Tasmania
 

Dear Aussies and Aussiephiles,

Could you all please put your heads together and give me some feed back on the following tentative ( subject to your insightful comments)6 day itinerary for the Tasmanian portion of our grand tour of the island continent? Also, what kind of weather should we expect at this time of year? Thanks.

April 18 arr Hobart 9:05 AM; see some sights: drive to Port Arthur to catch last ghost tour of evening

April 19th tour Port Arthur sites and then drive to Freycinet NP ( how do you pronounce this?)

April 20 day and overnight Freycinet NP

April 21 drive to Cradle Mt. NP w/ stops along the way ? Any suggestions

April 22 day and night at Cradle Mt. NP

April 23 drive to Hobart w/ stops along the way; any suggestions overnight Hobart

April 24 depart 7:25 AM for Proserpine (for Airlie Beach)

Thanks for your help. AndrewDavid

AD,

Quick question: how active are you?

Also, Tasmanian weather is quite fickle. For example, I spent Christmas and New Year a few years ago in Tassie and did a hike in Cradle Mtn, and although it was the height of summer and had been 25/80ish the whole month before, it snowed...a lot...and was quite cold. April is autumn, and the weather will be different in the east and west of the island.

Your itinerary is pretty good, especially if you like hikes and walking. Freycinet is beautiful (don't miss Wineglass Bay!) as is Cradle Mtn/Lake Sinclair. Port Arthur is really quite interesting, and I enjoyed the Ghost Tour immensely.

My suggestion would be to stop whenever you find a quaint town in your drives. Most of the towns are very small, so even just a 30 minute stop is great. Do stop in Stahan (southwest coastal town, pretty) for lunch or something like that. There's heaps of history on the island, so that along with the natural beauty makes almost every stop worthwhile.

One thing you could do to determine if there are particular small towns you'd want to stop in is check out some of the tours in Tasmania, not to take them, but to see where they stop and what they do. You can then determine if any of those things interest you and include them in an itinerary. I've done this by looking at the Australian Pacific Touring website (aptouring.com.au) as they have extended tours of Tassie. I found a couple of places I didn't know of and wanted to include in my independent wanderings.

Not sure what day the 18th is, but if it's the weekend you should aim to do a quick look at the markets at Salamanca Place/Battery Point.

Hope this is helpful!

Is someone in the USA marketing "beautiful" Tassie successfully?

April weather? Variable to say the least.....if you are unlucky you will have two cold fronts move through during your stay....Tassie weather comes from the west...the "roaring forties"...thats how Van Dieman found the place..across thousands of miles of cold southern ocean...and brings rain/snow to Tassie.
be preapred for a day or two of
50F windy rain
60 F showers
70 F beatiful clear day.

Its pronounced the french way..
fray...sin..ay.(with the broad aussie "ay" sound)

go to strahan...go kayaking up the Franklin..the quintessential tassie widerness experience...Read "death of a river guide" by richard Flanagan

if you are used to glaciated scenery ie rockies then cradle mt is ordinary.

Port Arthur is a must.skim "the fatal shore" by robert hughes.

Have a lobster at the little fish shack at Wynyard...visit table cape and some of the beaches of the north west ie boat harbour.

Stay at Battery Point in Hobart.

Yeah and if the weather is warm have a cold cascade at one of the pubs along salamanca.Imagine you have just done the sydney to hobart.

Johnj,

Not sure if that was a compliment or not! Actually, I'm in Oz if you were referring to me. Or, if you were referring to the fact that Andrew was coming to Tassie and knew a bit more than the average traveller, then I'd have to say it's probably Andrew that deserves the credit. Unfortunately, there's still not much by way of marketing for Tassie going on up there!

Dear Pixie Chick, Thanks for your feedback. There seem to be Aussies who love Tasmania and those who don't. Apparently its on many americans' itineraries. I understand the weather will be iffy April 18- 23, perhaps we'll have to help your economy and take up Johhj's suggestion of a drizabone. I believe we will be in Tasmania after easter hols?

