Luke Wagner – The Haulage, Tasman Island

A visit to Tasman Island in 2008 was the catalyst for Luke Wagner’s fascination with the island’s dramatic landscape and history. For hundreds, possibly thousands of years, Aboriginal Tasmanians travelled to Tasman Island using their unique bark canoes. A ‘very ancient’ Aboriginal skull was recovered. A wide variety of birds have been recorded, a mix of resident and transient species which can easily move, seasonally and even daily, to and from mainland Tasmania for feeding and breeding. The island also has an abundant seabird population; including the largest Fairy Prion colony and the only significant colony of sooty shearwaters inTasmania. Tasman Island lighthouse, the highest operating lighthouse in Australia, was first lit in 1906. Three light keepers tended the light until automation in 1976. The keepers and their families were removed in 1977, abandoning the heritage-listed buildings to time and the elements.