Giant sand dunes, heritage buildings, old trees, long running theatre and more heading from Hobart through the Tasmanian Central Plateau to the small West Coast seaside town of Strahan, first day and half of a six day trip around the island.
Slightly odd thing to note but Tasmania was much more like Australia than I was expecting. I’d heard it was a lot like New Zealand (and it was in places) but the dry landscape and endless gum trees felt pretty Australian to me.
Brighton was clearly home to a Helena, a metal kangaroo postie, and some interesting street art.
Bothwell was full of heritage buildings (one of my favourite things about rural Australia), a couple of decent churches, the Australasian Golf Museum (Bothwell has the oldest golf course in the Southern Hemisphere), and a rather worrying sign in the graveyard.
There was a fair amount left of Steppes homestead plus some unusual sculptures close by.
Miena on the Great Lake is where keen fisherman have their shack (Australian holiday home).
Home for the night was the rather flash Thousand Lakes Lodge next to the half full Lake Augusta. Went for a very dull 10km run along flat roads taking in the atmosphere of the Highlands, and scaring a couple of wombats who quickly escaped into the bush before I could take a photo.
Lake Sinclair is the finishing point for probably Australia’s most famous walk, the six day Overland Track. The short walk out to Watersmeet was pretty underwhelming but good to stretch the legs.
Donaghys lookout in Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park was more worthwhile, bit more of a hill and some views.
Queenstown is quite different to it’s better known New Zealand namesake. It is very much a mining town, with the scars still visible on the landscape. You wouldn’t move here for the good weather. It is one of the wettest places in Tasmania, and only has a month’s worth of clear skies each year. Good spot for lunch though, some nice heritage buildings and the recently reopened West Coast Wilderness Railway which runs 34km out to Strahan.
Strahan is famous for Huon pine, a lovely smelling but very slow growing timber, plus it had a ridiculously wide boat (not famous).
Hogarth Falls in the People’s Park was a fairly average waterfall.
Ocean’s Beach was pleasant but not somewhere to spend long unless you’re a kite surfer or are otherwise particularly keen on strong winds.
Nearby though was a somewhat unexpected sight, Henty Dunes, huge sand dunes about an hour and a half walk inland, that were slowly enveloping the forest. Great fun to run down, hard work to walk back up!
Returning to Strahan was a final treat, seeing the longest continuously run play in Australia. The Ship That Never Was has been performed in Hobart and now Strahan for 23 years and running. Packed audience and fun for the entire family.
2 thoughts on “Hobart to the Tasmanian West Coast”