Tassie's Parks & Nature

The Tasmanian capital, Hobart, packs a lot of punch into such a small perimeter, from restaurants that garner global praise to moody wine bars, eye-opening galleries, waterside walks and character-filled historic precincts. Explore at your leisure – or book a Hobart tour – before meeting the adventurous souls who will keep you company over the next week.

Three hundred – that’s the number of stalls you’ll navigate this morning at Hobart’s mighty Salamanca Market. Get your heart started sampling gin and whisky or order a coffee and bulging bacon-and-egg burger while perusing made-in-Tasmania arts and crafts. The Salamanca precinct, amid historic sandstone buildings, is almost as pretty as the produce. This afternoon you’ll see what makes Hobart tick, from the leafy Botanical Gardens to historic Battery Point and Cascade Brewery. It all fits neatly together when you get some perspective from the lofty Mt. Nelson Lookout, gazing over the River Derwent, all the way to Bruny Island in the south. What a start to your tours of Tasmania.

The West Coast of Tassie is wild – in the best possible way. The air seems cleaner, the lakes cooler, the colours brighter, the waterfalls larger… as you’ll discover when the mist envelops you at tiered Russell Falls. This is part of Mt. Field National Park, the state’s most diverse nature reserve. Speaking of breaking records, Lake St. Clair is the deepest of its kind in Australia, carved by ice during glaciations over the last two million years. Pausing here puts life into perspective, in the best possible way. Skirt the World Heritage listed Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, characterised by soaring Huon pines, before arriving in Strahan. Small in population but big in personality, the town overlooks the immense Macquarie Harbour. Did you know it’s seven times the size of Sydney Harbour? Locals-only insights like this are among the reasons why Tasmania touring is a must.  

Today’s watery welcome is the deep, dark Gordon River, its expanse coloured by tannins from button grass. Soak up the silence of this untouched wilderness area on a Gordon River cruise out to Sarah Island, a former penal settlement – Tassie’s oldest – where convicts laboured under harsh conditions felling pines for boat-building. The haunting ruins that remain have been reclaimed by the rainforest, telling a chilling story of life on the land. As do mining towns Rosebery and Tullah, enveloped by dense forest and volcanic mountains. This is your backdrop en route to immense Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, a mecca for some of Australia’s most elusive wildlife: keep watch for Tasmanian devils and platypuses, and sign up for optional tours that guarantee you spot them. You won’t be disappointed.     

Cradle Mountain tours have not always been pristine – the region owes much of its protected status to early settlers Gustav and Kate Weindorfer, who were pivotal in championing the conservation of the area. Their efforts are remembered at Waldheim Chalet, their former home, set among myrtles and King Billy pines that gradually give way to moss-covered ancient rainforests and deep river gorges, snow-tipped peaks and wild alpine moorlands. This is the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, carved by glacial waterways like Dove Lake. You can see why Bennetts wallabies, echidnas, wombats and pademelons live here – you, too, will find it hard to tear yourself away. If you’re a night person, consider enlisting to spot Tassie’s nocturnal animals, whether at a devil sanctuary or in the wild. Optional Cradle Mountain tours see you spotting (and even feeding) elusive creatures. Where else in the world can you say you’ve fed a devil?   

Bring your appetite as today – the final day on your life-changing tour from Launceston to Hobart – you’ll try some of the state’s most applauded produce. First stop is Hellyers Road Whisky Distillery. Tasmanian tipples – whether whisky or gin – take home global awards for good reason, as you’ll fast discover. Steel yourself for the ciders fermented at Mount Gnomon Farm, in the hills overlooking the petite town of Penguin. If there’s an Australian destination with a cuter name, we’re yet to find it on any map. Here, passionate farmer Guy Robertson will pour brews made from apples grown in his heritage orchard, before you sit down to a farm-to-table Be My Guest lunch. Then you’re on your way to quirky Sheffield, the ‘Town of Murals’, before travelling through the Meander Valley to Launceston.

Your final day of Tasmania touring ends on a high in Cataract Gorge, a rare natural phenomenon on the outskirts of Launceston. There’s bushland on one side, and a Victorian garden replete with ferns and exotic plants on the other. Get a different perspective of the green cavern on the scenic chairlift, zipping you over the water to a lofty lookout. You can’t leave Tassie without sipping a few of its cool-climate wines, perhaps a pinot noir or flute of sparkling enjoyed overlooking the manicured grounds of the Josef Chromy Estate. Be sure to wander the grounds before you sample the range, then settle in with your favourite drop enjoyed over lunch. This afternoon is yours: if you’re not heading home yet, we recommend extending your adventure with an optional cruise along the Tamar River. A fitting end to a week of wonderment.