Tony Robertson knows how to keep a secret. He has survived journeys to places in Tasmania where few people have gone, taken photographs, survived the return journey, and then shared the photos but not the location. It’s partly because he doesn’t want to see an Everest-type conga line of tourists flattening the flora and threatening the fauna of our pristine places, and partly because he knows from tough experience that not everyone has the skills necessary to accomplish the survival component of the adventure. Therefore, secrets.
And now he has a new secret magic spot. In his own words, “I have been exploring this rugged area in the north of Tasmania [Ed’s note: that is as close as you or I will get to a location guide] for a number of years and each new treasure seems to be guarded by another set of challenges.”
Knowing Tony Robertson as I do, I can tell that that’s an understatement. “Serious” challenges would be appropriate. “Death-defying” is another adjectival candidate.
“While I am slowly reducing the places I haven’t been able to get to yet,” Robertson continues, “some areas are still holding out. Several have taken me five or six attempts, and when logic says quit, I have kept going to find areas like this.”
Luckily, if illogically, he remains with us to complete this story. “This was an area I accessed two years ago, and as soon as I saw these pools, I knew I would have to return one day with togs and jump in. The end of March is getting a bit cold, but I returned with ropes and a mate and we ate lunch while waiting for the sun to break the chill, then took the plunge. Invigorating! And another tick off the bucket list.”
This is not the first time I have written about Tony Robertson. You can reads about an earlier adventure here. So now you have two adventure stories, and probably the only person who won’t thoroughly enjoy them is Tony Robertson – Tasmania’s Secretive Gentleman Adventurer is a modest man who is uncomfortable in the limelight. Sorry, Tony.
Chris Champion is the editor of Forty South Tasmania and a director of Forty South Publishing. He has worked as an editor and writer in Australia and Asia for more than 50 years.
