Tasmania feedback please
 

We are in planning stages for what will be our third trip to Australia - actively, I guess, given that we've discussed returning even before we left the continent during our last visit in 2013. Our third visit will coincide on the New Year's holidays as we look forward to a once-in-a-lifetime in Sydney to mark the occasion.

During our prior trips we've visited Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Darwin, Litchfield NP, and Uluru. We've experience the Blue Mountains and the Great Ocean Road as well.

With NYE festivities as our anchor, we are thinking of spending 6-7 nights in Sydney leading up to New Year's. From there, given our interest in wildlife and the outdoors and the time of year, we have decided on 10 nights in Tasmania followed by 5 nights in Melbourne.

Our biggest disadvantage will be that we won't be hiring our own wheels. Instead we will rely on public bus services where available and supplement it with private transfers. And we want to make sure we have time to really enjoy the places we're visiting so I'm thinking three places over 10 nights.

Our initial thoughts are to fly into Hobart, where we would spend 5 nights seeing the city and the surrounding area and taking day trips. Port Arthur is on our list as is Bruny Island. From Hobart, we are considering dividing the remaining 5 nights between Strahan and Cradle Mountain. We would then fly from Devonport or Launceston to Melbourne. Do our choices sound realistic?

I appreciate any feedback and suggestions you could offer. Thank you.

I should clarify that I am thinking about NYE 2016-17, a year from now. Apologies for some of the grammar and syntax errors; I wish there is an edit feature for such things.

TP-just got back from 10 days (9 nights) in Tasmania as part of almost 6 weeks in Australia and NZ. It's difficult for me to imagine how you'd do Tasmania without a car unless you are going with tours, I don't remember seeing a whole lot of public transportation but maybe you've looked into it.

We loved Tasmania, it was our favorite part of the Australia half of our trip (Darwin area, Daintree, Tasmania and Sydney)! We had one night outside Launceston (flew there), 2 nights Cradle Mtn, 3 nights Freycinet Peninsula (our favorite and I wish we had more time there), 1 night Pt Arthur, 2 nights Hobart (which was plenty - - of which one full day was on Bruny Island so I think 5 nights in Hobart is too much).

My TR isn't ready so I'm happy to answer questions in the meantime. Cradle Mtn area is mostly about hiking - -is that what you are interested in doing there?

FromDC, welcome back and thanks for your feedback. I'm glad to hear that you had such a good time in Tasmania and cannot wait to read your report.

Regarding transport, yes, Tassielink, one of the bus operators in the state, operates a service from Hobart to Strahan and Strahan to Cradle Mountain on certain days. And I've contacted a couple of transport companies to comfirm that it can do the transfer between Strahan and Cradle Mountain as well.

Given our lack of a vehicle we assume basing ourselves out of Hobart would allow us to see a good part of the island, not just the city. I'm interested in day trips to Port Arthur and Bruny Island. I've also done research on other day trips including the Huon Valley.

Cradle Mountain is on our list because we're interested in hiking. I looked into Freycinet too but could not figure out how to include in this trip with Hobart and surrounds and Cradle Mountain being priorities. Perhaps your report will have me thinking otherwise.

For Cradle Mtn, just be sure your accommodation is walking distance to the shuttle that goes around the park, otherwise I'm not sure how you'd get to the trails.

For Bruny Island, you can take a tour that starts in Hobart, we saw one that takes you on a boat ride once you get to Bruny. We didn't do that - - but enjoyed driving to the ferry and then circling the island with stops along the food trail and doing a walk. Day tours also go to Port Arthur from Hobart. I don't think you need to allocate more than one day for Hobart itself. Hopefully, you'll be there on a Saturday because the Salamanca Mkt is a fun thing to do.

FromDC, thanks again. For Cradle Mountain, we're looking at staying at the Peppers Lodge.

Cradle Mountain Lodge is the best option if you won't have a car. Mt Field is another day trip possibility from Hobart.

Patty, thank you.

TP, we had dinner at Peppers one night. They are basically across the street from one of the information centers which has a shuttle stop so you should be OK.

Patty, how does Mount Field compare with Huon Valley? Which location is more unique to Tasmania in terms of scenery? I've done a little bit of reading and both look interesting with aspects that seem similar.

FromDC, what did you think of Peppers?

I am currently at the tail end of a 13-day trip to Tasmania--trip report to come, hopefully by the end of the month. For now, a couple of comments:

1. Four days in Hobart is not too much. We started in Hobart and spent 4 nights there, without a car. Did a great day trip by bus and boat to Tasman Island, which included a 3-hour stop at Port Arthur. There are similar trips available to Bruny Island. We spent another day visiting MONA via a boat trip up the river. A day walking the city streets was easy from our base in Battery Point (Grand Vue Hotel, recommended). We are now back in Hobart for 2 nights so we can take in Salamanca market and perhaps a day at the cricket test match running this weekend.

2. From Hobart you can do a day tour to Freycinet but I wouldn't recommend it. Freycinet was our favorite place on the island (spent 3 nights there) so do try to figure out how to spend a couple days there--beautiful circit hike to Wineglass Bay and across the isthmus to Hazard beach and back to the start (11 km total). Good kayaking too.

3. Cradle Mountain NP is great--nice hikes, and tons of wildlife. The shuttle bus will take you to all the trailheads. We stayed in a cozy cabin at Cradle Mountain Highlanders (recommended). Ate at the bistro at Peppers, which was good. Didn't see inside the lodgings there, but they looked fine from the outside.

