Map of Australia with Bass Strait marked in light blue

Bass Strait ( /ˈbæs/) is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.

Extent[link]

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:^[1]

On the West. The Eastern limit of the Great Australian Bight [A line from Cape Otway, Australia, to King Island and thence to Cape Grim, the Northwest extreme of Tasmania].

On the East. The Western limit of the Tasman Sea between Gabo Island and Eddystone Point [A line from Gabo Island (near Cape Howe, 37°30'S) to the Northeast point of East Sister Island (148°E) thence along the 148th meridian to Flinders Island; beyond this Island a line running to the Eastward of the Vansittart Shoals to [Cape] Barren Island, and from Cape Barren (the Easternmost point of [Cape] Barren Island) to Eddystone Point (41°S) in Tasmania].

Discovery and exploration[link]

The strait was named after George Bass after he and Matthew Flinders passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen's Land (now named Tasmania) in the Norfolk in 1798–99. At Flinders' recommendation the Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter, in 1800 named the stretch of water between the mainland and Van Diemen's Land "Basses Strait".^[2] Later it became known as Bass Strait.

The existence of the strait had been suggested in 1797 by the master of the Sydney Cove when he reached Sydney after deliberately grounding his foundering ship and being stranded on Preservation Island (at the eastern end of the strait). He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean. Governor Hunter thus wrote to Joseph Banks in August 1797 that it seemed certain a strait existed.^[3]

Conditions[link]

Approximately 240 km wide at its narrowest point and generally around 50 metres deep, it contains many islands, with King Island and Flinders Island home to substantial human settlements.

Like the rest of the waters surrounding Tasmania, and particularly because of its limited depth, it is notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the 19th century. A lighthouse was erected on Deal Island in 1848 to assist ships in the eastern part of the Straits, but there were no guides to the western entrance until the Cape Otway Lighthouse was first lit in 1848, followed by another at Cape Wickham at the northern end of King Island in 1861.

Maritime history[link]

Strong currents between the Antarctic-driven southeast portions of the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea's Pacific Ocean waters provide a strait of powerful, wild storm waves. To illustrate its wild strength, Bass Strait is both twice as wide and twice as rough as the English Channel. The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds, although stronger metal ships and modern marine navigation have dropped the danger sharply.

Many vessels, some quite large, have disappeared without trace, or left scant evidence of their passing. Despite myths and legends of piracy, wrecking and alleged supernatural phenomena akin to those of the Bermuda Triangle, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits.^[4]

Despite the strait's difficult waters it provided a safer and less boisterous passage for ships on the route from Europe or India to Sydney in the early 19th century. The strait also saved 700 miles distance on the voyage.^[3]

Islands[link]

Map of Bass Strait including major island groups

There are over 50 islands in Bass Strait. Major islands include:

Western section:

• King Island
• Three Hummock Island
• Hunter Island
• Robbins Island

South eastern section:

• Furneaux Group
  • Flinders Island
  • Cape Barren Island
  • Clark Island
  • and several other islands

North eastern section:

• Kent Group
  • Deal Island
  • and 3 smaller islands
• Hogan Island
• Curtis Island

Natural resources[link]

A number of oil and gas fields exist in Bass Strait. The eastern field, known as the Gippsland Basin, was discovered in the 1960s and is located about 50 km off the coast of Gippsland. The oil and gas is sent via a pipeline to gas processing facilities and oil refineries at Longford, Western Port, Altona and Geelong, as well as by tanker to New South Wales. The western field, known as the Otway Basin, was discovered in the 1990s offshore near Port Campbell. Its exploitation began in 2005.

Infrastructure[link]

Burnie CBD and Port from Wilfred Campbell Memorial Reserve with Bass Strait behind

Transport[link]

Major infrastructure connections between Tasmania and Victoria.

The fastest and cheapest method of travel across Bass Strait is by air. The main carriers are Jetstar Airways and Virgin Australia; Qantas and Tiger Airways Australia also operate services. Major airports in Tasmania include Hobart International Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller airports in the north of the state and on the islands in the strait are served either by Regional Express Airlines, QantasLink or King Island Airlines.

