Tasmania

m@cc@

Anyone stayed down there for any length of time? The missus has got a job in Hobart until the start of December so we're looking for recommendation for things to do and pubs etc.

Diamondmaker

Taste Festival,Falls festival, the Boats start coming in from the Sydney Hobart Race from the 27/28 December. From this period ove New Years, Hobart is amazing, me and my wife to be will be honeymooneying partly there

terencemc

I was there for the 6 nations match against wales and guess what not one pub staying open to show it !
It's a cool place though and has more of an Irish feel to it than other parts of oz.

Jugs82

I loved Tassie, meant to go for 10 days, ended up staying for over 3 weeks.

Hobart is fantastic, there is a good pub near the tesco (or wollies not sue ) that was brilliant, had good live bands and great atmosphere - just googled, Its called the Republic

Also, there was an Irish Bar that wasnt a 'Irish Bar' as such - The New Sydney Hotel. Eat there a bit and can honestly say to this day that it had the best steak I have ever had, and I like my steak. Its not an Irish bar as such, just alot of 2nd/3rd generation Irish socialise there and the Irish society holds their meetings there.

Hand on heart, if i was to move to Australia, Hobart would be top of my list. The marina/docks area is beautiful and the beer, oh the beer - Cascade and James Boag, both absolutely smashing beers

JONJO THE MISER

Down here in Hobart at the moment, my god drink is expensive here but i can safely say ive had my best pint of Guinness in Aus yesterday in the new sydney hotel:)

The Sweeper

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Down here in Hobart at the moment, my god drink is expensive here but i can safely say ive had my best pint of Guinness in Aus yesterday in the new sydney hotel:)

What are the people like? I mean the locals, not the friendly backpacking blow-ins!

JONJO THE MISER

The Sweeper wrote: »

What are the people like? I mean the locals, not the friendly backpacking blow-ins!

Very few backpackers here at the moment which is great, less compettition for jobs and the locals are friendly and good fun.

RedNiamhy

I'm going to Tasmania for a weekend at the start of March with friends.
Yes, I know it's a stupidly short length of time to go for but we figured it was better to go and see a little part of it rather than not go at all.

We'll be there for 2 full days and will be hiring a car. What are the "Must Sees" that we should do in this short space of time?

BTW - we're flying in and out of Hobart.

m@cc@

RedNiamhy wrote: »

I'm going to Tasmania for a weekend at the start of March with friends.
Yes, I know it's a stupidly short length of time to go for but we figured it was better to go and see a little part of it rather than not go at all.

We'll be there for 2 full days and will be hiring a car. What are the "Must Sees" that we should do in this short space of time?

BTW - we're flying in and out of Hobart.

Salamanca market is worth a visit on Saturdays. Also the Ball and Chain is a great place for food and drink. Port Arthur is about an hours drive from Hobart and is quite historic in terms of convicts arriving in Australia. Cradle Mountain and Wineglass Bay would be other things worth visiting. I stayed in Hobart for 3 months so let me know if you've any other questions.

The Sweeper

If you've only got the car for two days, do Wineglass bay, but only if you're fit enough for the walk!

Sonnenblumen

Agree with 'The Sweeper' Wineglass Bay is really nice and the nearby Freycinet Lodge is fantastic place to stay. Not cheap but well worth it. Lots of plenty nearby walking etc opportunities, I would recommend you (some fitness required) you do the Mt Amos walk (good bit of 'climbing' also involved but the views from above to Wineglass Bay is stunning.


Over on the western side Strahan is a must and when there make sure you do the Gordon river cruise. Absolute fantastic! Further north and similar to Freycinet albeit with more walks is Cradle Mountain (National Park), again good quality accomodation available, but camping is also available.

Tasmania is a beautiful island and if I were to be honest, didn't think much of Hobart, and certainly the smaller regional towns have plenty to offer. Much will depend on what you want to do.

Macca3000

The 2 weeks I spent in Tasmania were my absolute favourite time in Oz out of the year and a bit I was there. Maybe it was the fact I went on my own and got away from the usual crowd I hanging around with, but I had a grin fixed on my face from the moment I landed in Hobart.

Hire a car is definitly the best way to do it. Wineglass bay is beautiful. Hope for good weather and climb Cradle Mountain. Visit Bicheno to see Fairy Penguins actually walk across your feet. Way better than Philip Island at Melbourne. None of the crowds or the arsey security people. Take 2 days to sail the Freycenet Peninsula, well worth it. And Port Arthur is a full day visit. Really fascinating place and gives the best understanding to what it must have felt like to be sent away to Van Diemons Land on prison ships.

No, I don't work for any Taz tourist board. But I would go there quicker than any other part of Australia in the morning if I had the money.

Good Times!:D

RedNiamhy

Well we went to Tas on Saturday and in our (what turned out to be) 3 days we did Wineglass Bay - WOW!!!, Cradle mountain and Port Arthur.

I thought Wineglass Bay was going to give me a heart attack but it was so worth it when you get to the top and see the views. I would have loved to have walked down to the bay, but time and fitness didn't allow for it. :-( When walking back down we even saw 2 young Kangaroos playing in the trees. We were only about 10 feet from them. It was amazing.

