4 – 5 April 2018
Continuing our tour of Tasmania, we travelled northeast from Hobart to Coles Bay through small towns and grazing pastures. Coles Bay sits on the edge of Freycinet National Park. After a few short hikes in the park, we walked along Honeymoon Bay and Muirs Beach late in the afternoon before returning to our cabin.
Mayfield Beach south of Swansea
Honeymoon Bay at Coles Bay
Muirs Beach at Coles Bay
31 March – 3 April 2018
Hobart is the capital of Tasmania and the largest city on the island. At a population of 225,000 it is roughly the size of Richmond, Virginia. Hobart reminded us of Wellington, New Zealand, just smaller and less windy. We spent several days exploring the city and surrounding areas.
Mount Wellington to the west of Hobart provides 360-degree views of the city and surrounding suburbs. At the summit, we were surprised to find how the temperature dropped and the wind gusted dramatically compared to the city and various lookouts on the way up.
Wharf Area
Parliament House and Gardens
St. David’s Cathedral
Tasman Bridge (left) and View from Mount Wellington (right)
2 April 2018
Tasman National Park covers a large area of the Tasman Penninsula and all of Tasman Island. We did not have time to fully explore the park but we did visit several easy to reach stops outside Eaglehawk Neck on a short detour between Hobart and Port Arthur.
Tasman Arch (left), Fossil Bay Lookout (top center), The Blowhole (bottom center), and Devil’s Kitchen (right)
2 April 2018
Even if you do not know much about Tasmania, Port Arthur might sound familiar. For years Australia has been held up as both a positive and negative example of gun control laws when debating them in America. April 28th, 1996, Port Arthur became the site of the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history with 35 killed and 23 wounded. This tragic event was the catalyst for Australia’s major gun law reforms.
The cafe and gift shop where much of the bloodshed took place has been transformed into the Memorial Garden in honor of the victims.
2 April 2018
Port Arthur, a small town about 100 km southeast of Hobart, was the site of a British convict settlement and is now a popular tourist destination and World Heritage Site. We had heard good things so we took a day trip from Hobart to see it for ourselves.
The Port Arthur Historic Site includes what is remaining of the early to mid-1800’s settlement and a look at the life of its occupants. The British Empire relocated convicts from Great Britian and other colonies to Australia. Second offenders, convicts who were convicted again after arriving in Australia, were sent to Port Arthur. These relocations served two purposes. First, separating the worst criminals from the others helped to maintain order in the mainland settlements. Second, it helped to populate Tasmania and prevent French colonization. Port Arthur was billed as the Bristish equivalent to America’s Alcatraz Island, unescapable.
Port Arthur is also where the tour guide claims the saying “don’t let the cat out of the bag” was coined. I cannot say for sure it started here but it did appear to start with the British Royal Navy. The cat ‘o nine tails, a whip with nine knotted rope chords, was used to punish prisoners. The “cat” was kept in a symbolic red bag.
Despite the area’s colorful history, it is now a quiet place overlooking scenic Carnarvon Bay and well worth a visit.
30 March 2018
With rain following us throughout Tasmania, we abandoned our plans in Queenstown and headed to Hobart a day early. We also came to understand Aussies take Good Friday serious. I did not realize most stores and restaurants would be closed when planning our travels. The rain continued to pour in the morning so we did not make our first planned stop at Nelson Falls, only 30 minutes east of Queenstown. Closed on Good Friday, we could not make our second planned stop at The Wall (in the Wilderness) in Derwent Bridge. After a morning in the rain the skies cleared just in time for our most anticipated stop.
Mount Field National Park is in south-central Tasmania, about a 90-minute drive west of Hobart. We hiked the Three Falls Trail in about 2 hours. The highlights of the trail included Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Lady Baron Falls and the Tall Trees Track. The swamp gum trees are the second largest trees in the world, second only to California’s Redwoods. The park is a popular stop that made for a another great day.
We finished the day in Hobart where we will spend the next few days.
