A new year, new possibilities.

I published the third book in my Major Gask mysteries series late in 2024, the Case of the Beth el Stone – I think it’s the best so far in the series but you can be the judge of that.  And with the arrival of 2025 I set my sights on the year ahead.

I started it off on a high note, sailing on the Queen Elizabeth from Sydney to Hobart and back.  A magnificent ship and a very relaxing, enjoyable experience.

But the highlight for me was what happened in Hobart

If you have read my Helots’ Tale series, you will know that a good part of the action takes place in Tasmania, or Van Dieman’s Land as it was called originally. Mary Ann Goulding was transported there in 1834 from London, making the hazardous 3-month trip on a wallowing tub, the Edward, along with 200 other women convicts.  Her first stop was the Cascades Female Factory (actually a prison) just outside the nascent town of Hobart.

Recently, the ruined remnants of Cascades have had a makeover and it is now a fascinating exhibition where history leaks from the original walls and the long-lost cries of the hardy Australian pioneers who passed through this place echo faintly across the compound (https://femalefactory.org.au).  The rules and regulations of 1829 set the tone, “Females guilty of disobedience of orders, neglect of work, profane, obscene, or abusive language, insubordination, or other turbulent or disorderly or disrespectful conduct, shall be punished by the superintendent with close confinement in a dark or other cell, until her case shall be brought under consideration of the Principal Superintendent”.

As the Queen pulled into Hobart I imagined how Mary Ann would have felt arriving on her far less salubrious surroundings.  My wife, Victoria was standing with me observing the scene and I suspect she felt an even greater pull, for Victoria is Mary Ann’s great great great granddaughter.

Before sailing, I had been in touch with the site manager, Ms Shelly Kube, at Cascades.  She had organised the purchase of several copies of my books for the Cascades’ shop and I was to speak (briefly) and sign some copies while we were there.  I had sent her a copy because I felt they should be on site and shortly after this, Shelly had commented that she had read them and they were ‘brilliant’, very well researched, which was – as you’d imagine – very gratifying.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the upgraded site – it is a worthy tribute to the past and has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  As an aside, one of the things that I regret about Australia is how little regard Australians seem to have had for their history with many historic buildings demolished and nothing left to mark the significant events of the past.  It seems to be changing now (although not enough) and Cascades is a demonstration of that.  More power to them.

My book signing went off without a hitch. I signed about 20 copies I think and I gave a little talk, focusing on the debt we owe today to all the pioneers, including the 160,000 souls transported here, often for doing little more than stealing something worth a few pennies to feed themselves and their families.

And then, something unexpected.  Victoria and I were driven to the local radio station where we had an enjoyable 10 minute discussion with the afternoon ABC radio host, Joel Rheinberger (https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-your-afternoon/tasmania-afternoons/104785248).

It was then back on board where we set sail that evening for Sydney.

If you are ever in Hobart, please take time to visit Cascades.  If you are on the Queen, enjoy yourself!

And with a new year stretching out ahead, I wish you all the very best of everything.