We saw a lot of other kangaroos and loads of Tassie Devils but they were all dead at the side of the road. So sad. We did see a good few echidnas along the road too (alive).

Cradle mountain wasn't as amazing as I expected but was very pretty. We only went as far as Glacier Rock-a huge boulder at the side of the corrie lake. got some lovely pictures there.

Saturday before heading to Wineglass Bay (along the fabulous coast road) we called to the Salamanca Markets where I got a really pretty felt hat. The items on sale were plentiful and various and there was a lot of unique things there too.

Sunday night we were back in Hobart where we went to the Ball and Chain for steak. It was the juiciest and tastiest steak I've had in a long, long time and although it was pricey, it was worth it. (The "help yourself" salad buffet makes it better value too.)

We went to Irish Murphy's bar for a drink and none of us were impressed. The Guinness was rubbish and service left a lot to be desired. We then went on to another pub near there (whose name escapes me) where we had fabulous Guinness and I fell in love with Mercury Cider.

Monday, following an announcement of a computer problem on the plane as we were taxiing to the runway we decided to go to Port Arthur. It was wet but this didn't take away from the experience. The scenery was class, the tour guides were very helpful and the boat journey (included in your entrance ticket) was unmissable.

I am so proud of all we got done in a short space of time and loved every minute of it (apart from the Tiger Airways inflicted 14 hour delay).

My advice for Tasmania -
Wineglass Bay,
Port Arthur,
Mercury Cider,
Lots of Time,
DON'T even consider flying with Tiger Airlines!!!

jank

Nice one, will be likely to be heading there after xmas for a week for a holidays with the folks. Now they are 70 so I am kinda worried that we wont be able to do much as Tasmania seems to be a very outdoor active place. My kind of place really but I cant exactly be asking the folks to be climbing mountains. The ol man already has had one hip replaced and I dont want to keep his doctor any more busy than he has to be!

m@cc@

jank wrote: »

Nice one, will be likely to be heading there after xmas for a week for a holidays with the folks. Now they are 70 so I am kinda worried that we wont be able to do much as Tasmania seems to be a very outdoor active place. My kind of place really but I cant exactly be asking the folks to be climbing mountains. The ol man already has had one hip replaced and I dont want to keep his doctor any more busy than he has to be!

Well the good thing about Mount Wellington is that you can drive up to the summit and the views are awesome. There's also a picnic area half way up and there's some smaller trails on the mountain if yous fancy a stroll.

Also, I'd recommend Bonorong Wildlife Park (http://www.bonorong.com.au/). You'll get to see Tassie devils there and actually walk amongst the kangaroos and wallabies.

Then I'd recommend Richmond. Oldest Catholic church in Australia and oldest bridge in Australia (if they're into that kinda thing) and Richmond Gaol. Plus there's a few nice tea houses there as well.

RedNiamhy

Jank, the only thing I'd say your parents wouldn't be able for it Wineglass Bay.

At Cradle Mountain you park your car at the visitor's centre and get the tourist bus for 10 minutes up to the lake. The climb up onto Glacier Rock may be a bit much but that is only a minor thing. There is also a board walk around the park which has a flat, even, solid surface which would be suitable for your father, in face, even wheelchair users can go on it.

Port Arthur is beautiful as I said and has a few small hills but the introductory tour involves little walking and on the boat trip you just sit down and relax.

The Salamanca Markets are also easily accessable for the less mobile but Hobart is much hillier than Melbourne.

I am far from fit and not one for treking or hiking and the only part I found difficult was Wineglass Bay but the drive along the east coast was amazing and I'm sure your parents would love the views. I took 450 photographs over the 3 days!!

jank

Excellent advice here. Is it possible to do wineglass bay without having to do the trek? Like a boat or something?

m@cc@

Can also recommend The Lark Distillery (www.larkdistillery.com.au). Fairly central and it's good far passing a couple of hours. Deck of cards and whiskey sampling. Excellent.

RedNiamhy

jank wrote: »

Excellent advice here. Is it possible to do wineglass bay without having to do the trek? Like a boat or something?

As far as I am aware, treking is the only way to get to the Bay. I only walked to the viewing point which took 30 mins or so. It was another 1.5 hours to the bay. There are no roads and it looks like complete wilderness down there.

However, there may be helecopter rides over it.

pod76

Hi there I live in Hobart and have had lots of relatives/friends over visiting.

Weekend visitors, usually Salamanca market and a cruise on the Derwent on the Saturday. You don't need to book these crusies and they go from the dock near the market. Dinner that night, Montys amazing restaurant in Battery Point some of the best food in Tassie. Sunday cruise out to Bruny island/Museum/ (city)Mt Field National Park (hour drive) or Richmond on the way back to the airport.

Freycinet National Park takes about two hours to drive to from Hobart so bear in mind if only here for the weekend. Yes, there are crusies to wineglass I took older visting relatives on it and it was amazing. http://www.freycinetseacruises.com/

The track to walk up to the viewing platform or the saddle (as it is known locally) above wineglass is not bad at all. It's the steps coming back up from the bay that older relatives have struggled with.

JONJO THE MISER

Anyone in Hobart wanna meet up for a few drinks on st pats day? Ill be in the new sydney if anyone wants to Join.