“You must never be fearful about what you are doing if it’s right ” - Rosa Parks

I’ve been umming and arrhing about this post but now, as I wait for my delayed plane to land so I can start my journey back home, I’ve had time to ponder so here it is.

Tasmania is racist.

Now I am not saying everyone is as I have had a couple of nice experiencess but every single day here I have experienced racism.

Looking around even now, my family is the only ethics in the village.

I have only ever experienced racism at this level once before when at 18yrs old, a woman pretended I wasn’t there and didn’t serve me at her Mornington bakery as I waited with my then 2 year old who wanted a meringue. I stood there for 20 minutes as she served people before me. I had a gut feeling something was happening but it didn’t click until the bell rang as another customer walked in and the women looked at me then served the other lady and went to the back again. I walked out and had tears run down my face. As we walked to the car I explained to my crying child that the women was not nice so I’d get her something else.

Now I have been to Tasmania before, twice actually and I didn’t have any issues. Why was this trip different? Was I dressed differently? Then it dawned on me, on the last 2 trips I had been travelling with a caucasian male.

This trip was just me and my kids.

So what happened? It wasn’t a direct call out but continued acts that took place.

1. The staring.

Every single place we went to there was staring. Not a friendly extended looks but negative faced long glares.

The people at woolies, the cafe, the fuel station, the restaurants and the general store. Instances where I was with and without children. Instances where my 16yr old came into the car and mentioned the weird looks she got while on her own. It was like we were from another planet.

I looked around and realised again, we were the only non caucasians in the room. Another incident was when my daughter walked out of Maccas with the coffee I asked her to get and said “What the hell? Did you see that lady, she was eyeing up and down and her kids inside yelled out to me asking me where I was from? and then laughing”.

At one point my 10yr old said “What are they looking at?”

We ended up making a joke of it.

Every time it happened we would say to each other “Stare bears”

2. The lack of courtesy

I thought it was an accident at first but then it happened 6 times. We went to supermarkets 3 times. Each time I shopped with the kids. They were excited and were helping with the shop. I give the kids a list of items to collect, one at a time and thy have to find it in the aisle and put it in the trolley.

I am the first one to say when my kids are being little shits but they were not. During one particular shop, our first stop in Hobart I noticed in amongst the staring people wouldn’t move as I was pushing my trolley even though I was making eye contact. When I said “sorry, excuse me” I would get angry looks. I had 2 people that just looked at me then didn’t move.

The kids were ahead of me at times and keeping left as I have taught them then a very large man walked straight into them and got angry “Watch it kids”. I was 2m behind and realised what happened and called out to them “Are you okay kids?” The man then changed his tone “Are you boys enjoying your holiday? Where are you from”. The kids looked at me and I knew they were not comfortable so I answered for them “Perth” and politely grabbed the kids.

The employee at the Woolies self check out counter who stopped smiling and who looked at me up and down when I asked if she could help as it wasn’t registering the weight of an item. The look was of disgust.

3. The confrontation.

While on Bruny Island I parked literally 2m away from a general beachside carpark. My motorhome was long so I parked in the cars with trailers section. There was 3 spots and it was early and raining and each spot was free. While walking on the beach there was one other lady with a dog. I said to my kids “That’s so cute, that women is taking pics with her doggy with it’s raincoat”

As we walked back to the motorhome a car pulled up. It was the woman from the beach 60+).

I smiled as she slowed down then she yelled out “Is that your car?” I was shocked at her tone, I haven’t been yelled at for years. I said “Yes, why?” She yelled “You can’t park there, can’t you read english?” My heart was racing at this stage, it was 8.30am in 2 degrees, rain, and I was with my kids. I realised what what was happening and wanted to defuse the situation as I didn’t want a morning of collecting shells and talking photos of rainbows ruined.

I told her in a calm voice and I grabbed my kids hands to and started walking the 5m to the vehicle, “Yes I can read and l I am leaving now”. As I was walking away she yelled even louder “If you can’t follow our rules then you aren’t welcome here”

My blood was boiling. How dare she talk to me like that. I understand I was incorrectly parked and would have been apologetic if it was brought up in a reasonable manner and would have explained that I wasn’t comfortable parking in the smaller bays and that my car would have been a hazard to anyone reversing out due to the length.

I told my little kids, “it’s ok, some people are just angry. Thats her choice, lets not worry about her”

My 16yr old whispered to me as I started to drive off, “What the hell was that! Seriously, what is wrong with the people here, Tasmania is like a Texas and NZ had a baby. This place is beautiful but what’s up with all the people”

I said “Not all people here but it looks like it’s common theme”

I thought about it a lot. Could these all be coincidences, what was different here.

As I drove I asked my daughter to google the average age of habitants of Tasmania. It was 56. It was obvious as most people we encountered looked over 65+. The average age in WA was around 37, NT 32. I also realised I didn’t see 1 person of Aboriginal heritage in the whole 5 days.

Every non caucasian person was either a tourist or with a caucasian partner.

I also got her to google what was the dominant political party in the state. It wa Liberal.

Was it the age thing? Were the older mob here so set in thier ways that anything that was different wasn’t welcome? Was is a cultural thing?

I am used to being a minority and it doesn’t bother me to be the only person of colour because I don’t see colour, I see people and feel like I belong. I thank my lucky stars I grew up in such a multicultural place (Darwin).

The difference here is that I was made to feel like different and that I didn’t belong.

Either way, these events didn’t make my family and I feel very welcome and left a little sour taste in our mouths from the experience but I’d like to mention the following people that made out time awesome.

The Hertz rental peeps. The check in guy who welcomed us with his beautiful smile and got the kids excited about the trip. The other rental people who gave us extra blankets when I said how cold it was and letting us plug in and stay on site last night so we could be close to the airport for our early flight.

The Devil @ Cradle staff who were super helpful and awesome.

Overall it was an amazing trip and I learned lots of positive things but it was also a reminder on the racial divide in Australia.

I guess I’ve been blessed to live in area with respectful people and this is not a daily issue for me. I spare a thought for those who deal with it regularly.

The purpose of this blog os not so be a negative Nancy and rubbish Tasmania. Far from it, I love the place. The purpose of this entry is to keep it real. To explore my experience as it, no sugar coating. The story behind my insta or facebook posts.

Just landing into Melbourne now. I can’t wait to get me some Pho.

Happy Monday friends ❤️