4. There are so many lovely spots around Tasmania that are much easier to explore with a car. Since that doesn't fit with your plans, you will have to be creative in working out your itinerary, but it sounds like you are prepared to do that. Good luck with your planning!

TP, we saw the lodge only from the outside, there are different accommodation types, it's the largest place in the area. We had dinner at the restaurant, the food was just OK and expensive - - nothing wrong with it but given the price.....
We enjoyed being able to eat one night in our cabin at Highlanders but it would be much more difficult for you to stay there without a car.

Glad aprillilacs felt the same way about Freycinet. Hence my comment about Hobart, since for me, time visiting Freycinet would be better than time spent in Hobart itself (not the day trips from Hobart). We didn't go to MONA.

Aprillilacs and FromDC, thank you for the helpful feedback. I am continuing with my research and probably will have more questions. Looking forward to both your reports.

Sorry, Mt Field was on our list but we never made it there. We've been to the Huon Valley and Bruny Island and especially enjoyed Bruny.

Cradle Mtn Highlanders is actually quite accessible to the shuttle bus, which starts its route just a short walk along a path to the nearby visitors center. During the hours the shuttle was running (8-5?), we left our car at the cabin and rode the bus. Without a car, though, you are pretty much confined to the operating hours of the shuttle, so, for example, you will miss out on seeing Dove Lake at sunset, and the most active time for the wonderful wombats at Ronny Creek. But none of the other lodging options would get you much closer to those sites.

TP, I'd forgotten that Highlanders was close to the shuttle stop, but at night you'd have to "eat in". Not sure how you'd provision the cottage - - I know you can arrange breakfast in advance but don't know about dinner supplies. Bring them with you on the bus, maybe?

Thanks again FromDC and Aprillilacs. We'll look at Highlanders too.

We enjoyed our stay at Highlanders but the nice thing about the Peppers Lodge is that there are walks you can take right from the lodge area.

Good point, Patty.

We recently spent seven nights in Hobart and actually didn't get to see as much of the city as I thought we would. We did hire a car but you seem to have sorted the public transport issue out. The good thing of course about having your own car is that you stop and start as you please. For instance when we did the day trip to Bruny Island we missed the elusive white kangaroo but on the way home we had stopped at the Neck lookout and talked to people who had seen it and told us where to see it so we turned around and went back and saw it!!! You couldn't do that on a tour. We also did a day trip to Port Arthur which was fantastic. And a day trip to Huonville and beyond - another great day out. We also caught the catamaran down to Peppermint Bay for lunch, highly recommended. Make sure you are in Hobart for the Salamanca Markets on Saturday, definitely worthwhile. On another day we went up to Mt Wellington and just drove around looking at the sights. Another day was Bonorong Wildlife Park as well as Sandy Bay. I think we managed one day wandering about the city itself.

Lots to see and do, that's for sure. I think to do Tassie properly you need a couple of weeks. Have fun.

Thanks Mac123. Appreciate the suggestions. While I understand that having a car is easier on Tasmania, unfortunately, it's not an option for us, but we intend to make the best of it between public transport and car with driver (expensive, I know). As for the time, I don't intend my first trip to Tasmania to be my last so the plan is to slow down, linger, and enjoy small slices of it. This will already be my third trip to Australia.

Can't comment on public transport as we've hired a car each trip, just linking my photos (obviously you already know how beautiful and varied the landscape is)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskfFLewS

We love Tasmania. Somehow we've never had a day without rain in Cradle Mountain, though, so be prepared. Hail in mid December, torrential rain in April. Last trip was a week just in Cradle Mountain (Highlander cottages) just for walking, so beautiful. Previous trip was too rushed, it looks a tiny island and while we saw a lot, we now know that Tasmania lends itself to a slower type of holiday. Accept your 'smaller slice' of Tasmania and you will really enjoy it. It looks to me that Hobart offers a variety of daytrips/ tour options.
Just did a quick search and Tahune airwalk, Russell Falls, and Port Arthur seemed popular.

Thanks Adeleidean. Your photos are beautiful. We are looking forward to it.

Have any of you visited King Island in the Bass Strait and, if so, what is your impression? The food, the walks, and the sheer remoteness have piqued my interest.

Haven't been, but always wanted to - the cheese piqued my interest:)

Some sites that might help in your research:

http://www.kingislanddairy.com.au/

http://www.kingisland.org.au/

Would love to hear back if you do include it in your itinerary.

Cheese!! Thanks for sharing the links for the two sites; I've done some poking around them.

I will have more to say about Tas in my next trip report installment, but in the meantime, let me put in a plug for Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village. We really liked it, or, more specifically our two-bedroom spa chalet with kitchenette. We were "welcomed" by a little echidna schnuffling in the leaf litter outside reception, and a pademelon family hung out outside our cabin.

Though CMWV has a restaurant, we were tired of restaurant meals by then, so we cooked our own dinners (I'm not sure any of the Cradle Mtn restaurant options are noteworthy), but even if you eat dinner out, being able to make your own bfast and lunch for hikes is a plus in my book. It's right across from the visitor center (but up a hill and quiet), so easy to pick up the shuttle. When I was looking, Peppers was pricier. In person (we took a dusk walk on the little streamside "enchanted" walk nearby), it looked a little worn from the outside, but perhaps it's better kept up inside.

Thanks PortiaLucy. Thanks for your tip on Wilderness Village; will add it to my list to research. Looking forward to your report.