The key to Tasmania's connection to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica was more than a southerly latitude and a deep-water port. It was vital that we had the right timbers for boat building and also the shipwrights to craft those vessels. Tasmania had both.

From the 1840s ships were built at Shipwrights Point near Port Huon and then a little later further up the Huon River here at Franklin. Ships of all types were built here: four-masted schooners that plied the London route as well as tiny dinghies and punts.

Much of the Tasmanian shipwright's trade in the early years was devoted to vessels for whaling and sealing in subantarctic and Antarctic waters, and most of these were built in the Huon.

The Wooden Boat Centre, Australia's only school for boat-building, can be found at Franklin on the Huon river, about 40 minutes drive from Hobart. At the centre, open every day from 9.30 am to 5 pm, visitors can see history come alive in the form of students creating traditional wooden boats.

If you have a fast broadband internet connection, you can also view the media-rich version of this Pathways site, which includes an audio narrative and slideshow.