For 2 weeks at the end of January to early February 2017, we
truly enjoyed 2 weeks of wandering around Tasmania with family members visiting
for an extended period from the UK.
We had been in and around ‘Tassie’ a few times previously
and enjoyed trying to share with our visitors some of what this small boutique
island State of Australia has to offer.
After arriving into and enjoying Hobart, we headed west in a
clockwise direction around Tasmania as shown on the map below, before departing
Hobart back to Queensland.
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| Tasmania... the island State of Australia |
There will be as few words as possible in the post,
preferring to rely on a few photos hopefully telling there own story of each
location.
In And Around Hobart
After our visitors enjoyed the incomparable Mona Museum Of Old
& New Art and after our daughter and fiancé joined us for the Hobart stay,
it was time to enjoy the broader area around Hobart along with city's very popular Salamanca Markets.
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| View of Hobart from Mt Wellington |
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| Tahune AirWalk amongst the trees |
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| Richmond - with the oldest bridge in Australia, convict built from 1823 |
To Strahan
This was our longest drive during this trip, so we stopped
briefly at Derwent Bridge to stretch legs whilst visiting ‘The Wall’ built using 50,
1metre wide x 3 metre high Huon Pine panels, skilfully carved with images conveying
some of the history of Tassie. What stunning
craftsmanship by the single and very dedicated artist.
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| 'The Wall' - Derwent Bridge [photos courtesy, The Wall] |
20% of this island State is listed as World Heritage
wilderness, so on a wet an misty afternoon, we cruised from Strahan along the Gordon
River admiring some of the few remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the world, especially with trees in it like Huon and Celery pine.
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| Temperate rainforest in the midst, Gordon River, Tasmania |
Cradle Mountain
It was quite cool but we were weather lucky to
walk around Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain, whilst continuously admiring non-stop scenery enhanced by a clear sky and later observing some local fauna.
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| Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain |
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| Boat Shed, Cradle Mountain |
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| Hungry young Tasmanian devils, Cradle Mountain |
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| First time view of wild wombat, Cradle Mountain |
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| Local wallaby & baby, Cradle Mountain |
Via Launceston To
Coles Bay
It was the Tamar River, placidly flowing through Cataract
Gorge we followed towards the sea where the produce from a few very fine
wineries were enjoyed and acquired before continuing east to Coles Bay and
Freycinet Peninsula, another World heritage location.
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| Cataract Gorge, Launceston |
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| Bicheno, Tasmania |
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| A National Park near Coles Bay |
Some of us hiked our way to a lookout to watch sunrise over the
famous Wineglass Bay before taking a boat cruise around the ruggedly beautiful
coastline into it.
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| Wineglass Bay lookout after a cloudy covered sunrise... still very beautiful |
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| Inside Wineglass Bay looking out |
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| Sleepy Bay, Freycinet Peninsula |
Whilst at sea we marvelled at our own Attenborough moment in
amongst 20-30 seals, hundreds of birds and a massive pod of playful dolphins
feeding on huge schools of fish
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| Rare Australian fur seal sun baking on the coastline |
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| Playful dolphin playing alongside the boat, near Coles Bay |
Eaglehawk Neck
Further south from Coles Bay is Eaglehawk Neck located close
by the historical Port Arthur but also a great base for viewing more of what
Tasmania offers, especially along the coastline.
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| Coastline near Eaglehawk Neck |
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| Fortescue Bay, Tasmania |
We will again return to Tasmania, probably with our small
pop top caravan in tow, to enjoy the clean air, beautiful produce, trout filled
lakes and rivers and stunning wilderness areas to camp in.
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| Weather change sweeps through during a final sunset in Tasmania |
If you never ever go, you'll never ever know what you’re missing... go well!