Ferries[link]

See also Bass Strait Ferries

The domestic sea route is serviced by two Spirit of Tasmania passenger vehicle ferries, based in Devonport, Tasmania. The ships travel daily in opposite directions between Devonport and Station Pier in Melbourne, as overnight trips with additional daytime trips during the peak summer season.^[5]

Energy[link]

The Basslink HVDC electrical cable has been in service since 2006. It has the capacity to carry up to 630 Megawatts of electrical power across the strait.

Alinta owns a submarine gas pipeline, delivering natural gas to large industrial customers near George Town, as well as the Powerco gas network in Tasmania.

Communications[link]

Amphitrite on 1936 stamp commemorating completion of cable

The first submarine communications cable across Bass Strait was laid in 1859. Starting at Cape Otway, Victoria, it went via King Island and Three Hummock Island, 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.

Tasmania is currently connected to the mainland via two Telstra-operated fibre optic cables; since 2006, dark fibre capacity has also been available on the Basslink HVDC cable.

Other submarine cables include:

Popular culture[link]

See also Bass Strait Triangle

The issue of planes, ships and people having been lost in the strait over time has spawned a number of theories. Perhaps the most thorough list of losses and disappearances has been the oft re-printed book of Jack Loney ^[7] though it is possible that most losses can be adequately explained by extreme weather events.^[8]

On the popular Australian soap Neighbours, one of its most dramatic storylines unfolded when a 1940s themed joy flight to Tasmania was sabotaged by a bomb. The plane crashed into Bass Strait in the middle of the night and many character's lives were put at risk, with some drowning.

In 1978, one of the most famous UFO incidents in Australian history occurred over Bass Strait. Frederick Valentich was flying a small aeroplane over the strait when he reported to personnel at a local airport that a strange object was buzzing his plane. He then claimed that the object had moved directly in front of his plane; the airport personnel then heard a metallic "scraping" sound, followed by silence. Valentich and his plane subsequently vanished and neither Valentich nor his plane were ever seen again.

Non-motorised crossings[link]

Non-motorised crossings are regularly attempted across Bass Strait. After becoming the first person to successfully cross the Bass Strait non-stop in a sea kayak (2003), Andrew McAuley made two more successful crossings of the Bass Strait before he disappeared in the Tasman Sea in February 2007; his body was never recovered.^[9] Other experienced sea kayakers have since made the crossing, usually by island hopping on the eastern side of the strait.^[10][11][12] The first windsurfer crossing was in 1982 by Mark Paul and Les Tokolyi.^[13] Kitesurfers also do the crossing.^[14] Australian Olympic bronze medalist Michael Blackburn set a record in October 2005 when he crossed the strait in just over 13 hours in a Laser sailing dinghy.^[15] In 2009, to celebrate the first broadcast of their radio show in Tasmania, Hamish & Andy sailed a Tall Ship with gifts from the mainland through Bass Strait to Tasmania.^{[citation needed]} In 2012 HMB Endeavour crossed from Portland (VIC) to Hobart (TAS).

References[link]

In 2012 HMB Endeavour crossed from Portland (VIC) to Hobart (TAS) as part of its circumnavigation of Australia.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bass Strait

• Tasmanian Department of State Development - Redi Map
• "Telstra plans second Bass Strait optical fibre cable". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 August 2002. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/02/1028157835668.html. 
• "The Basslink Project". National Grid. http://www.nationalgrid.com.au/document.php?objectID=102. 
• "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications". http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cables/CableTimeLine/index.htm. 

Further reading[link]

• Broxam and Nash, Tasmanian Shipwrecks, Volumes I and II, Navarine Publishing, Canberra, 1998 & 2000.

Coordinates: 40°S 146°E / 40°S 146°E / -40; 146

Allison Shreeve (born 5 February 1982) is an Australian Olympic athlete who was the Formula World Windsurfing Champion in 2005, 2006 and 2007.^[1]

Early life[link]

In her younger years, Allison was home schooled and grew up in a rural property. After finishing high school at Port Macquarie High, she was accepted into Sydney University to study Civil and Structural Engineering, which had her move back to Sydney.

