Trying to see all of Tasmania in a week

Tasmania is one of those places in the world with a certain mystique, perhaps because of its remote location and proximity to the south pole. It’s somewhere we’ve always wanted to visit. Our interest was piqued even more by the fact that every Australian we met said “You have to go to Tasmania”. We’re glad we listened. Unfortunately we left it to the end of our trip and didn’t have nearly enough time.

Hobart

The state capital Hobart was our first stop. Our hotel was situated on a pier overlooking the picturesque harbour. Best of all we were only steps away from an abundance of seafood restaurants. Tasmania is famous for its seafood and we made sure to get more than our fill. We were also on the edge of Hobart’s downtown. Contrary to what we’d been warned, the weather was outstanding so we were able to wander the streets to admire the well-preserved heritage buildings.

One of Tasmania’s claims to fame is as a destination for many of the convicts transported from Britain in the 1800s. The Port Arthur penal settlement near Hobart is now a UNESCO-protected historic site. From 1830 to the 1877 it housed convicts from England and Ireland, including eight with our surname! (Maria was astute enough to spot a profile of one of them posted on his former cell-door.)

The site has been maintained and restored to show how the convicts lived. The youngest prisoner was only 9-years-old. Like the adults, the boys were used in hard labour such a stone cutting and construction. Many convicts earned the right to live freely in Australia. Sadly, 1,466 of them lie in graves on the nearby “Island of Death”.

Exploring the Island

We rented a car to tour the rest of the island. Tasmania is only about 320km wide and 320km long at the longest points. It seemed manageable to drive. We didn’t account for the winding coastal and mountain roads. It was slow-going.

We started up the east coast on Good Friday and the first day of fall break in the schools. Holiday traffic was crazy. There are only 190,000 people in Hobart. It seemed like they were all on the road towing campers. It was bumper-to-bumper heading up the coast. It was equally congested southbound. Apparently everyone from south Tasmania goes camping in the north on holidays; everyone from the north goes south.

Bicheno, our first night’s destination, was only 177 kms from Hobart but, with a scenic detour into Freycinet National Park for a short hike, the drive took us all day. Our little motel overlooked the Tasman Sea so at least we got to relax with a nice view.

The next day was more varied. We left the coast to take a shortcut over Elephant Pass. You know a route called Elephant Pass is going to be exciting. The Pass spit us out into cattle country. The rolling countryside was beautiful; the few towns were sleepy little farming communities.

We stopped at Cataract Gorge outside Launceston, Tasmania’s second largest city, to hike one of its many scenic trails. The park was overflowing with families picnicking and enjoying the sunny long weekend so we only did a short hike before continuing to our destination of Deloraine.

Easter Dinner in a Victorian Mansion

Their son Steve, a former chef, set up a barbecue for us to grill a rack of lamb for Easter dinner. Dining on the grounds of a Victorian mansion with a nicely grilled piece of lamb, local red wine and, of course, potatoes with melted butter, was a memorable Easter dinner.

Hiking Cradle Mountain – and coming face-to-face with cuddly wombats

40% of Tasmania is protected National Parks so much of our time was spent passing through or hiking in the parks. The premier attraction is Cradle Mountain. The park has many hiking trails. After six months on the road and some pretty demanding hikes, we opted for an easy six km walk around Dove Lake. It is one of the most popular hikes in Tasmania. We were lucky to get beautiful sunny weather for our hike. Normally it is raining or snowing.

Forget the epic views of the jagged mountain peaks. Our highlight was meeting adorable wombats out for their evening meal. We were metres away from them as they busily munched on grass and scrub. They know they own the place and tourists are not allowed to approach so they do whatever they want, completely ignoring the crowds of tourists taking their pictures.

To the Wild West Coast

We’d loved to have circumnavigated the whole island but only made it as far as Strahan on the wild west coast. To get back to Launceston for our flight we knew we would have a gruelling day of driving so set Google Maps for the shortest route. It took us over a hair-raising, cliffside, corkscrew road across a mountain pass to the mining town of Queenstown. From there Google took us straight up a gravel logging road (woefully misnamed the “Marlborough Highway“) over the mountains and back down a twisty trail to ranch country and the airport.

If you go

We highly recommend a visit to Tasmania. If you go, set aside at least a week as the bare minimum. More would be better, especially if you want to enjoy some hikes or spend time exploring the west coast.