Russell Falls
Horseshoe Falls
Lady Baron Falls
Tall Trees Walk
29 March 2018
From Cradle Mountain we continued our trek counter-clockwise around Tasmania. Our first stop was an hour drive south and west to Rosebery. A few miles past Rosebery there is a turn off the highway to Williamsford, the site of an old abandoned mining community. The pothole-filled 6 km long road leads to the Montezuma Falls trailhead. The trail is 8 km out and back which took us about 2 hours 45 minutes with several stops. The hike was easy and well worth the effort. The trail parallels above the Ring River and travels through quiet rain forest along an old tramway route. Montezuma Falls, named after the Montezuma Silver Mining Company, falls over 100 meters.
Continuing another hour south and west toward the coast, we made our second stop in Strahan at Peoples Park and Hogarth Falls trail head. This walk was an easy 30 minutes. Hogarth Falls are less impressive than Montezuma but with only a short walk required, it was worth stopping.
We ended the day in Queenstown, a small mining town in western Tasmania. We planned to take the West Coast Wilderness Railway trip tomorrow morning; however the weather is not going to cooperate. There is not much else to do here if we cannot enjoy the outdoors so we will be hitting the road again.
28 March 2018
Cradle Mountain National Park is located in western Tasmania. Our first full day in Tassie started rainy and overcast but luckily the sun broke through the clouds after lunch. It turned out to be a great day, I can only hope the rest of our trip is this good.
Our agenda only allowed one full day in the park which was enough to see the highlights; however a second day would have been nice. We started at the park’s most popular attraction, Dove Lake, where we walked the 5.7 km trail around it. The trail is relatively easy. The rain from the night before was lifting in the morning so unfortunately we did not get postcard views of the four mountain peaks that encompass the lake.
In the afternoon the sun came out and so did the wombats! We walked the Waldheim Trail at Robby Creek which is a great place to see wombats in the wild. We enjoyed it so much we came back after dinner. We counted 44 of them, some coming within a few feet. The combination of good trails and animals made Cradle Mountain a family favorite.
27 March 2018
Before we got serious about moving to Australia, I had no idea where in the world Tasmania was. If you asked me, I might have said Africa – that’s Tanzania by the way. I grew up watching the Tasmanian Devil in cartoons but did not realize it was real. In my defense, Tasmaina is on the other side of the world and at the bottom of the Land Down Under. The next stop south is Antarctica.
Tasmania, or Tassie as they call it, is an island state seperated from mainland Australia by the Bass Straight, directly south of Victoria. When we arrived in Australia, Tassie was often described as similar to New Zealand but not quite as scenic, something of a backhanded compliment. How could we come this far and not see it for ourselves?
Today we flew from Brisbane to Launceston with a short layover in Sydney. Coming into to the Launceston Airport, I was surprised at how little I saw. Green farm land in every direction. Was this Australia or Iowa?
We had a busy day planned so after arrival and getting our vehicle, we immediately headed to the nearest grocery store to stock up and drove west about 2 1/2 hours to Cradle Mountain. The sun set as we approached the mountains so it was pitch black as we snaked up narrow roads through what we could only imagine was a missed opportunity to take in the mountain scenery.
We are hoping to see Tasmanian devils, platypus and wombats on this trip.
4 March 2018
New Zealand had long been on our travel wishlist. It did not disappoint. We felt safe and welcomed where ever we travelled. North Island is where most New Zealanders live. South Island is where most visitors want to be. Four weeks was a perfect amount of time to visit both islands. We could have had better weather but our visit was long enough to afford a few rain days. Its location and different landscapes make it a popular destination for Aussies. Aspects of the country remind me of the United States, Canada, Ireland and United Kingdom so it is no surprise many tourists come from these countries. New Zealand is also particularly popular with Chinese and Japanese travellers.
For potential visitors from North America, if you loved the Canadian Rockies, Colorado Rockies, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone, then New Zealand is the place for you. If you haven’t been to all those places yet, I’d recommend you see them first. They’re every bit as spectacular and much closer. Having said that, there is something special about getting away from it all in the world down under.
American Family Travels 
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