LOST IN THE WILDERNESS

Three overseas travellers fell in love with Tasmania and never returned home

- Jacqui Lang

On 22 February, Belgian tourist Celine Cremer posted a picture of herself smiling atop Hobart’s Mt Wellington on social media, captioning it, “A little devil in Tasmania ... I have a crush on this beautiful, heart-shaped island.”

But by late June, the vibrant 31-year-old traveller had disappeared. On 26 June, having not heard from her for about two weeks, Celine’s worried family contacted Tasmanian police. Adding to their concern, she’d failed to take a scheduled boat trip to Victoria on 21 June.

Celine’s white Honda was later found parked at the Philosopher Falls walking track in Waratah, in remote western Tasmania. Search and rescue teams spent weeks scouring the forest using drones and sniffer dogs, but failed to find any trace of Celine.

Police believe Celine – who liked Tasmania’s natural beauty so much that she’d been living on the island for six months – must have got lost by wandering off the track and likely wouldn’t have survived the harsh conditions.

Western District police commander Stuart Wilkinson told media there were “no suspicious circumstances”, adding, “We will always keep an open mind.”

But it’s possible the young Belgian woman met a more sinister fate.

“How do we know Celine got lost bushwalking?” asks Hobart journalist Amber Wilson, whose podcast The Lost Ones focuses on unsolved missing persons cases in Tasmania.