Introduction Up Into The Mountains Wilderness Underground A Wildlife Encounter Along The Rural Roadside In Quest of Fine Food Shopping is an Art Take The Scenic Route Down The Garden Path
Up Into The Mountains
To
venture into the wilderness is a personal adventure, an experience that
lasts beyond the ‘here and now’. It’s the ultimate ‘nature blast’.
Just one and-a-half hours drive from the north-west coast, the Cradle Mountain
Lake St Clair Park forms part of Tasmania’s magnificent 1.4 million-hectare
World Heritage Area. Stay in a lodge on the edge of the park, take
your caravan or tent, or just spend a day exploring the maze of trails
which radiate from Waldheim. Feed the tame wallabies in the car park.
Climb into the saddle for a trail ride around the fringes, into a light
aircraft for a wilderness flight or take a guided walking tour. The
visitor centre at Cradle Valley has information on the tracks, from gentle
nature rambles for families with young children and trails for disabled
people, to week-long treks for the intrepid and experienced. Set
aside five days or more and walk the Overland Track - one of the world’s
great treks - to Lake St Clair. Undertake an overnight walk to the
Walls of Jerusalem National Park or five spectacular peaks surrounding
ancient pencil pine forests and glacial lakes. Ride on horseback
to Black Bluff, or take the family on day walks to beautiful Mount Roland,
Leven Canyon or Dial Range. Top
Wilderness Underground
Beneath
the lush farmlands of the region are hundreds of limestone coves from tiny
chambers to huge cathedral-like caverns. Take a guided tour of the
spectacular King Solomon and Marakoopa Caves at Mole Creek or visit the
stunning formations of the Gunns Plain Caves, on your headlamp for a wild
cave tour. Top
A Wildlife Encounter
Visit the wildlife park at Mole Creek and stand within a whisker of
Tasmanian devils and other native birds and animals. See the endangered
Green Swift Parrots at Forest Glen Gardens, near Devonport or native birds
in a natural environment, at Sisters Beach. Follow the boardwalk
through wetlands to hides on the freshwater lagoon in the Asbestos Range
National Park and see a range of birdlife. Stay on till dusk when
kangaroos and wombats emerge to graze on native grasses. Walk along
the beaches and search for oysters on the rocks. Top
Along The Rural Roadside
As
you travel along the coast you will see agricultural enterprises at work
- large machinery on the move, irrigators in the fields, ground and aerial
spraying and farmers herding cows down country lanes. Take your time
to enjoy the experience, and watch out for the symbol and interpretative
signs on the Tasmanian Agricultural Trail, which is being progressively
developed around the state. Top
In Quest of Fine Food
For a food tour of north-west Tasmania, drive along a country road
in summer to farms that invite you to ‘pick your own’ blueberries, raspberries,
strawberries and peas - and take advantage of the fresh local produce on
the menus of the best restaurants. Sample the region’s locally-made
cheeses - Lactos, Table Cape, Ashgrove, and Mella, or wines from the vineyards
at Barrington Estate with stunning views of Mount Roland and Lake Barrington,
at Roland Views Estate and at Hawley House, near beautiful Hawley Beach.
Stay for a picnic. Try Atlantic Salmon or choose from a range of
fresh fish at towns along the coast. Complete your meal with local
hand-made chocolate truffles. Try liquor-flavoured honey, buy it
by the pot at the Promised Land, or take a honey tour at Mole Creek.
Top
Shopping is an Art
Fulfil a passion for dining and shopping in the township of Latrobe
which has more restaurants per head of population than any town in Tasmania.
Antique shops dot its historic main street. ‘Home’ to bicycle racing
since 1890, the Latrobe Wheel Race is one of Australia’s biggest handicap
events and is held each Christmas. Stop at the original Coles Store
at Wilmot and wander through Tasmania’s biggest outdoor gallery at Sheffield,
in the foothills of Mount Roland. More than 30 murals depicting the
region’s pioneers and rural life have been painted in or near the town.
Browse in the local craft shops; take a train ride on the Redwater Creek
line or lose yourself in the world’s largest maze complex and lavender
farm, at the entrance to Lake Barrington International Rowing Course.
Shop at the Showcase for one of the most extensive ranges of pottery and
woodcrafts at Devonport, home port of the Spirit of Tasmania. Take
a scenic flight from the Devonport Airport to Cradle Mountain or an historic
ride on the oldest operational steam locomotive in Australia, at Don.
Follow the cycle path along the banks of the Mersey River to the Bluff
and Tiagarra, to Aboriginal rock engravings on the headland. Visit
the Maritime Museum and Home Hill, home of former Prime Minister Joseph
Lyons and his wife, Dame Enid. Top
Take The Scenic Route
Follow
the coast to parks, playgrounds and picnic grounds and the fairy penguin
rookeries at Ulverstone and Penguin. Shop in Ulverstone for antiques
and copper crafts and at the Penguin Old School Market on the second and
fourth Sundays in the month for something old or original. Visit
the deer and ostrich farm or picnic at Ferndene, and keep your eyes peeled
for a platypus. Visit the Pioneer Village Museum which portays the
history of the port and timber city of Burnie, home of Lactos cheese and
Reflex paper. Fly from the Burnie Airport over the region’s rich
farmlands to the rugged west coast and King Island. Top
Down The Garden Path
Walk among the flowers and celebrate the seasons in spring, summer
and autumn when the north-west coast is carpeted in flowers, from poppies
and pyrethrum daisies on the rural hinterland to magnificent public and
private gardens open throughout the year. The statewide Blooming
Tasmania Festival begins in September and continues till February, with
daffodil and spring flower shows throughout the region and the Wynyard
Tulip Festival a highlight of the season. Take the time to wander
through the English Annsleigh Gardens, and Emu Valley Rhododendron Gardens
- with more than 9 000 plants - on the outskirts of Burnie. Or further
west, to the Lapoinya Rhododendron Garden set in a rainforest and the nearby
tulip farm on magnificent Table Cape, near Wynyard. Drive on to Allendale
Gardens at Edith Creek. Pack a barbecue and spend a leisurely day
at Tasmania’s only arboretum at Eugenana, near Devonport. Top