In 1998, during Port Macquarie High School's summer program, Allison chose windsurfing, despite she had a promising and successful future in track and field athletics after securing many titles and records at local zone, regional, and state levels. Mark Jordan saw potential in Shreeve and coached her for free, helping her go on to win the Australian Youth Champion title several times.

Career[link]

Speed sailing[link]

In November 2005, Shreeve set a new world speed sailing record (A class) at 27.7 Knots (51.3 km/h) at Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal. She topped this with a record of 33.05 (61.2 km/h) knots at Fuerteventura in late July, 2006.^[2]

Bass Strait crossing[link]

In March 2009, as an ambassador for the Life on the Edge Challenge [1], Allison announced her intention to windsurf across the Bass Strait - a body of water between the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania. The crossing would require her to cover approximately 250km of ocean and she had hoped to complete the journey in 8-10 hours (this would have been a new record time). The crossing was attempted on Thursday 26 March 2009. Allison faced winds between 30 and 35 knots for 6 hours straight, often in unfavorable swells reaching 4m in height. After a total of 9 hours and 125km, Allison was forced to abandon the attempt due to severe cramps and the onset of hypothermia.

Personal life[link]

In the last few years, Allison Shreeve attracted reasonable attention for her success in the sport. Many newspapers came out empathizing with her, because, as many claimed, she had the looks, she had the medals to prove it, and she had the personality, yet she was not able to find a financial sponsor. Because of a lack of a sponsor, she had been forced to sleep in her car. An underlying reason is that windsurfing is very small in Australia.

In 2006, Allison Shreeve was featured on the American TV channel Nickelodeon showcasing her gear and telling the audience what windsurfing is like. Shreeve was featured in Who magazine, which reported her eating habits and how she keeps fit. She told Who that she had a 50-minute run, injury-prevention gym exercises, and 500 sit-ups per day. As for diet, she says she chooses salads, steak, vegetables, and occasional chocolate. She also advised people not to eat after 7 PM – three hours before you go to bed. She was featured in a full-length interview on Life FM. Initially however, because she was low profiled, she was ignored. She was sent many support messages through Life FM. Shreeve is a Christian.^[3]

Results[link]

2006[link]

• Australian Female Sailor of the Year
• 1st Lady and 5th overall, Australian National Formula Championships (Elwood, Melbourne)
• 1st Sail Melbourne warm up RS:X Regatta (Parkdale, Melbourne)
• 1st RS:X oceanic Championships (Sandringham, Melbourne)
• 2nd Sail Melbourne RS:X (Sandringham, Melbourne)
• 1st FW Oceanic Championships (South West Rocks)
• 1st South American RS:X Championships (Puerto madryn, Argentina)
• 1st South American Formula Championships (Puerto madryn, Argentina)
• 1st South American Slalom Championships (Puerto Madryn, Argentina)
• 1st Formula Europeans Championships (Portimao, Portugal)
• 21st Holland Regetta RS:X (Medemblik, Holland)
• 13th RS:X Europeans (Cesme, Turkey)
• 5th Kiel week RS:X (Kiel, Germany)

2005[link]

• 1st NSW Formula State Championships (Dolls Point, Sydney)
• 1st Sail Melbourne VIC Formula State Championships (Elwood, Melrbouen)
• 1st Oceanics Championships (Elwood, Melbourne)
• 1st Australian Formula National Championships (Elwood, Melbourne)
• 1st Mistral National Championships (St George, Sydney)
• 1st Lady and 13th overall DWC Dranske/Rugen (Slalom/Fmrula)
• 1st Lady and 23rd overall DWC Norderney (Slalom/Formula)
• 1st Formula European Championships (Rhodes, Greece)
• 1st Slalom European Championships (Cesme, Turkey)
• 1st ISA Speed Grand Prix - Production board (Sotavento, Fuerteventura)
• 4th ISA Speed Grand Prix (Sotavento, Fuerteventura)
• 3rd IFCA World Slalom Championships (Sotavento, Fuerteventura)
• 1st Silvaplana Euro Cup (Silvaplana, Switzerland)
• 1st Formula World Championships (Elwood, Melbourne)

Professional status[link]

