Walking through the Gondwana rainforest of Takayna, the expanse of pristine wilderness in north-western Tasmania known as “the Tarkine”, and meeting unconventional locals, Marta Dusseldorp could be mistaken for her Bay of Fires alter ego, Stella Heikkinen. But this is not a scene from the second season of that ABC thriller, now in production in this very region. Instead, Dusseldorp is appearing on Heather Ewart’s road trip series Back Roads .
Marta Dusseldorp at Trowutta Arch in Tasmania’s takayna / Tarkine for Back Roads. “I think it’s important, if someone asks for you, that you turn up,” Dusseldorp says. “ Back Roads asked for Marta, and I brought her with me, and tried to be as authentically myself as possible.
In Back Roads , the only way it works is if the person who’s hosting is as genuine as the people they’re talking to.” In her first presenting role, arranged by Back Roads regular Lisa Millar , following a Bay of Fires publicity interview, the Sydney-raised Dusseldorp discovered a magical part of her adopted home state. She moved to Hobart in 2018 with her husband, actor Ben Winspear, and their two daughters, where the couple set up stage and screen company Archipelago Productions.
“I’d never seen [Takayna] and it’s always been a passion of mine to get there,” she says. “Going to Trowutta Arch was transformative, seeing that natural wonder sitting there, just off a freeway. I thought it’s interesting how industry and tourism interse.