Our little “Apple Island”, Tasmania is easy to overlook when travelling in mainland Australia. On my first trip around the continent, I did. Then I realised that my favourite cider, Mercury, comes from Tassie, and I’ve since discovered that the island is a very interesting place to visit. Most people come here for bushwalks in the famous Tasmania National Parks. It’s a known fact that Australia's only island state has got one of the three large temperate rainforests left in Southern Hemisphere and almost half of the island is covered by national parks full of great bushwalks. But what if you are not a bushwalker?
Tasmanian Convicts and Aboriginal History Tasmania has got some very interesting convict history, and a long Aboriginal history – when Aboriginal people first came here, what is now Tasmania was still connected to Australia’s mainland. It has got some unique animals found nowhere else - Tasmanian Devils. It has got the largest lavender farm in the world, and lots of other clever businesses - you can visit local wineries, honey companies, dairy, tulip, mushroom, berry, salmon and walnut farms, and cheese and chocolate factories. On this page you'll find some Tasmania facts about national parks and other destinations, Hobart Travel Information, information about Tasmanian devil in Australia, and convicts of Port Arthur in Tasmania. In the end of the page is the current local time in Tasmania, and a map of Tasmania.
Hobart Travel Information - Tasmania Facts Hobart, the state capital, is a lovely little town on the foot of the beautiful Mount Wellington. East from Hobart's city centre around the Elisabeth Street Mall is the Elisabeth St Pier and King’s Pier Marina. South is the historical Battery Point, and Salamanca Square with some charming Georgian buildings housing galleries, shops, cafes and restaurants. It’s here as the famous Salamanca Markets are held in Saturday mornings. North of the city is the recreation area called King’s Domain with Hobart's Botanical Gardens and south is the Cascade Brewery where you can sample the famous Cascade beer and Australia's best cider, Mercury.
Southern Tasmania National Parks - Tasmania Facts Eleven kilometres south of Hobart is Kingston Beach. The historic town Richmond 24km northeast makes another nice day trip, and the Mt Field National Park 80km northwest of Hobart offers some good bushwalking, beautiful scenery and many lovely waterfalls. More bushwalking can be done on Bruny Island off the southern coast of Tasmania, and in the Hartz Mountains National Park. Here is also the famous Tahune Forest Airwalk where you can walk through the canopy of some tall rainforest 45m above the ground.
Port Arthur Tasmania - Tasmania Facts East from here is the Tasman peninsula with Port Arthur - the island's number-one tourist attraction. It was here as the Tasmanian convict colony started, but it wasn’t like any convict colony - it was the prison for the worst of the convicts, who after having been sent to Australia continued committing crimes. They lived a hard life (although the views seem to have been alright on the following photo), building a prison for themselves and pushing railway carriages along the 7km (Australia’s first) railway. It’s not to wonder the restless souls left the place pretty haunted. Port Arthur Historic Site contains about 30 buildings and ruins of the prison town. There are some interesting tours such as Point Puer Boys Prison Tour, Isle of the Dead, and if you’re really brave, the spooky Ghost Tour.
Tasmanian Devil in Australia - Tasmania Facts On the way from Port Arthur to Eaglehawk Neck are some dramatic rock formations like the Tessellated Pavement, the Blowhole, Devils Kitchen, Tasmans Arch and Waterfall Cave. Here are also the Tasman Peninsula National Park and the Tasmanian Devil Park, which contains, as the name says, Tasmanian Devils, but also other Australian animals and birds.
Maria Island Tasmania - Tasmania Facts North from here is the beautiful Maria Island, Swansea, and then the stunning Coles Bay with Freycinet National Park. Further north is Bicheno with a fairy penguin rookery, the historic whaling town St Helens and the magnificent Bay of Fires. Inland from here is Launceston - north Tasmania’s commercial centre that has some museums and a nice brewery, and Beaconsfield - the town that became famous in April 2006 when three miners were trapped one kilometre underground after an earthquake caused a rockfall. One of them was killed in the rockfall, but two survived and were still alive when rescue workers reached them by drilling two weeks later. It was an exciting day for the whole Australia when they were finally rescued, and jeez didn't the newspapers sell (they had been selling well enough with the devastating Cyclone Larry in March 2006, only one month earlier).
Western Tasmania National Parks - Tasmania Facts And then, there is the wild west. Except some coastal towns in north and small inland townships that mostly serve as gateways to the national parks, the western half of the island is taken up by some great wilderness in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, Walls of Jerusalem National Park, Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, and the South West National Park. The Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park is the most famous of them and contains one of Australia’s best bushwalks – the Overland Track; the island’s highest peak Mt Ossa, and Australia’s deepest natural freshwater lake, Lake St Clair. You don’t have to be a keen bushwalker to enjoy visiting Tasmania, but you’ll love it more if you are.
Flinders Island and King Island Australia Between Tasmania and the mainland Australia are Flinders Island with lots of wildlife, seafood and wineries; and King Island - known for its cheeses, which you can taste at the King Island Dairy.
Here's a map of Tasmania Australia, with places mentioned on this web page tagged. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
Hobart
I lived in Tassie for almost 14 years, born and raised there, I moved to W.A 2years ago and It's completely different. I've gotta admit, It bigger over ...
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