• Member of Australian National Olympic Squad
• Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder 2004-06
• New South Wales Institute of Sport Scholarship holder 1998-2005
• Member of the ISAF (international Sailing Federation) testing team to choose the new board for the 2008 Olympics
• Part of the international racing and development teams for Neil Pryde, F2, Deboichet

Sporting achievemenets[link]

• Ranked number 1 in the World in Formula Windsurfing
• Formula Windsurfing WOrld Champion 2005
• New World Speed Record (A Class) of 27.7 knots
• Ranked number 1 in Olympic and Formula class in Australia
• Olympic RS-X class Oceanic Champion 2006
• Formula and Slalom class Oceanic and Formula champion 2005
• Australian National Formula Champion 2005 and 2006

See also[link]

• Windsurfing
• Robby Naish
• Bjorn Dunkerbeck

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

The Mutton Birds was a band from New Zealand formed in 1991 by Don McGlashan, Ross Burge, and David Long.

History[link]

All three members came into the band with experience: McGlashan came from Blam Blam Blam and The Front Lawn, guitarist Long had played in the Six Volts and Burge had played in the Spines and Sneaky Feelings. Burge was also playing in Dribbling Darts alongside the Mutton Birds. They gained bassist Alan Gregg, also from Dribbling Darts in 1992 and recorded their first self-titled album. It went platinum in New Zealand and gained them notice outside college radio, notably for a cover of Wayne Mason's "Nature" - originally recorded by Mason in 1970 with The Fourmyula and subsequently voted in 2002 as New Zealand's greatest song of the previous 75 years. The Mutton Birds debut album remained on the charts for over a year.

For their second album, Salty, they signed with EMI Australia. It was self-produced and mixed by Tchad Blake. Again the album went platinum in NZ but received little notice beyond Australia and New Zealand.

Their next album, Nature, was a collection of songs from their first two CDs with production assistance from Neil Finn, released by Virgin Records.

Their third proper CD, Envy of Angels, was recorded in Wales and released in 1996 worldwide. It sold typically well in Australia and New Zealand, and sales increased from those of Nature in the rest of the world. This year also saw The Mutton Birds' contribution to the soundtrack of Peter Jackson's film The Frighteners with a remake of Blue Öyster Cult's 1976 classic "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The band now moved to the United Kingdom where they would remain based until 2000.

As they began touring, David Long quit, replaced by Chris Sheehan. Two self-released CDs followed, Angle of Entry (an acoustic live album) in 1997 and Too Hard Basket (subtitled B-sides and Bastards, it contained various rarities) in 1998 as the band looked for a record company. By 1999, Alan Gregg had decided to leave the band. He was replaced by Tony Fisher for their latest CD, Rain, Steam, and Speed which was also released independently. Another independently released live album (Live in Manchester) was issued in time for the 2000 UK tour. A greatest hits collection called Flock was released in 2002.

In late October 2011 it was announced that The Muttonbirds would temporarily reunite to play a series of performances at New Zealand wineries in February and early March 2012.^[1]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Featured appearances[link]

The group have appeared on many compilation albums since the inception in New Zealand. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by the Mutton Birds.

• (1999) - The Best Beer Drinking Songs In The World (EMI) - "Nature"
• (2001) - Live At Helen's (Festival Mushroom Records) - "Pulled Along By Love"
• (2001) - 100% Kiwi Rock (Warner Music) - "Dominion Road"
• (2002) - Nature's Best (Sony Music) - "Dominion Road"
• (2002) - Absolute Bliss (Festival Records) - "Dominion Road"
• (2002) - Nature's Best 2 (Sony Music) - "Anchor Me"
• (2009) - The Great New Zealand Songbook (Sony Music) - "Dominion Road"

Singles[link]

References[link]

• Dix, John, Stranded In Paradise, Penguin, 2005. ISBN 0-14-301953-8
• Eggleton, David, Ready To Fly, Craig Potton, 2003. ISBN 1-877333-06-9
• Shute, Gareth, NZ Rock 1987-2007, Auckland, Random House, 2008. ISBN 978-1-86979-000-4
• Spittle, Gordon, Counting The Beat, GP Publications, 1997. ISBN 1-86956-213-5

External links[link]

• A Religion Of A Kind - The Mutton Birds and beyond
• Don McGlashan's Official Homepage