I would recommend trying to fit a little less in. The itinerary you have outlined would mean that you would be in your car the whole time and not really see any of the places you will be passing through...but to answer your questions.

1. The drive from Hobart to Port Arthur is about 90 mins (a bit less form the airport. Port Arthur is open from 8.30 to dusk (then there are the ghost tours) So you will be able to get some viewing of the site in daylight before the tour. I think if you want to see the site in daylight and at your own pace you will miss out on some of the experience by just doing the ghost tour. You need to book the Ghost tours they fill up each day. See the website at http://www.portarthur.org.au/pashow.php?ACTION=Public&menu_code=300.850.200

Have dinner before or just after your ghost tour (depending on the time) - most places in country Tasmania do not serve meals late...

You will be able to get back to Hobart on day 1 for an early start on day 2.

2. For breakfast in Hobart - try Salamanca place (if you are there on a Saturday morning you will be able to go to the weekly market - there are lots of stalls selling Tasmanian goods) - there are a number of cafes in Salamanca place that serve great breakfast - but it will depend on what time you are planning to start driving...the bakery in Salamanca place is open early.

The Tahune airwalk is about 90 mins from Hobart. So if you stayed to early afternoon - you would still have 90 mins drive back to Hobart before you start your onward trip to Strachan.

It usually takes at least 4 hours to drive from Hobart to Strahan - it is nearly 300km on a windy road. There are plenty of places to see along the way - waterfalls etc. - but you will not have time to stop - even so you will be arriving quite late even without trying to stop at Mt Field. Pretty much nothing is open is Strahan after 8.00pm so I am not sure what you plan to do for accommodation...Here is a site that has some driving times in Tasmania and some suggested itineraries http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=28

Mt Field is a detour from the Hobart to Strahan route. How long did you intend to spend? The shortest walk is 30mins return - seems a long way to go, to only spend a short time? (an alternative would be to stay the night at Lake StClair and drive on to Strahan in the morning)

3. Strahan is really quite small - I would suggest whatever is open when you are out and about.

In Strahan the best way of seeing the area is to take a Gordon River cruise - but this departs at 8.30 and returns at 2.25pm.

You will need to allow at least 2 hours for the drive to cradle mountain.

One of the most popular short walks in the cradle mountain national park is the Dove Lake walk - allow approx. 2 hours

In mid-October sunset will be approx. 7.30pm - but you would not want to be walking at sunset. Trails get very dark very quickly.

3. It is a 2 hour drive direct from Cradle mountain to Launceston. You will have time to stop at Penguin - there is not an awful lot to see in Burnie and Devonport (sorry to all who live there - but this is very short itinerary!).

4. Depends what you are interested in - if you want to spend more time in wilderness areas - I would suggest that you allow more time at the beginning of the trip and do the drive from Cradle Mountain to Launceston on your last day.

Gliad has given you very sound advice, this is going to be incredibly rushed for only 4 days. Personally, I'd cut down to Hobart, Port Arthur, Strahan and Cradle Mountain.

I'd spend your first afternoon looking around Hobart, then have a full day at Port Arthur (Day 2). The day after drive to Strahan (Day 3), possibly catch the afternoon river cruise.

I find one section of the road from Lake St Clair to Strahan, not just windy, but scary! I wouldn't drive it at night unless you feel very confident. The main reason to go to Strahan is the Gordon River cruise, it's not an especially pleasant town, it's one of those places given over to tourism, so if you are not able to go on one of the morning or afternoon cruises, I would skip it all together.

Alternatives might be to go direct to Cradle Mountain or stay a night at Lake St Clair, there are very reasonably priced cabins in the National Park there. Most of the animals are noctural so you should have an overnight in the national park, either at Lake St Clair (one end of the park) or Cradle Mountain (the other end). That national park is stunning, I'd maximise your time there if possible.

Given your tight schedule I would also skip Launceston, just go there to get the flight out.

Second the advice about the road to Strahan. It is very windy and very narrow, not the place to be in a hurry to"get there" - it's a country road, much road kill (hence small animals crossing the road at night), sometimes poor visibility, and cannot be rushed at all.I'd strongly agree with leaving it out all together...

Besides which, as you yourself recognise, the time you have is very limited.

To actually see something besides a map or a GPS why not limit yourself as suggested - then there's always an excuse to return!

You really, really will be pushed with your present schedule!

You need to consider that Tasmania, while an 'island', is the size of Arkansas, but you can't just go zooming around it. You aren't specifying if you are definitely flying back out from Launceston. I would skip Strahan altogether unless you are going to do the Gordon River - no reason to go otherwise. Agree with all others about that road - and certainly not at night either direction. Please do not contribute to the roadkill in Tasmania, which has more of it than any other Australian state. I would spend more time in Hobart, don't miss the market if you can, head back north on the Heritage Highway and go to Cradle Mountain. If you are heading to Tahune, it is in the Huon Valley with only one way in and out back to Hobart. I'm not sure what you mean by "Penguin", but if you are looking at the east coast, the drive time is at least an hour from the main road to the coast. All of Tasmania is two lane roads, and I have never driven narrower, more twisty ones except in Ireland.

Hi Nornny,

I'll chime in with the choir and say, yes, you're trying to cram too much in...but, I did have one idea for you -- since this was Virgin Blue's schedule change (and I'm betting the flight you're on originates in Sydney, yes?) can you contact them and see if you could take the late afternoon flight out on October 11th? That way, you could overnight in Hobart on the 11th and have a full day. Just a thought.

Hope this was helpful!

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Thanks for the advice everyone. It kind of confirmed my suspicions.

We had to make some tough decisions but realized our priorities for our few days in Tasmania was nature and wildlife. Therefore, we're skipping Port Arthur altogether, as much as I wanted to participate in the ghost tour. Hopefully, there will be a next time where I can fit that in.

Our new itinerary hopefully looks somewhat more realistic.

Day 1 - Drive straight to Tahune Airwalk to see if we can get it in time. If we feel it's too late by the time we leave the airport, we'll probably explore Hobart for the afternoon/evening. We'll be staying in the Huon Bush Retreats about an hour away from Tahune.

Day 2 - In the morning, do Tahune if we missed it the day before. We'll be driving to Queenstown, with stops along the day to Mt. Field and Lake St. Clair time depending. We'd really like to do some of the treks around Lake St. Clair and Derwent Bridge area. We are skipping Strahan based on the advice here. Any good hostels in the area?

Day 3 - Drive to Cradle Mountain. We are staying in Cradle Mountain Chateau (splurge). Spend the afternoon exploring.

Day 4 - More time in Cradle Mountain if we feel it's necessary. Otherwise, we selected Burnie/Devonport/Penguin with the hopes to do a penguin tour/viewing. We are definitely stopping at Penguin, just to get our penguin kitsch out of the way. If there's such an opportunity closer to Launceston, we're more than happy to stay there instead. Devonport seemed like a good place to stay overnight. Any suggestions here would be considered.

Day 5 - We really only have the morning, but it will be in Launceston before flying out from here. Sorry I didn't make it clear before.

Nornny, we stayed in one of the cabins at Lake St Clair, they also have backpacker accomodation. It's right on the lake:


http://www.lakesidestclair.com.au/lakesidestclair/home.sok