Tasmanian holiday accom & things to do/see?

mary&mat

mary&mat

Hi all,

We're off to the lovely isle of Tassie early next year. Looking to stay 5 night in pretty budget accom (caravan or basic cabin) & 2 nights in a bit of luxury. Any ideas on where to stay (or where to avoid)? We have a 16month old so it needs to be 'family friendly'.

Are the beaches on the east coast the nicest?

Also looking to do the Cadbury factory tour...is it worth it?

Will check out the glow worm caves & want to do a Gordon River cruise. Any other sights we should see (apart from Cradle Mt)?

Thanks :)
 
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Port Arthur was just amazing.

Hobart is a beautiful city.

Tasmania reminded me of Australia in the 70's during my childhood. In a good way.

Lots of old weatherboard shacks near the coast, not McMansions everywhere. Very few fast food places as you follow the coast. It just seemed like a holiday into an Australia long gone from NSW and other places I have lived.

Sorry but my descriptions don't do the place justice.

If you have kids - do the ghost tour at Port Arthur. My two girls loved it esp as our guide looked like Snape from Harry Potter. An earlier generation described him as a Vampire but times change and Vampires are all hot now :)
 
mary&mat said:
Hi all,

We're off to the lovely isle of Tassie early next year. Looking to stay 5 night in pretty budget accom (caravan or basic cabin) & 2 nights in a bit of luxury. Any ideas on where to stay (or where to avoid)? We have a 16month old so it needs to be 'family friendly'.

Are the beaches on the east coast the nicest?

Also looking to do the Cadbury factory tour...is it worth it?

Will check out the glow worm caves & want to do a Gordon River cruise. Any other sights we should see (apart from Cradle Mt)?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I love Boat Harbour Beach, Bicheno, South East corner of tassie..tourist people say give the south east a miss but the national parks there are tremendous.

Port Arthur is a must....harsh life there years ago but the scenery is unreal.

Cradle mountain is wild...something out of the prehistoric era that area...

gordon River didnt excite us much, not much else there and the road from hobart to get there was boaring as watching paint dry, very windy..i wouldnt go back personally but each to their own.

Ill get a few things together for you that we liked over the next day or so.......My memory is shot, was only two years ago....my wife has everything documentted that we did.

You will love the place...we are going back next two years and spend a month there...had two weeks last time, was a bit rushed.....
 
Thanks simon & csc2, really appreciate your input.

Would love a list of what you did too csc2 - many thanks :)

Anything 'natury' is what we're after. Ghost tour sounds good as does Bicheno. Sounds like Port Arthur is a must too.

Keep your suggestions coming....
 
Ill see the boss tonight and come back to you...

We went in end of Dec, Jan....still gets damm cold in some places...snow new years eve around Dover when we went so either take some warm clothes or travel down light and but in hobart...good shopping there actually in the city..

Back to you next 24/48 hrs...

Im so jealous................:)
 
There is a little zoo at Deloraine (I think) which is on the way to Cradle Mt from Launceston. They have Tassie Devils and worth a look.

There is a trout ranch a little north of Derwent Bridge near the centre of the island. We had a fabulous pan-fried trout for breakfast there.

You'll enjoy self for sure.
 
Hee hee, yeah, talk to da boss & get back to me csc2!

Thanks Sunfish - would love to see the Devils. I hear there's a real cancer problem with the poor little blighters.

Mmmmm trout :)
 
http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61546&highlight=gordon+river

I went to tassie for a long weekend and it was amazing.

- Stayed one night in hobart
- went to Salamanca Markets
- Drove up to mount wellington
- Drove all the way to Strahan
- Next day a did the 1 day tour of Gordon River crouse and sarah island. This is beatuful.
- Drove back to port arthur and stayed the night near that area
- Following day visited port arthur and drove back to the airport

nice, short, and sweet :)
 
We stayed in a place called Swansea, on the east coast, a couple of years ago. There's an amazing caravan park there that overlooks Freycinet Peninsula - you see the sun rise over it. Awesome spot. And shouldn't be too exxy. Here's a link: http://www.swanseachalets.com.au/accomm.htm. The view and the cabins are as good as they look.
It was also close enough to drive over to Freycinet itself. If you're looking for somewhere high-end to stay, Freycinet Lodge looked great. Either way, the national park is beautiful and worth a look. We bought oysters from an honesty stall and drove to a beach and sat on the pure white sand and ate them (well, hubby did, I can't stand them :rolleyes:), while the kids swam (in August). Magic.
 
