Flotsam

They call it 'The Edge of the World'. If you look at a map of the world and follow the 40 something degree parallel west from Arthur River on Tasmania's west coast you don't hit land again until you reach the east coast of the Patagonia region of Argentina in South America. It's an awesome thought when you stand on the coast there and gaze out to sea. But look down onto the rocks below and you see all the flotsam, mainly huge pieces of wood and trees, hurled onto the rocks by the waves. Imagine running into one of those at sea on a dark night.

Several days later we visited the excellent Tasmanian Museum. One of their exhibitions featured the Antarctic and it was so interesting it took us a while to get out of there. One of the exhibits was a pile of debris found on the beaches of Macquarie Island - plastic mainly, plastic that had been floating on the seas of the world for years probably, causing untold damage to marine life.