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Hey, I’m Jarrod, a descendant of 17 convicts, a Royal Marine, and a mixed bag of free settlers who either got shipped off or jumped ship straight into Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). Yeah, my family tree isn’t your standard “came over on a sailing yacht with champagne” story. And honestly? I...Read more

When people think about Australia’s early days, they usually picture convicts on ships and settlers struggling in a harsh land. But long before that chaos, Tasmania’s Indigenous people, the Palawa, had already carved out an incredible life here. And honestly? What they built was more complex, sustainable, and connected than...Read more

Culture is the first thing we ever know. It’s the ground under our feet, the language in our mouth, the invisible net that catches us when we fall. It’s how we know who we are. But what happens when that culture is torn away? What happens when you’re pushed out...Read more

Leaving your culture once is hard. Trying to live between two cultures? Almost impossible. Because no matter how far you run, part of you always knows: if you leave the fire, the fire leaves you too. For Kikatapula, the choice to return to his people came at a price. And...Read more

Let’s be real, the voyage from England to Australia wasn’t some romantic sea adventure. It was brutal, ugly, and dangerous for pretty much everyone, whether they were free settlers or convicts chained below deck.Read more

When Britain declared war on Napoleon’s France in May 1803, it didn’t just stir the pot in Europe; it sent shockwaves all the way down to the far end of the planet. This was supposed to be the quiet, formative years of Australia’s convict settlements, right? Time to put down...Read more

Let’s rewind the clock to 1803. Picture 49 brave (or maybe just plain crazy) souls – soldiers, sailors, settlers, and, of course, convicts, setting up shop 7km up the Derwent River at a place called Risdon Cove. They were trying to start a new life in a wild, uncharted corner...Read more

I grew up in a place that most people these days would call “haunted”. An old Georgian sandstone building on the outskirts of Richmond, Tasmania. Built way back in 1829, with the help of convict labor (because who wasn’t using convicts back then?), it’s a piece of history you could...Read more