Tasmania help
 

Hello - we are a family of 4 (9 year old twins) and will be in Australia for 3 weeks in November. Tasmania looks to be a perfect place for us - animals, hiking, food...
We would be flying into Hobart and we have one week. We would like to tour Convicts and Huon trails, but also are interested in Cradle Mountain and the caves. How much is too much? Any suggestions?

Some things that our 7- and 10-year old kids liked:

- Macquarie Harbor and Gordon River cruise
- Cradle Mtn Campground and interpretive trails
- "The Ship that Never Was" - an ongoing convict escape play that occurs almost nightly in Strahan
_ Lake St. Clair hiking trails (The Overland Track links Cradle Mtn and Lake St. Clair)
The Antarctic Experience, in Hobart; great hands-on exhibits
- The famous Salamanca street Market, in Hobart; only on Saturdays
- Port Arthur Historic Site (of course); they particularly liked the boat tour.
- The Bush Mill, a pioneer settlement reconstruction, near Port Arthur. The narrow-gauge steam railway was a big hit.
- Tasmanian Devil Park, at Tarrana, also not too far from Port Arthur; a good zoo, with Devils, echidnas, wombats, 'roos, etc. as well as hundreds of Tiger Snakes being used for research projects.
- Eagle Neck, where you can walk to all sorts of spectacular coastal features, such as the Tasman Arch, Tesselated Pavement, and Devil's Kitchen.
- The Cadbury Chocolate Factory, in Hobart. This was a huge hit with our kids. You will need to make reservations, as the tours are limited to small groups and it is quite popular.
- Bonorong Wildlife Centre; a small preserve with lots of 'roos, wallabies, etc. that you can feed.

7 days is a bit tight for all of the above, but many of these places are either near Port Arthur or Hobart. The remainder can be done in a 2-3 day period.

Just returned from two weeks in Tasmania, our third trip. You've been given an excellent list by ALF, and I will add only two other suggestions. From the Huon Valley, the Tahune Air Walk is an elevated walk through the tree tops of the rainforest, and the drive from Geeveston to get there is beautiful, about a half hour. If you make a day trip to Bruny Island, accessible from Kettering by a short ferry, you can do a three hour boat trip with Bruny Island Charters that skirts the rugged coast line of Bruny down to the Priory Islands and a remote colony of fur seals. Not a cheap day at A95 for adults and A50 for kids, but one of the highlights of our trip. Note you must be staying in the Huon Valley to make the connections to the ferry at 9AM.
OK, now I feel guilty enough to get working on the trip report!

About time Oliverandharry that you did that trip report, I missed you by about 2 weeks I think at Pam's place but anyway I will be there again in 10 days. Pam told me you were a "delightful person" - well she said you both were actually.
For those people who want to see Bruny Island I would suggest one of the Adventure tours as going yourself does not seem to be the way to do it properly. I went on my own and could not see what there was about the place which would be that interesting but friends of mine did the Adventure tour and went to places that were amazing - just shows that its best to go with someone who knows where to go.
The Hastings Caves at the bottom of the Huon Trail are really lovely and they are just a bit further south than the Tahune Walk that Oliverandharry were talking about so you can combine your Huon trail with those caves if you want. Also ask about the little train that is even a bit further - this has recently been restored and will probably be in full swing by the time you get there. That's all I know about it at this stage but I do know that kids would love it.
If you don't have the time to get any further than say Port Arthur, Richmond, Ross, the Huon Valley etc you would have time at least to go out to Mt Field National park which would give you some nice walks and then you can drop in on the Salmon Ponds, Bushy Park etc which is also a nice day's outing. The Salamanca Markets are not to be missed either.
Enjoy! But don't forget to pack that flashlight for your animal spotting at night. I found that the best places were the roads that link the Huon Valley with the Channel Highway around Cygnet to Woodbridge but I am sure that the animals are not just there.

Hi howsaker -

You've already received excellent info, so I'll just add that with a week, you might consider 4-5 nights in Hobart and 2-3 nights in Cradle Mountain. You can get to Port Arthur, the Huon Valley, Mt. Field Nat'l Park, the caves, Cadbury and the Tahune Airwalk from Hobart easily enough, by taking day trips from Hobart and thus preventing packing and unpacking.

Your kids might also be interested in Strathgordon Dam, which is located past Mt. Field National Park at the end of Gordon Road. You'll need to purchase a parks pass before you head back there, but it's quite a sight if you've any interest in the hydro-electric history of Tasmania. It can easily be combined with a trip to Mt. Field National Park.

On your way to Port Arthur, you might want to call in at the Sorrell Fruit farm and pick some of your own fruit. Strawberries are in season in Nov and there's nothing quite like fresh strawberries that you've picked yourself.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. Any ideas on places to stay in or around Hobart?
Thanks!

We enjoyed Bath Street Apartments in Battery Point (Hobart):

www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/ tas/hobart/hobart/directory/apartments

I believe they have a couple of two bedroom units that would work nicely for a family.

For Cradle Mountain, we liked the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village:

http://www.cradlevillage.com.au/accom.htm

They have two bedroom units also.

You might find these sites helpful as well:

www.tasmanianabedandbreakfast.com
www.hobartstays.com.au

Have a great trip!