As part of our Down Under trip this winter in a rented motorhome we want to visit Tasmania, and are booked on the ship from Melbourne on 9 February, returning on 17 February. If any Grey Nomad can suggest an itinerary we'd be grateful.
Terry
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Terry
Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow
Do not walk beside me, for the path I tread is narrow
In fact just bugger off and leave me alone
In the time frame you have, you will miss out on a lot, therefore it would be better to concentrate on your interests.
Tasmania look small on the map, but there is so much to see and do within small distances of each other.
Must do's from my POV would be Mona, Adventure Boat trip leaving the motorhome at Oyster Cove Marina and catching the bus to Bruny Island for the ride of your life to the bottom of Bruny island, Tahune Air Walk. (all these are in Hobart region)
I would leave the ferry at Devonport and head for the East Coast, via St Helens, lots to see along this route.
Salamanca market in Hobart is a must if you like markets. It's held on a Saturday. Port Arthur is a must see also, Richmond is a quaint little down. All these are within easy reach of Hobart. Mount Wellington in Hobart is nice to drive up. The view is wonderful. Cascade brewery and Cadbury are good to visit too. Both in Hobart. You really need more than a week for Tassie. It's beautiful. :)
If you like National Parks and natural scenery you could go to Russell Falls and Mount field NP. A bit further away theres wonderful scenery on the West coast too, take the cruise on the Franklin river and the ABT Rail trip from Strachan to Queenstown. Or go to Cradle mountain and spend half a day walking round Dove Lake.... fantastic! theres caves on the way to Cradle mountain at Mole Creek if you are into caves tours.
Head to the East Coast as Landfall says - great scenery, great beaches, lovely towns - if you have time, the yellow boat ride on Bruny Island is one of the most exciting things I have done!!!! St Helen's is a great town, as is Bicheno - Hobart is worthy of a visit, and a must do is the drive up Mt Wellington for the view.
Be aware that the roads over there are very windy and narrow, even some of the highways - i.e. Elephant Pass (great pancake place halfway up) from just above Bicheno to St Mary's is a doozy!!! As is the Tasman Highway. Your time frame won't allow too much - we had four months and still didn't see everything!!!!
Enjoy your time in Tassy - it is a great spot - heaps of free or low cost camps - plenty of info on this site re Tassy.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
If you are only here a week, the East Coast and Hobart are musts. Head to the East Coast via Launceston, then come back to Devonport via the Midlands Hwy, stopping for a look in the small towns like Oatlands, Ross & Campbell Town on the way.
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The Mobile Madhouse: me (Rosie), him (Troy), a kelpie, a kelpie-dingo, a husky & a rainbow lorikeet.
If you only have a week, do the norwest. Its close to the ferry and you wont loose 1 day each way on travel.
Get off the boat and head to cradle mt, next day head toward Stanley but breal that in to a couple of days with maybe a night in sheffiled, next head to Stanley. Spend a few days around there (plenty to see and do). Then start heading back to Devonport for the ferry which is only about 80km away but you get spend a week doing that trip and see very little of whats on offer (100 great water falls within a 50km radius of burnie)
cheers
blaze
By Australian standards Tasmania is a very small State. We found that if the weather was going foul on the West Coast we could quite easily drive to the East coast to spend time there in nicer weather till it cleared up to the West. Then meander back West that way again as the weather brightened up . Bit different to say touring Western Australia.
Great place to tour and see. Wonderful history and Old Buildings, bridges etc.
Having lived in Britain and New Zealand I found the roads to be no different to driving the back roads of either of those countries
How many people who have visited Tasmania drive through Rossarden. I worked at a mine there in the mid 60's.
When the mine closed all the houses were sold to people on the waiting list for public housing for $1.
It is not quite like deliverance country but still an interesting drive. DONT stop tho
As Terry (Hi Nat) is obviously visiting from the UK, he/she will probably have a pretty tight schedule everywhere. And we all know just how big Australia is.
If History is your thing, head down to Port Arthur and Strachan and Ross ...... If it is mountains, and lakes, Lake St Clair and Lake Dove and Cradle Mountain. February should be a nice time to travel TAS.
We had three weeks about 10 years ago, and only brushed the surface. Looking forward to getting down there sometime and spending 12 months.
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DUNMOWIN is no longer on the road and still DUNMOWIN!
Thanks Grey Nomads for all the input - you've given us so many ideas we will try to extend our time in Tasmania by a few days. Terry
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Terry
Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow
Do not walk beside me, for the path I tread is narrow
In fact just bugger off and leave me alone