Johhj: Starhan and Gordon River cruise vs Cradle Mt and walk around Dove Lake?

Thanks to you both
AndrewDavid

PS if the person who recently did 4 days onin Tasmania could lt me know details of their itinerary I would be grateful

If you are committed to Tassie then you have to visit cradle mountain and strahan.
Your itinerary is good,although I would shave a day....if you need it elsewhere on your trip...needless to say I think you do.

Drive from freycinet to Cradle via Launceston and sheffield. Do a late afternoon walk around Dove lake and stay at the lodge.

Drive to Strahan early the next morning.Try and arrange a little kayaking etc to add to the normal gordon river cruise.I can just hear it now...out in the kayaks in the rain saying..."this reminds me of the oregon coast".Read "death of a river guide " by richard flanagan

Drive to Hobart the next day.

I can't agree with John about Strahan. It is too long of a drive and not enough interest ( unless you really have the time to explore that area i.e. days etc ) to do it in a day. There are so many other interesting places which are either en route to Hobart or Launceston or near that you are taking too much time away from those areas to go to Strahan. I don't know whether you will be in Hobart on a Saturday but the Salamanca markets are a "must" if you are.
John don't forget that Mt Field National park is a wonderful place and also the Huon Valley so AD will need all the time that he has just to get a quick overview of the southern areas without going to S. lovely though it may be, but S needs a good few days and time also to explore Queenstown ( the worst looking place in Australia although a very interesting one)

Dear Janese and Johhj,

Thanks for your comments . We are now thinking of pushing ourselves mercilessly (hey we're only old once):

April 18 ( Sunday)arr Hobart see some sights get& ourselves to Port. Arthur for ghost tour

April 19. AM daytime sights Port Arthur. Hit the road for Strahan ( our longest drive 4 hr 14 min according to travelmate.com ( great site)

April 20 Gordon River Cruise8:30 or AM departure ( not sure about kayak given weather forecast) Drive to Cradle Mt ( 3 hrs)

April 21 Take a look at Cradle MT NP. late afternoon drive to Launceston (1 hr 15 min) and overnight

April 22 Drive to Freycinet NP (2hrs)
some hiking

April 23 more hiking drive to Hobart (2hrs 20 min) overnight in Hobart

April 24 depart for Proserpine.

By changing locations every night, we won't waste time unpacking and perhaps will be moving to better meterological conditions!

Have read Fatal Shore . Will go down to library to find or request Death of A River Guide.

Since we live in the Rockies and previously were near the Sierras perhaps CableMT NP can be dropped.

