revealed when the lime-laden sand which had covered and preserved the stumps has been exposed over the years from the constant Roaring Forties storms from the Southern Ocean. There is also a penguin rookery near the (safe harbour) port and guided tours are held to observe a nightly parade of Little Penguins.

Life is not in a hurry on King Island, and the attitude towards visitors is warm and friendly. No one seems to care that one of restaurants, The “Boathouse”, doesn't serve food, which takes the concept of BYO to a whole new level! It's is open every day with cutlery, plates, kettle, glasses etc. – available for your use, all you have to do is roll up with your picnic hamper and enjoy the view over Currie Harbour.

Getting around: air transport is the only we you can get to King Island unless you are prepared to brave the elements on a supply vessel. Aircraft a number of time daily between King Island and Devonport and Burnie (Tasair) and Melbourne (King Island Air; Regional Express; Shortstop Air Charter). There is no public transport on King Island, however cars can be hired and tours of the Island are available through a number of operators.

Climate; The Best Time To Visit: King Island's climate is milder than either Tasmania or southern Victoria, despite a bit of wind and rain, which makes it ideal to visit at any time of the year. The annual King Island Race Club horse racing carnival season begins in early December and continues past New Year's Day. In March there is the Imperial 20, a 20-mile (32km) foot race whose 1hr 28min record is held by Steve Moneghetti and attracts an increasing number of high profile national runners. The Melbourne to Grassy Yacht Race is conducted in March.

European History of King Island

King Island was discovered by Captain Reed, hunting seals in the schooner Martha in 1799. Matthew Flinders’ first map of Van Diemen's Land and Basses Strait, which was sent to England (before Flinders had left) and was published in June 1800, did not show King Island.
However, before Flinders left Sydney for England in 1800, Reed had informed Flinders of the existence of the island. Captain John Black also visited the island just after Reed and named it King Island after Governor Philip Gidley King. Captain John Black was sailing in the brig Harbinger, after which the dangerous Harbinger Rocks off the island's north-west coast are named. It was found to abound in both fur seals and elephant seals which were soon being exploited to the edge of extinction.
Governor King, having been warned that the French navigator Nicolas Baudin was going to head for the island when he left Port Jackson, sent the Cumberland from Sydney to formally claim the islands off Tasmania for Britain. Immediately after the French had left, acting under private instructions from Governor King, acting Lieut. Robbins was hastily sent south from the Colony of Port Jackson (Sydney) with the schooner Cumberland and a party of 16 men to examine Bass Strait and to thwart any colonising attempts by the French.
On 13th December 1802, Lieutenant Charles Robbins entered Sea Elephant Bay to find Baudin's ships already at anchor off shore near the present site of Naracoopa. Panic struck, Robbins launched a long boat with a party of men and made a dash for the shore, Union Jack in hand so as to beat the Frenchman in claiming the island. This was the first occasion the newly-created Union Jack was flown in Australia and Robbins made a shambles of it. After hoisting it in a large gum tree and firing three volleys in salute low over the nearby French tents (Robbins had to borrow the gunpowder for the salute from the French as he had not brought any with him!). He made a garbled proclamation of possession, and then realised that in his haste he had raised the flag upside down. Baudin found it all rather amusing.
As a result of this incident, British settlements were established at the River Derwent and Port Dalrymple in Tasmania and later Port Phillip. Sealers continued to harvest the island intermittently until the mid 1820s, after which the only inhabitants were some old sealers and their Australian aboriginal wives who mostly hunted wallaby for skins. The last of these left the island in 1854 and for many years it was only occasionally visited by hunters and more often castaways from shipwrecks.
The first submarine communications cable across Bass Strait in 1859 went via King Island, starting at Cape Otway, Victoria, it made contact with the Tasmanian mainland at Stanley Head, and then continued on to George Town. However it started failing within a few weeks of completion, and by 1861 it failed completely. A later telephone and telegraph cable across Bass Strait operated via King Island from 1936 until 1963. In the 1880s the land was opened for grazing. A township developed at Currie and the Post Office opened on 1st June 1892 (known as King's Island until 1903, King Island until 1917, thereafter Currie).

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