Mike Pinch (OW 1950) – An Account from Tasmania

Mike Pinch (OW 1950) left his home in Wiltshire, fully expecting to be back in time for the place he’d booked at the OW Dinner in April. He writes from Tasmania:

“Tasmania is a special place for me. Being foolhardy enough to leave the UK on the last day of February for a routine visit, sharing business class with only seven other passengers, I should have seen the writing on the wall.  However virtual house arrest came as a surprise, as indeed it did to us all.

Staying with my son in modern conditions – and his bookshelf  – has meant more time for reading. Except for pressures on the medical profession, most of us have had mainly mental discipline to practice. I dare postulate such comments because many in the world have lives we might hardly survive for a few weeks. I suggest three books that show in different ways how fortunate a good education is as a tool for life and how much can be learned from our natural surroundings: Three Cups of Tea, The Education of Little Tree, and Wolf Totem. In Three Cups of Tea, author Greg Mortensen’s inspiration was kindled by his failed attempt on K2. His writing on the lives of local people in Afghanistan, China and Pakistan give our current lives some real perspective. All three of these books are fascinating and relevant to these times.

Tasmania is a most mountainous island, about the area of Ireland with a population of around half a million. About 300,000 people live in the capital, Hobart, which is overshadowed by Mount Wellington (1250m high), which is often capped with snow, even in summer. The steep roofs on the houses is typical of early European settlers who anticipated heavy snow falls, like their homelands. The ‘senior’ mainland state was settled FROM Tasmania.

The island supports its own full symphony orchestra, which does many recordings to help funding; it is often heard on the BBC. There is a good university, with medical school, and again much income is derived from international students. Tourism, forestry and agriculture are the other major economies, with the finest of all merino wool is from Tasmania. Air and overnight ferries connect with Melbourne. In Sydney I have a nephew Richard Hawtin, OW, who entertained Alan Cooper on his 2015 OW world tour, so it is somewhat of a ‘home from home’ to be on an Antipodean location. As yet, there is still no news of when I can use the return half of my ticket!”

Accompanying photo: Mike Pinch outside the Cascade Brewery, Australia’s oldest brewery operating continuously since 1824, with Mount Wellington in the background