Last year I sailed on Spirit of Tasmania and set out to visit every town in Australia’s most southern state. Twelve thousand kilometres and 334 days later, after averaging 36 kilometres per day, my quest was complete. Experiencing the devastating floods of June 2016 with an evacuation from the Forth free camping area, and getting dangerously lost in the forested area of the north-east were two negatives that left no residual personal damage. These two experiences were more than balanced with wondrous adventures.
Adventures such as doubling back to enjoy the snow at Waratah, the beautiful spread of tulips on Table Cape, the awesome flowering lavender at Bridestowe Lavender Farm, a third visit to The Wall in the Wilderness, a first at the Deloraine Arts and Craft Festival, the Evandale Penny Farthing Races, another vanilla slice from the Ross Bakery, reaching as far south as any road in Australia goes, and inhaling the cleanest air in the world on the West Coast.
So what did all this have to do with my quest to visit every town in Tassie? Everything. It all happened while I was looking for every town in Tasmania.
I learnt in the first 48 hours that I would not be taking a photo in every town as I had set out to do. Some ‘towns’ or dots on the map were simply a small cluster of houses or properties. Some such ‘towns’ had no public facilities or public buildings at all - some had just a fire station or an old, and occasionally disused, church or hall.
My year in Tasmania developed into a photographic journey of looking for every town in Tassie. I wanted to capture the picture postcard around every corner, an aspect that keeps bringing people back to our island state.
The Bridestowe Lavender Farm
Visiting Tasmania and meeting the people is like looking through another lens. It’s as though the entire state has its own, most wonderful and unique perspective. Tasmania is beautiful, friendly, relaxed, clean, quiet, peaceful, and welcoming.
It seems like there is a festival of some kind on every weekend, and everywhere is just so close that you really do not need to miss out on anything. Even Launceston to Hobart is just 200km. With most Club members arriving in Devonport, a trip to Hobart is probably the longest you will do and that is just 280km.
Here are my top 10 highlights. They aren’t the major tourist attractions that bring most people to Tasmania, such as Cataract Gorge, Salamanca Markets, Wineglass Bay, Cradle Mountain or Port Arthur. These are well documented and well known, and my trip was not about the well known.
1 THE WALL IN THE WILDERNESS
Two to 10 are not in order of preference, but The Wall in the Wilderness has to be top of my list. This 12-year project by sculptor Greg Duncan is a true gift to this country. His world-class effort was totally self-funded, and has eventuated into an amazing and beautiful 100m work of art. A coffee shop on the premises now makes this at least a half-day stop. It cost just $12 to enter, on my last of three visits. And yes, the work is finished. Free camping is available at the hotel at nearby Derwent Bridge.
2 TULIPS AT TABLE CAPE
Late September to mid-October is tulip time on Table Cape near Wynyard. This area is worth a visit at any time of year, with a lighthouse, great scenery, and a lovely coastal walk but the tulip fields are fabulous. It costs just $10 at tulip flowering time to visit the farm shed and the fields. There’s a small free camp in Wynyard.
3 BRIDESTOWE LAVENDER FARM
While we are on flowers, the Bridestowe Lavender Farm was a New Year’s Day photo frenzy for me. A $10 entrance fee gave me the best parking spot I’ve ever had. Get in early and park right up against the rows of purple lavender. This is an all day event roaming the 260 acres of the largest privately-owned lavender farm in the world. A gift shop, restaurant, and tours, will help fill in the day. There is a free camp at Lillydale.
4 THE DELORAINE ARTS AND CRAFT FESTIVAL
The Deloraine Arts and Craft Festival in early November allows only first-class exhibitors and retailers. A four-day pass is about $25 with free camping, and a riverside caravan park within easy walking distance. Spread over several indoor venues, the event circuit is supported by a free bus service. The festival could be covered in one day but that would be hard work. Two to three hours a day for four days is a wonderfully relaxed pace to take it all in.
An old farm at Cranbrook
5 THE TARKINE
Whether you go from Burnie to the West Coast and down the Western Explorer Road, my favourite route, or south from Burnie through Waratah and Savage River, a visit to the Tarkine Wilderness Area and Corinna never disappoints. If the Tasmanian Tiger (thylacine) still exists, it will be in the Tarkine. The Pieman River Cruise on-board the almost 80-year-old, MV Arcadia II, made from beautiful Huon pine, will take you from Corinna to Pieman Heads at just $80 for seniors. Corinna resort camping costs $40 and small free camp 6k north.
6 ROSS
Ross is one of my many favourite towns with its historic buildings and bridge, and small lovely centrally-located caravan park. You really need to get a vanilla slice or two from the Ross Village Bakery – they are to die for and Ross is famous for them.
7 WATER
I was almost always near the water and often camped alongside it. Be it Bass Strait, the ocean, a river, a lake, or an estuary, a water aspect is always relaxing and never far away in Tasmania. There’s the beautiful Lake Pedder on the way to the Gordon Dam, the magical Pieman River at Corinna on the West Coast, the stunning Macquarie Harbour at Strahan, the beach-clad isthmus of Bruny Island, the sail boat ridden inlet at Cygnet, the white sands and red rock beaches of the Bay of Fires, or the Great Lakes of the Central Highlands – there is such variety, you can never tire of it.
Take your time. Traffic is light away from the major arterials.
8 SCENERY
There are not many places where you will travel at 100 or 110kph in Tasmania. Yes, the roads are winding, and yes, there are some hills, but a slower relaxed pace is rewarded with a picture postcard scene around every corner. Many of us travel at 80kph but you will find that you will often average about 60kph just for the pure pleasure of being able to take it all in. And you won’t be holding anyone up. Away from the very few major arterial roads, traffic is very light.
9 LAUNCESTON
My favourite Australian city. I am not a city person but I love Launceston. Its historic buildings, Cataract Gorge, Penny Royal, riverside board walks, its parks and gardens, and proximity to the Tamar Valley, particularly the west Tamar. The Wetlands Centre, and the beautiful, waterside $10 camp at Old Mac’s Farm is just 4km from the CBD!
10 AGED BUILDINGS
Be they historic, convictbuilt, newly-built in the old style, old farm sheds, or abandoned houses – the buildings help make Tasmania a photographer’s mecca. No matter where you go.
Recording my journey on Facebook at Every Town in Tassie, I was soon inundated with requests for a coffee table book. I bowed to demand and it can be previewed at Facebook page “Every Town in Tassie – The Book” and on website everytownintassie.com. Of course, this has necessitated plans to tour Tassie again to sell the book. What a dilemma! I’ve booked on the Spirit for October 17, giving me time for a quick trip to Alice Springs and Ross River Homestead where almost 500 women camping solo are meeting up for a five-day event in August. Hopefully, by the time you read this, it would have attracted some media attention. Do keep an eye out won’t you?
Dip Falls, Wynyard
