 National Parks
There are 19 National Park in Tasmania. A great site
to visit is the Parks
and Wildlife
Service, Tasmania,
where they have online information and
printable
factsheets to make visiting real easy.
There are fees to be paid but if
you're intending to visiting more than one National Park, the holiday
passes are worthwhile.
You may be wondering the point of visiting so many National
Parks but they are all quite different, some have falls, some tall
tress, some lakes, some streams...
If you like trekking, a must is to download or pick up this 60
Great Short Walks brochure.
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General info
From Sydney or Melbourne,
you'll land in either Launceston or Hobart. The latter (which happens
to be the capital of the state) is a bigger busy
city with most amenities. The rest of the towns in Tasmania are small.
Expect only a small general store, post office, etc. Thus, get all your
stuff stocked in preferably Hobart. You can also take the Spirit of
Tasmania (big ship) from Melbourne. It's a 6-7 hr trip on which you can
opt for seating only or a bunk. |
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Launceston, a small
northern town and the location of one
of the two airports you can choose to fly into. Can stop by the small Queen Victoria Museum
and Art Gallery and visit the Cataract Grorge (below), A
day's enough. |
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Cateract Gorge,
just outside the small northern city of Launceston. Interesting
contrast to
walk from town to this just next door. Good to go if you're staying in
Launceston. |
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Mole Creek Karst National Park
Marakoopa Cave, one of two caves open to the public (the other is
Solomon's Cave) - a 9C experience (nothing to worry about compared to
winter temps!) so bring the warm clothes. Dark and dank with two paths
to choose from (one danker than the other). Small, quite short path,
but sufficient since most of it is pretty similar after a while. A bit
hard to hear the guide if group is large. |
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Alum Cliffs - close
by the caves is this breathtakingly high view over
a cliff, after a 15-20
minute walk. Slightly frightening view....Suspense of what it'd look
like
was great and thankfully it was sufficiently satisfied (or we might
have rolled off...). |
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Cradle Mt - Lake St Clair
National Park
Beautiful place with many trails. Absolutely necessary to bring all the
basic treking items,
including raincoat & food. Considered "high country" with
variable weather. In cold weather, bring sufficient
clothing.
Left: Dove
Lake - beautiful scenery, a lake with a few surrounding trails that
that could take hours to cover/circuit. Careful what you run into.
Right: Falls that are a short walk from the visitor center |
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Mount Fields
National Park
This place is just so good to sniff - eucaplytus!
Left: Russell Falls. Easy walk suitable for even prams.T
Right: The tall trees walk. |
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| Greeveston, just
outside Hartz National Park. Just a bit aways is the short Keoghs
Creek Walk (right). Quiet peaceable dense vegetation. |
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Hartz
National Park
Lake Osbourne, formed by fire and ice.
Small lake with only a small space in front, sides are inacessible. May
not be exciting enough for some who have huffed and puffed the 20
mins walk from the carpark, especially when you find
there
isn't much shade about. Then you realised it's 20 mins back. |
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| Beautiful
overlooking views at Hartz National
Park |
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| View
from the beach of the small town of Swansea,
looking across to Freycinet
National Park (peaks visible from picture) |
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Freycinet National Park
Left: Honeymoon Bay - tranquil easygoing small beach
Right:
Wineglass bay, subject of oh so many postcards. Need another 2 hours to
go down to the beach - go for it! |
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| Port
Arthur Historic Site,
penal settlement, where prisoners used to be kept. Well preserved, with
buildings of where the prisoners and the officers used to
stay. |
Hobart, Tasmania's capital
Hobart is a good start after landing. Stock up on your supplies here if
you're planning a roadtrip. |
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Tasmanian
Museum & Art Gallery in Hobart -
small but good introduction to wildlife and some local history through
paintings and artwork. More on the exhibits here.
Right: The interesting Antaractica exhibition showcases expeditions to
and the characterestics and wildlife of Antaractica |
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On
the summit of Mount
Wellington, overlooking Hobart and its surrounds. Take a
self drive up.
Right: The famous Richmond bridge |
Salamanca Market,
Hobart
Only Saturdays
Small flea market of sorts. Good place to find food...flowers cost a
good $10 cheaper but as a tourist dunno if you'd need them actually... |
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| Common fauna in Tasmania |
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| Not a native,
brought in from mainland as it's such a strong symbol of Australia. |
Alpacas
- so South American, so what are we doing here? Methinks it's for the
fur/wool... |
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| What
am I? Make a guess - you might just run into me on the trails
especially in Cradle Mountain! |
And no prizes for
this one either... carnivorous marsupial.. Sadly they are
being wiped
out by a disease. There's more on the efforts to save them here. |
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| Curried scallop pie -
yummy! Hearty tasty warm treat, especially if scallops are fresh. Found
a recipe,
maybe will try it one day! Tasmania is supposed to be famous for these
things, so a must try if you like scallops! |
Fushias, which you can
find planted in the parks. A section is dedicated to these pretty
blooms in the Botanical Gardens. |
