Pacific Blue Oysters

We learned all about oyster farming today and mussel growing too.  Before today, I thought all oysters were captured wild with oyster baskets or oyster rakes in mud and sand.  But Freychinet Marine Farms situated near Coles Bay produces oysters and millions of them!   Farmed oysters look no different or taste no different from wild-grown oysters and the growth process is similar as well.  Everything is the same except the farm provides growth modules or “houses” in which oysters sorted by size are protected from danger and provided a favorable environment for strong growth in a smaller space.  When the waters warm, oysters procreate with eggs and sperms released in the water, fertilized millions of eggs form larvas that freely float along in the water until they bump into a solid surface like a stone, a broken shell, a stick, any solid substance they can latch onto.  Finding a solid structure allows the baby oyster to begin to grow its shell – just as they do in the wild, young oysters spend the next year simply eating lichens and plankton that flow through their shells and grow.  Oysters open their shells in high tides to capture nutrients and in low tides, oysters close their shells and absorb UV rays which strengthen and harden the shell.  Twelve to eighteen months later, voila!  Oysters on the half shell.

Stan and I put on waders and waded out into the farm in a protected briny river.  My waders probably would have fit Mohamed Ali.  In it, I looked like the Michelin Man.  The lesson ended with an oyster tasting just lifted from the river while we stood there in the river.  I tasted mine fresh from the water, with no condiment whatsoever, and nearly gagged!  Bleah-bleah-bleah!  I do like raw oysters when they are clean, cold, and fresh with cocktail sauce, lemon, and horseradish but fresh out of the briny river.  Bleahhhh! 

After we learned the stages of maturity of oysters, we were taught the best way to shuck an oyster and were given a half dozen each to enjoy.  Our tray of oysters came with slices of lemon, lime, and a shallot wine vinaigrette dressing.   Oh, that made the oysters taste much better, but still, I miss the horseradish and Tabasco.  Stan is a pro.  He can shuck an oyster.  I’m still learning but I did open a few!  Then came the mussels.  Hot and steaming, these mussels were delicious. 

If I ever live near an ocean, I will get myself a couple of buoys with solid anchors with a thick fuzzy rope strung between the buoys.  I’ll let that contraption hang out in the water for a month or two and then pull it up to harvest all the beautiful black mussels attached to the rope, which they naturally do. Like oysters, baby mussels need something to attach to form a shell and grow.  That’s how it is done.  The mussels I harvest will be steamed in a buttery, white wine sauce and served with a slice of toasted crusty bread.  Bon appetite, my friends!!

We will end our coastal stays on this beautiful island in just two days.  We will say goodbye to Maria Island where we heard the haunting jungle cries of the kookaburras calling and finally found wallabies, a kangaroo, and some pademelons in the wild resting in the noonday sun.  We will miss our visits to spectacular beaches and bays with romantic names like Wine Glass Bay, Coles Bay, Bay of Fires, Great Oyster Bay, Freycinet, and Bicheno, the coastal village that has been our happy home for the past week. 

As a farewell, this east coast paradise presented us last night with a clear dark sky full of millions of bright stars and far in the distance, the Milky Way.  We have great hopes of getting a glimpse of the elusive Southern Lights. Thanks to an increase in solar flare activity, this year is said to be one of the best in years for seeing the Northern and Southern Lights.  I hope that holds for us, perhaps in New Zealand.

Our last week in Tasmania will be near Launceston, a small inland city on the right side of this heart-shaped island.  We started our Tasmanian in Hobart, the far south point of the heart. We followed the coastline, north on the western coast, north, and then southward to the eastern coast.  If placed on an Arkansas map, our route would be like starting a road trip in El Dorado, and driving northwest to Mena then to Bentonville, across the state to Piggot, down south toward West Memphis, on to deep south Eudora, and then back to Batesville.