Tasmania

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TASMANIA

Capital city: Hobart

Airports: Hobart, Launceston, Devonport

Climate: Tasmania has a cool maritime climate with four distinct seasons, with the best weather between October and April. The summer mmonths (Dec-March) are the driest with the average temperature range between10-21C. Whilst Hobart is Australia's second-driest capital city, rainfall varies dramatically across the island with the west coast attracting huge rainfall giving Tasmania a higher number of rainy days per year than any part of the Australian mainland.

Tasmania Fun Facts

* The Tasmanian devil which weighs approximately 7 kg and has the jaw strength of a crocodile

* Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world

* Almost 37% of Tasmania lies in reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites

* Tasmania is the 26th largest island in the world

* The state has a population of 507,626 with around half of these people living in the greater Hobart area

* The island is 364 kilometres (226 mi) long from north to south, and 306 kilometres (190 mi) from east to west

Tasmania Destinations and Experiences

Hobart and surrounds

* Experience the Derwent river by cruise or kayak

* Enjoy a coffee at Salamanca Square or soak up the nautical vibe of Hobart’s first suburb, Battery Point

* Take a trip to the top of windswept Mount Wellington

* visit the historic towns of Huonville and Richmond and drive past the Coal Valley’s wineries to the south-east

* Take a car ferry to Bruny Island from Kettering or a wildlife cruise past crags, caves and sea cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula

* Walk on the beach at crescent shaped Cockle Creek, or venture further into the World Heritage-listed wilderness of Southwest National Park

* Learn about life as a mid-19th century prisoner at the Port Arthur Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula.

* Dine in luxury at Peppermint Bay and walk the sweeping beaches of Tasman National Park

* Visit Bothwell at the southern edge of the Central Plateau for a taste of high country and malt whiskey

East Coast

* The car-free Maria island is a bushwalking and sea kayaking paradise which can be reached by ferry from Triabunna

* Stay in Coles Bay overlooking crystal-clear Oyster Bay at the entrance to Freycinet National Park

* Walk to spectacular Wineglass Bay, then swim, snorkel and scuba dive from the pristine white beach

* See forrester kangaroos, woodlands, white beaches and Aboriginal middens on the Bay of Fires walk in Mount William National Park

* Visit the berry farms and vineyards around the seaside towns of Bicheno and Swansea or taste farm cheese at nearby Pyengana

* Camp amongst quiet rivers, waterfalls, rainforest and tall eucalypts and pines in the Douglas-Apsley National Park

* On Flinders Island in the Bass Strait, dive shipwrecks, fossick for diamonds at Killiecrankie and climb to the top of the pink and grey cliffs of Mount Strzelecki

Launceston, Tamar and the North

* Discover the Edwardian buildings of Launceston

* Abseil, hang glide or rock climb around the dramatic walls of Cataract Gorge, or take the chairlift across.

* See birds in their natural habitat in the Tamar Island wetlands or meet the kangaroos and wombats in the Narawntapu National Park

* Go fishing in Bridport, play golf overlooking Bass Strait at Barnbougle Dunes or wander through the lavender fields of Nabowla.

* Take a boat trip to the fur seal colony of Tenth Island and see Little (Fairy) penguins at Low Head

* Ski, walk or rock climb the rugged peaks of Ben Lomond National Park

* Indulge in fine food and wine in the Tamar Valley’s cool-climate wineries, such as Ninth Island, Pipers Brook and Jansz

* Pan for sapphires near the tin mining town of Derby or stop at the gold mining museum of Beaconsfield

* Experience Australia’s biggest working craft fair in the riverside village of Deloraine

* In the Georgian village of Evandale Browse antique galleries, craft shops and markets

North West Coast

* Step aboard one of the Spirit of Tasmania ships in the port of Devonport or walk/cycle along Devonport's coastline

* Stroll the vibrant markets and scenic beach of Penguin or go water-skiing, sea-kayaking or fish from a pontoon in Port Sorrel

* Discover the limestone caves of Mole Creek Karst National Park

* Look out over the steep volcanic plug known as ‘The Nut’ from the busy port of Burnie or the historic town of Stanley

* Walk along the sea cliffs of Rocky Cape See and see carpets of colourful spring tulips in Table Cape

* Experience the temperate rainforest, sand dunes and Aboriginal sites of the Tarkine wilderness and cruise down the Arthur River

* Taste cheese from the famous King Island Dairies, go game fishing or dive more than 70 shipwreck sites on remote King Island

Western wilderness

* Explore the rugged peaks and picturesque mirrored lakes of World Heritage listed Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park

* Hike all or part of the 65-kilometre Overland Track and see Mount Ossa, Tasmania’s highest mountain (1617m)

* Walk to Montezuma Falls, Tasmania’s tallest waterfall from the small town of Rosebery or tour the Pasminco Mine

* From the fishing village of Strahan cruise down the Gordon River and watch it meet the wild Franklin River in the World Heritage-listed Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

* Alternatively kayak on Macquarie Harbour, explore pine and myrtle forests by four wheel drive, or walk Ocean Beach

* Search for thousand-year-old Huon Pine from the window of a sea plane

* Take a barge to Corinna and stay in a restored miner’s cottage on the banks of the Pieman River