Again thanks for your thoughts,

AndrewDavid

May I strongly suggest that you for-go Strahan AD as it is too far and as you will only be there for a short while it is not worth the trip unless you have a few days in which to take a Gordon River cruise and a leisurely trip around the area.
Although Tasmania is small it would take more like 7 hours from Port Arthur to Strahan and you would not have time to visit Queenstown either - or anything else. The roads are very much little country roads - there is no highway as such, and for a lot of the way to Strahan there is little to see other than mile after mile of gum trees.
The same goes for Cradle Mountain - it is not a place you drive in and say " gee, wow! what a great place" and then leave. It is the whole area around there that is to be experienced, and usually by hiking etc with some nocturnal tours - at least 2 - 3 days. Cradle Mountain is NOT a magnificent geographic form in itself and there is no WOW! factor about it.
You are much better in staying close to Hobart and P.A and seeing the little convict villages, saving your driving time, enjoying the countryside and taking in Tasmania's wonderful food and hospitality. If you want a wonderful but shorter drive then go from P.A. to Freycinet National Park on the eastern side, taking in Wineglass Bay. Take a light plane flight in Port Arthur, which is both cheap and interesting. If you want to see some of the World Heritage Listed areas of Tasmania and some really fantastic scenery then take a light plane flight from Hobart around the southern part of Tasmania which lands in, or near, the Gordon River at Port Davie (?? name ) for lunch( or some place with a population of about 2 and near the Gordon/Franklin River system but in World Heritage area ) thereby saving you the drive and the getting a far better perspective of the place than you could any other way. It is cost effective and fantastic.
When I was a bookseller I used wish I could pulp all the 'Fatal Shores' I could get my hands on. It is written by a self appointed expert with a polital/social slant that has been proven by historians and anthropologists to be somewhat incorrect in its perspective. If you can get any Frank Clune, Ion Idriess, Ronald and/or Catherine Berndt ( latter being people who lived and worked with the Aboriginies for their entire life and the former authors who also lived with Aboriginies but are more "folk writers" ) you may get a better handle on things. Frank Clune wrote a wonderful book on the most famous of Bush-rangers of Tasmania. Historians like Geoffrey Blainey are OK but I don't like the writings of Manning-Clark, again somewhat slanted in his outlook and research. The information about the above books is mine and of course not of everyone else but "thems my ideas" from my readings.
I feel that with your itinery you are missing out on some of the best places in Tasmania i.e. Ross, Campbell Town, Richmond, Huon Valley, Mt Field National Park, views from Mt Wellington, the Derwent Valley up to Bushy Park etc. and some of the lovely areas "around" Launceston.

C'mon Liz ...somebody has sold these blokes the idea that Tassie is the last,great,remote wilderness....Thoreau comes down under.

Given that, they have to go out west and if they go to strahan then complete the loop via crater mtn etc.

threy don't want to be touring the retirement villages of the Huon valley.

The sea plane is great...down to Port Davey or you can get them from Strahan.

also try "for the term of his natural life" by marcus clarke for a classic convict story.

Dear AD
It seems as if you have some for and some against Tasmania.
I for one love the place and always feel that I have had a weeks holiday as soon as the plane lands. However other people don't feel that way about it so the best suggestion I could make is to do a search here and see what other people has said. There should be a lot of information for you.

Dear janese and johhj,

Thank you both for the reading lists . I have already requested some of the titles.

Janese: its not a question of going to Tasmania. Its on our itinerary for 6 days equivalent our stay in Sydney and in N Qsld. I agree w/ your previous feed back that we are probably trying to do too much, although many of the itineraries I've seen posted seem to only give tassie 4 days. We'll probably cut Cradle MT and head out to Strahan,: living in the high desert currently going through drought being on the water sounds good to us. So Hobart, PA,Freycinet and Strahan/Gordon River. I'll do some research on flight seeing which sounds like fun . If we could get into a seaplane we'd be very happy.

Johhj: What are these Huon Valley retirement communities? We definitely want to avoid those.

I think the appeal to americans of Tasmania especially if coming from the intermountain west is:

the green lushness of our childhoods as many of us grew up on the east coast before migrating to CA. and then to the Rockies

a bit of "english' countryside and "quaint" cottages ( although we've been fortunate to spend time in Cornwall, Cotswalds and Kent)

reported slower pace of life.

my preconception was not actually rugged spectacular wilderness ( boldfaced) We do get to see a lot of it here.

I wish we had time ( to say nothing about energy) to do some of the multi day treks on Tassie.

Remember you 2 we will be spending 28 days in other parts of your grand country

Thnaks for the discussion.

AndrewDavid

Here is the web site for some flights - the one that I mentioned to Port Davey is $140 Aust which is mentioned and would be fantastic!!!!! A lot of the area that they fly over has not been explored by land.
Stay at the Heritage cottages in Strahan - I stayed at Franklin Manor there and was disappointed as its just a hotel and nothing more. There are some wonderful places to stay even though its a tiny place. The harbour must be one of the most beautiful around and has so few people around it.

Darn! I do this all the time - I forget to put the link in the message:

http://www.view.com.au/tasair/2-0.htm

There are other flights with other companies too. Most useful site is the Government Tourist Bureau site for Tasmania actually.

