A surprise stop
18 February 13
When we left Evan’s round house yesterday on our way south, I decided to take us through the middle of Tasmania so we could see some of the remarkable highland lakes that are strung across the central plateau.
We were already committed to our journey and touring the lakes when I realised that I needed to fill the bus with diesel. A detour to a signed petrol station revealed that it had closed down — perhaps in 1997. So, with the help of my GPS, I headed towards the nearest town with a service station, watching my gauge the whole way.
We pulled up in little village of Poatina and soon discovered that the little village’s petrol station was closed. But there was a flat parking space of gravel next to a skateboard half-pipe, so I decided to park there for the night and get diesel the next day.
A friendly local named Sam came to check on us. Discovering that we needed fuel, he offered to arrange to have the shop opened for us out-of-hours so we could continue our journey. I declined, as the girls had already started playing, and I didn’t want to interrupt their games.
The girls so enjoyed our parking spot at Poatina, they called it “the best playground ever”! It was while wandering in the bush nearby that Calista and Brioni saw a Tasmanian devil for the first time. I was also impressed by the friendliness of all the locals. They greeted me in a friendly manner and chatted about travel and childhood memories.
It turns out that Poatina Village is a privately-owned enterprise, bought by Fusion Australia in 1995 as a location for education and recreation. This is intriguing — how can a community that is privately-owned operate and thrive as a free community? I’m determined to find out more, and we’ll be returning to Poatina in the future to start asking some questions about the authenticity of life here.
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1 · Renee · 27 February 2013, 10:18
I love the photo of the three girls running up the skate ramp. Great action shot!
2 · Jenn · 27 February 2013, 18:31
That photo of the girls running up the ramp together is precious!
3 · Arawajo · 27 February 2013, 18:33
Do be careful in dealing with Fusion – their leader is from Catch The Fire Ministries. Read a little about them here
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/ctfm.htm
Having said that I do think the concept of a village like Poatina is very interesting.
Take care.
4 · Mark · 27 February 2013, 21:54
Hi. I was hanging out with Fusion in Launceston back in ’85. They are an organisation drawn from all and any Church. They are not a ‘Church’ themselves. All Fusion folk attend their own Churches, or not.
They are on the Far Left of Churchy folk. (Make of that what you will :)
They have no link with ‘Catch the Fire’ at all.
I would say they represent a Polar Opposite approach to the ‘Christain life’ than Catch the Fire.
(Struth, what would i know?… I don’t consider myself a Christian these days).
The fact that you didn’t get swamped in God Syrup by your encounter with them, says it all, really. They are into the ‘My life is the Witness’ thing.
Unfortunately, Catch the Fire has called one of their churches ‘Fusion’. Thus the mix up.
The Poatina extravaganza came after my time hanging out with them. Yep, it would be interesting to get an idea how it is owned and also ‘free’.
Please keep us posted! :)
5 · Arawajo · 28 February 2013, 09:38
Hi Mark – I was referring to the Chairman of Fusion – Pastor David Ling – he was previously with Catch The Fire wasn’t he? It might be a different Pastor David Ling – it’s a common name.
Sorry if I got it wrong. Just wanting Lauren to be cautious.
I am looking forward to reading more about how it all works because it does sound wonderful.
6 · Jess · 28 February 2013, 21:09
Ha! How cool! When you said you were exploring the Lakes, I wondered if you’d wander into Poatina and what you’d think if you did. We used to live there – for more than five years….
You can email me if you want to talk about it. Its a pretty amazing place. Not perfect, but pretty amazing.
7 · KL · 25 July 2013, 10:32
Love the photos of the skateboard ramp fun. We did this exact thing with our children when we were in Amsterdam. They tolerated our trip to the Van Gogh Museum (they actually had a lot of fun, very kid-friendly) so when we were done, we had a snack-dinner and let them run up and down the skateboard ramp for over an hour. It’s one of their best memories of the entire trip! Sometimes the unplanned experiences are the most treasured.