Thanks Edmond Dantes - the markets sound look-worthy :) Is sarah island worth the trip & can it be done in half a day?

Thanks Tuppence - Saw Freycinet Lodge in a holiday booklet that came in last week's paper...was debating that for our 'high-end' stay.

Oysters!!! I'm there!!! What's an honesty stall...is it where you take an item & leave the money as no-one's there? Thanks also for the link to Swansea, will checkout caravan park & cabins.
 
We've been to Tassie a couple of times and hope to get back in January.

Highlights?

Port Arthur complex - allow a full day. On the way there, stop off at a few of the natural attractions - tessalated pavements, cliffs, arches etc. If you are staying in the area, you can buy a pass after around 2pm that covers you for that day and the next for the one day price (check still available).

Strahan - Gordon River trip - full day trip visiting Hells Gates at the entrance of MacQuarie Harbour, salmon "farms", Gordon River with forest walk, Sarah Island with its convict ruins. Expensive but worth every cent.

Hobart - Salamanca Markets are fabulous, Mt Wellington worth driving up with lookouts and views. Cadbury factory was great when we visited several years ago, but I have heard you don't get all the free samples any more. Berry farm near Sorrell where you can pick raspberries, cherries etc depending on the season. Maybe not as interesting if you can do that where you live (we can't in Queensland!).

Near Hobart - Russell Falls in the Mt Field national park are great.

Central - Ross is the prettiest of the little villages.

North-west - Stanley is a pretty little fishing village, great chair lift up to the top of The Nut which has a walking track around it. Head south to the Tarkine and Arthur forests - great area. Penguin is a pretty seaside town, and has great weekend markets, as does Deloraine.

Cradle Mountain - an absolute must. If at all possible do the walk around Dove Lake.

East Coast - our favourite was Bicheno, Freycinet also well worth a visit if you have time.

Entry fees are charged for national parks. If you are visiting 3 or more you can buy a holiday pass which covers you for several weeks.

Enjoy!
Marg
 
Yeah Freycinet is great. There is a guy who runs sea kayak tours somewhere there, too.

I've been to Tassie three times. Hobart is my favourite capital city - Mt Wellington is amazing. (And yep, it gets cold - we had snow on Christmas Day on Mt Wellington one visit.)

Last time I went, I flew to Launceston, got a car, drove to St Helens on the coast, and then drove slowly down the coast to Hobart, spent a couple of days there, and then flew home from there.

I'll go again and just hang around the south east. I want to spend more time getting into the local produce. There is a guy I've heard about who does a thing called 'the whole hog'. It's a two day thing where you start with a live pig and then butcher and cook up every bit of it.

My wife went down to Tassie last year with a couple of friends and they loved Bruny Island. They did some sort of sausage making thing there.
 
The walk up to the Wineglass Bay lookout in Freycinet is another not to miss. Depending on how adventurous your 16 month old is, he/she might be able to do the walk. I think my daughter was that age when she did the hike.

Lake St Clair (near Derwent Bridge) in the middle is a nice spot for bush walks.

Just allow extra driving time for some parts as the roads can be quite winding - especially the ones on the west coast.
 
We are going to Hobart next Jan as well. We will be staying at St Ivy Apartments which is close to the city. We plan for Port Arthur, Bruny Island and Huon Valley etc. I can forward u a special code to get cheaper rates at St Ivy if you like.
 
We did a fly drive to Tassie couple of summers ago.

Flew to Launceston, hired a car there and then drove right across. Spent couple of nights each in Launceston, Cradle Mountain (stayed at a farm in Sheffield - the murals are worth seeing), Bicheno and ended up at Hobart which was terrific.

Freycinet National Park and Wine Glass Bay very breathtaking only there were bushfires on the second day of our visit and the parks were closed. Don't think your visit will be complete without a day trip each to Bruny Island, Port Arthur and the Salamanca Markets on Saturday mornings.

Enjoy !
 
My son and I went last January and stayed in some brand new cabins at Bicheno... very reasonable and so comfortable and central

Don't miss Binalong Bay, 10 kms from St Helens, see it before it becomes the next tourist must see...its fantastic!!!!

We flew into Hobart, picked up the hire car, travelled up the coast and across to Launceston and flew home from there.

On the way down to Port Arthur there is a devils park with kangaroos roaming everywhere.

Don't miss the tesselated pavement on the way down to port arthur, a real world wonder.

So mucxh to see :D

Chris
 
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