Matthew, Ross and Nick say goodbye to their farm and families to embark on an epic circumnavigation of Tasmania, charting the food and history of the Apple Isle. Armed with Australia’s first cookbook, the guys head north to explore Tasmania’s convict history, before going ashore to the spot where Abel Tasman planted the Prince of Orange’s flag and claimed Van Dieman’s Land for Holland.
Spirits are high onboard Solquest as Matthew, Ross and Nick sail toward Maria Island, following in the wake of Baudin’s French expedition in the early 1800s. If France had been a little quicker in their exploration of Tasmania, we might all be speaking French and eating baguettes for breakfast. In honour of Baudin and Freycinet, the boys enjoy meals of oysters, abalone and a bouillabaisse on the shore of Wineglass Bay.
Matthew, Nick and Ross follow the route taken by Englishman Tobias Furneaux as he charted the east coast of Tasmania in 1793, having embarrassingly lost sight of his commanding officer, James Cook. Sailing skills are put to the test as Solquest attempts a treacherous bar-crossing at St Helens—the same route taken by thousands of Chinese as they flocked here in the 1800s in search of grey gold.
After 8,000 years of isolation, Tasmania was once again joined to mainland Australia when a telephone cable was installed across Bass Strait. Matthew, Ross and Nick travel westward across the north coast, heading for the port of Stanley. Here, they want to re-create the historic menu from the 1936 inauguration of the cable, at a dinner for 50 people.
The trip is about to get serious as Matthew, Ross and Nick attempt to sail down the dangerous and isolated south-western coast of Tasmania. As they pass through Hells Gate into the Southern Ocean, they have prepared themselves by stocking up on salt pork and hard tack—good insurance if they don’t catch any fish.
After months at sea, the journey is nearly at an end for Matthew, Ross and Nick as they round Australia’s most southerly point. At Recherche Bay, they discover the remains of a 200-year-old French garden created to supply future expeditions with fresh fruit and vegetables. A final swing around Bruny Island brings them to Hobart, where the boys swap their life jackets for aprons in preparation for a formal dinner with His Excellency, the Governor of Tasmania.