Recently there has been something of a Tassie real estate boom as mainlanders sell up and move down to bigger houses with rural or water outlooks.

The Huon valley villages are pleasant and close to the services of Hobart.They are NOT the gated retirement communities of Phoenix and Florida where americans park their parents to play golf and gossip.

For US$100,000 you can get a nice home with water views on Bruny.

If you are hiring a car to travel around Tasmania, double check that your insurance will cover you if you have an accident on an unmade (not bituminised) road. We were told that we would not be covered and would be totally responsible for any damage. When we got to Cradle Mountain NP, we found out that the roads within the park were unmade and consequently we had to make the decision to take this risk or not.

I spent 33-days in Tassie in late Feb. to end of March. Perfect weather for us but it can get cold and can rain. So, just be prepared. However, whatever the weather is, Tassie is the best. The people, mountains, forests, beaches, beer and wine are the best. My favorites, if you want outdoor activities are:

Frey-see-nay (that's how you say it). Do the Wineglass walk (30-min up 800 steps, 30-min down even tougher to Wineglass beach) BUT it's worth it. I did the 11k walk back around to the Hazards, etc... it was long but I'm a short, fat guy and I did it.

Mariah Island - take the ferry to the island, at least for a day trip or camp if you can to see more of the island. Great hiking, lots of free-roaming roos, etc.. Great history as well. Go to Triabunna and take the ferry (about $15). A short trip from Hobart if staying there.

Go see some of the many rain forests and a must do is the boat cruise at Strahn (NW region). The Gordon River Cruise is great and so is the upper rail way between Strahn and Queenstown.

Swansea and Bay of Fires (St. Helens) are is great for the beaches.

Enjoy the trip.

Dear Janese,

Thanks for the tasair site. Looks wonderful; I'm ready to buckle up.

Dear Johhj,

Gated communities are ruining America. Keep them at bay.

Even in Thoreau's day Walden Pond was hardly the last great wilderness!

Dear Marg,

Thanks for your post. Did you risk the unsurfaced road with your rental?

Dea Birdy363,

Thanks for your suggestions. We're spoiled coming from elevation 7000 feet anything nearer sea level is easier so we'll do the 800 steps. Probably skip those beaches as we'll be there in mid April

Thanks all for your comments
AndrewDavid

My husband and I (along with several friends) spent about two weeks in Tassie last March. We did the following:
arr Launceston, drive to Freycinet, stopping at Ross (slight detour) along the way.
3 nights Freycinet. (If you go to Freycinet, you MUST have dinner at Madge Malloy's in Coles Bay). We did a full day sea kayak trip one day, and hiked (Mt. Amos, Wineglass Bay) another.
Drive to Hobart, leisurely.
2 nights Hobart. Spent one rainy day in Richmond.
Drive to Launceston.
From Launceston, we did the Overland Track and Bay of Fires treks with Cradle Mtn. Huts Pty. Excellent experience. If you have a chance to do the Bay of Fires walk, you will not regret it. The beaches are absolutely, without question, the most beautiful I have ever seen. And empty.

Then we headed off to Lizard Island for a few days---

Sounds like a good plan, but...
The most direct drive from Freycinet to Cradle Mt, and from Cradle Mt to Hobart is relatively short on "attractions" and "sights." In quotations because the scenery is always beautiful and there's plenty to look at anywhere in Tas, but there aren't many specific stopping points, like historic towns or landmarks. Everything already mentioned is certainly worth seeing/doing, but if you stop at Strahan, you really must do the Gordon River tour to make it worthwhile, which is a day's excursion in itself. Also if you divert to Strahan, be prepared for a pretty full day's drive from Cradle Mt to Hobart. On our Tasmania trip, we spent 3 days going from Hobart to Cradle Mt, but that was quite leisurely. Oh, on the other hand, the road between Strahan and Lake St Clair (not lake Sinclair!) is the most beautiful route I've ever been on, near-constant mountainous rainforest for (guessing) 150km.