The Top Things to Do in Tasmania • The Blonde Abroad
This submit was written by Chelsea Loren, the Blog & Content Manager of The Blonde Abroad.
My accomplice and I lived in Tasmania for 2 years whereas he was finishing his Ph.D. program on the native college. While he had visited Australia earlier than, neither of us had visited Tasmania and weren’t actually certain what to anticipate.
We hoped for one of the best, booked one-way tickets, and signed a lease for an house (there was much more to it than that — try this information to working holiday visas in Australia).
And we’re so glad we did. The rugged and wild great thing about Tasmania is unmatched; it’s a land crammed with so many tales and unbelievable wildlife.
While we spent a lot of our time in Hobart, we favored to make use of our weekends to discover the remainder of the island. As a be aware, until you’re sticking to the town of Hobart (extra so a city—whereas it’s dwelling to most of Tasmania’s inhabitants, it’s small compared to locations like New York or Los Angeles), you’ll completely want a automobile to enterprise across the island.
Whether you’re from Australia and planning a Tasmanian getaway otherwise you’ve at all times dreamed of visiting the land the place the Tasmanian devils are from, these are a few of the greatest issues so as to add to your Tasmania itinerary.
Here are the highest issues to do in Tasmania!
Salamanca Market on a Saturday Morning
Explore Hobart
The capital of Tasmania, Hobart will put fairly the spell on you. Its waterfront is lined with previous sandstone warehouses (an space affectionately often known as Salamanca), and the town is brimming with colonial-era cottages and funky eateries. While it’s buzzing for Tasmania requirements, it’s nonetheless quaint.
Hobart captures that quintessential salty-air coastal city feeling; you’ll be able to stroll the seaside within the morning and benefit from the sand between your toes whereas sipping espresso, after which head into city and wander at your personal tempo.
Discover alleyways and hidden gems, have an extended lunch and savor the delights, after which bask in cocktails on the waterfront.
One of our favourite locations to get breakfast is Jackman & McRoss on Hampden Road — a road recognized for vintage procuring, positioned within the severely charming neighborhood of Battery Point.
While in Hobart you’ll be able to go to Cascade Brewery — Tasmania’s oldest brewery, courting again to 1824 (it simply so occurs to be the oldest frequently working brewery in Australia).
If you time your journey excellent, you’ll completely need to head to Salamanca Market for its iconic Saturday farmers market.
Try to Catch the Southern Aurora
There’s a great probability you’ve heard of the Aurora Borealis and seen magnificent photographs of it from international locations near the North Pole…however do you know there’s a Southern Aurora, too?
Yep, often known as the Aurora Australis, it may be seen in locations like Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand (and, if it’s a extremely sturdy one, typically even on the mainland of Australia!).
The caveat: it’s not normally practically as sturdy because the photographs you see in locations like Iceland, on prime of that, it’s not one thing you’ll be able to actually plan for. While there are methods to set your self up for fulfillment (discovering a great vantage level with minimal gentle air pollution), there’s no assure of when they may happen.
While we had been residing in Tasmania just a few stellar ones occurred, we did get very fortunate one night time after we had been highway tripping up the coast and bought to witness the Southern Aurora from a really darkish seaside.
Definitely add this to your Tasmania bucket checklist, and when you’re visiting for an prolonged time frame — chances are you’ll get fortunate — however don’t be upset or discouraged when you don’t catch one. It simply means you’ve bought to return sooner or later, proper?
Stay at Captains Rest in Strahan
Captains Rest, in my view, is among the dreamiest Airbnbs you possibly can ever keep at. The island is now chockful of beautiful Airbnbs, however Captains Rest holds a particular place in my coronary heart.
Located in a distant fishing village that takes about 4 hours to drive to from Hobart or 4 hours from Launceston, it’s fairly a trek to get on the market…but it surely’s so value it.
The drive from Hobart will take you on winding roads by misty forests and as soon as you find yourself in Strahan, you’ll breathe within the crisp air and discover your humble abode.
The restored fishing cottage set on a lake has these beautiful giant home windows that allow the sunshine flood in with a view of the nonetheless waters, it’s quaint and comfortable and you possibly can simply spend a few days enjoyable right here.
Go Hiking in Freycinet
Wineglass Bay is the place it’s at!
This may completely be added to a highway journey up the coast (it’s about 2 hours from Hobart), or function a vacation spot all by itself.
Freycinet National Park is completely beautiful with many various hikes to select from, although one of the vital widespread is Wineglass Bay (for good cause); Wineglass Bay occurs to be one of the vital photographed spots in Tasmania.
It’s a gentle uphill monitor that’ll undoubtedly get you huffing somewhat bit, however the path isn’t tremendous lengthy — about 2.5 hours to finish the entire thing. You’ll have views of pristine coastland, and turquoise waters, all framed by rugged peaks.
If you’re making a visit of it, there are just a few mattress and breakfasts within the space, campsites, or the luxurious resort of Saffire Freycinet.
Visit Port Arthur
Port Arthur is basically attention-grabbing because it combines an idyllic coastal setting with a brutal and storied historical past.
The historic website in southern Tasmania is an open-air museum that particulars Tasmania’s growth as a penal colony. Ruins on the positioning embody a large penitentiary, together with a shell of the Convict Church.
It’s a somber expertise to stroll by the grounds and see the solitary confinement cells and picture what life was like for these shipped to Tasmania.
In case you’re not acquainted, about 12,500 convicts had been shipped to Tasmania and served sentences between 1830 and 1877.
Port Arthur is a few 90-minute drive south-east of Hobart.
See the Animals on the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
Tasmania is brimming with unbelievable wildlife and when you’re road-tripping, you might be certain to catch a glimpse of a few of the native fauna like echidnas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, paddymelons, or kookaburras. If you need to make sure you get to see these animals and never go away it to probability, head to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
Bonorong is basically cool because it’s a rescue heart that gives up-close viewings of endangered wildlife together with academic excursions.
If you’ve ever needed to stand up near a kangaroo, that is the place; right here, you’ll be able to sit on a grassy hill and kangaroos will jump over to you so you’ll be able to feed them small pellets.
It’s about half an hour north of Hobart.
Bicheno, Tasmania
Road Trip Along the East Coast
Tasmania, as a complete, is extremely stunning, however the East Coast of Tasmania is thought for being an unbelievable stretch for highway journeys!
From the sleepy coastal city to Bicheno (the place they’ve penguins) all the best way as much as the Bay of Fires, you’ll discover some unbelievable locations to find alongside the coast.
Do a Bruny Island Food Tour
I’d recommend a food tour, but at the very least, visit Bruny Island!
Located off the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, the island is separated into North and South Bruny — nearly split by a narrow isthmus called the Neck.
Bruny Island is well known for its incredible local produce, fresh seafood, honey, artisan cheese, fudge, and more. Because of all the culinary delights that come from here, I’d highly recommend booking a Bruny Island Food Tour and having someone serve as your guide for the day.
Book a Recommended Food Tour Here!
See Wombats on Maria Island
Tasmania is thought for its considerable wildlife and quite a few indigenous animals that may solely be discovered on the island…however typically they’re not all that simple to search out, until the place to go.
Enter: Maria Island —the nationwide park off the east coast of Tasmania, the place yow will discover all the state’s eleven endemic birds, Tasmanian devils, and myriad different Australian wildlife.
Maria, pronounced like ma-rye-uh (as in Mariah Carey) and never ma-ree-uh, is a hiker’s paradise with its many trails, scenic views, constructing ruins from the 1800s, and just about untouched nature.
To get to Maria Island, it’s a few 45-minute drive up from Hobart to Triabunna, the place you then board the Maria Island Ferry. You’ll have to ebook each a Parks Pass (as it’s a nationwide park), in addition to your ferry ticket—it’s greatest to ebook forward as seats can promote out.
The Parks Pass and the ferry tickets can all be bought collectively on the Encounter Maria Island website. You can even add on baggage, or a motorcycle, when you’re selecting to carry both of these. You’ll have to test in on the Triabunna Visitor Information Centre (adjoining to the wharf) a minimum of half-hour previous to the departure time.
It takes about half-hour or so to journey throughout the waters and once you arrive on the island it’s turquoise waters so far as the attention can see. You may spot the occasional wombat, together with a number of buildings leftover from when the island was a burgeoning penal colony.
There aren’t any meals locations, so that is the type of journey the place you want to pack your personal picnic and sunscreen.
Visit MONA
You’re in for a unique experience at the Museum of Old and New Art. It could also be one of the vital stunning (if not probably the most stunning) museums on this planet, and so they lean into that!
From a room with a poo machine — it actually digests meals and produces waste (you’ll be able to solely think about the scent), to a wall of vaginas, MONA is all in regards to the shock. But hey, when in Tasmania, proper?
Helpful Tip
As many of those locations require you to drive, remember that a lot of Tasmania’s wildlife are crepuscular — that means they’re most lively throughout the twilight interval.
Because that is when gentle is beginning to fade, highway kill is a critical situation in Tasmania. Stay vigilant once you’re driving.
There are undoubtedly quite a few different locations to see, together with unbelievable vistas and hikes (I didn’t even get to Cradle Mountain!), however it is a nice begin when planning out your Tasmania itinerary.
Have you been to Tasmania earlier than? Let me know within the feedback under!
