There is the maritime museum of Tasmania which is a historic Carnegie building with an interesting collection of early photos, paintings, models and shipping relics. In the Tasmanian Museum & Art gallery in Hobart's oldest existing building, the Commissariat Store built in 1808, there are Tasmanian Aboriginal relics and an excellent collection of colonial art.
The Allport Library & Museum of Fine Arts features a collection of rare books on Australasia and the Pacific region and antique displays that change several times a year. Other museums include the Tasmanian Transport Museum, the Lady Franklin Gallery, the Military Museum at Anglesea Barracks and the Moorilla Museum with antiquities dating from 600 BC.
Antarctic Adventure is a combination theme park and interactive science centre.
Special events include the Hobart Summer Festival held late December for one month, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race which begins on Boxing Day, the Royal Hobart Regatta in early February and the Royal Hobart Show in October which hosts the Tasmanian Readers and Writers Festival.
Natural Attractions of Tasmania (Tas) Australia
Mt Field National Park Tasmania Australia
Located 80km north west of Hobart, the Mount Field National Park features spectacular mountain scenery, alpine moorland, dense rainforest, lots of wildlife and spectacular waterfalls.
Hartz Mountains National Park Tasmania Australia
Proclaimed as a World Heritage Area, Hartz Mountains National Park is renowned for its rugged mountains, glacial lakes, gorges, alpine moorlands and dense rainforests.
There are great views from Waratah Lookout and interesting walking tracks to Lake Osborne and Hartz Peak, making it a popular destination for weekend walks.
Maria Island National Park Tasmania Australia
This National Park is popular with bird watchers for there are 11 of the State's native bird species here. The park is also home to Forester kangaroos and Cape Barren geese.
Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park Tas Australia
This is Tasmania's best known national park and is a World Heritage area with spectacular mountain peaks, deep gorges, lakes and wild moorlands. It extends from the Great Western Tiers in the North to Derwent Bridge on the Lyell Highway in the South.
The preservation of this park is due in part to an Austrian who loved the area and built a chalet out of King Billy pine which he called Waldheim. He lived there permanently from 1916 and bush huts have been built for walkers to rest near where his chalet stood.
Today there are numerous day walks in both Cradle Valley and Cynthia Bay in the Lake St Clair regions, but it is the walk between the two that has turned the park into a mecca for tourists.
King Island Tasmania Australia
At the western end of Bass Strait is King Island, a beautiful place with beaches and quiet lagoons. It is best known today for its outstanding dairy produce (creams and cheeses) and kelp and crayfish are valuable exports.
The island was formerly a breeding ground for seals and sea elephants; they were hunted close to extinction by sealers and sailors early in the 20th century.
Towns of Tasmania (Tas) Australia
New Norfolk Tasmania Australia
The historical town of New Norfolk is set in the Derwent valley and was first settled in 1803.
Originally called Elizabeth Town, it was renamed with the arrival of settlers from the abandoned Pacific Ocean colony of Norfolk island. It was once an important hops growing centre which is why the area is dotted with old houses used for drying hops.
Kingston Tasmania Australia
Kingston beach is a popular swimming and sailing spot with wooded cliffs at each end of the long sandy beach.
Kingston is also the headquarters of the Australian Antarctic Division.
Kettering & Bruny Island Tasmania Australia
Kettering is a small port on a sheltered bay south of Hobart and the terminal for the Bruny Island car ferry. The nearby town of Snug has a walking track to Snug Falls.
Bruny Island is almost two islands joined by an isthmus and visitors can enjoy good fishing, superb coastal scenery, swimming and surfing on white sand beaches and explore the Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration which features the exploits of Bligh, Cook and Furneaux.
Hastings Tasmania Australia
This small town has a population of 300 and was once a thriving logging town.
It is now a gateway to the Hastings Cave & Thermal Springs which is 10km inland from Hastings.
Port Arthur Tasmania Australia
The historic township of Port Arthur was once the centre of a network of penal stations on the Tasmanian Peninsula. It was a thriving place with fine buildings and industries included shipbuilding, coal mining, shoemaking and brick and nail production.
The historic site of the prison has been preserved and there are guided tours which leave hourly from the visitor's centre. You can visit all the restored buildings including the Lunatic Asylum, now a museum, and the model prison.
Oatlands Tasmania Australia
This town has the largest collection of Georgian architecture in regional Australia with many of its buildings dating from the 1830s. Much of the sandstone for Oatland's early buildings came from the shores of Lake Dulverton now a wildlife sanctuary.
Coles Bay & Freycinet National Park Tasmania Australia
The small town of Coles Bay is dominated by the 300m high pink granite outcrops known as the Hazards. The town is the gateway to Freycinet National Park which incorporates Freycinet Peninsula, Schouten Island and the Friendly beaches noted for their coastal heaths, orchids and wildflowers.
St Helens Tasmania Australia
This is an old whaling town that was first settled in 1830. It is the largest town on the east coast and is Tasmania's largest fishing port with a big fleet based in the bay. A trip to St Columba Falls 24km away is worth a visit.
Launceston Tasmania Australia
Launceston is Tasmania's second largest city and is the commercial centre of northern Tasmania. It is sleepy, pleasant place to wander round with new cafes, bars and restaurants opening up every year.
There are museums, interesting buildings such as the Old Umbrella Shop and Franklin House and beautiful parks and reserves to visit. There is a good range of evening entertaining in pubs and clubs and at the Country Club Casino.
Deloraine Tasmania Australia
Deloraine is Tasmania's largest inland town. It is set at the foot of the Great Western Tiers and its close proximity to Cradle Mountain makes it is a good base from which to explore the region.
The town features many Georgian and Victorian houses which have been restored and the Tasmanian Craft Fair is held here in late October/ early November as a large working craft fair.
Devonport Tasmania Australia
Devonport is nestled behind Mersey Bluff and is the terminal for the vehicular ferry which runs between Victoria and Tasmania.
The town has a Maritime Museum, the Don River railway featuring a collection of steam trains and passenger carriages, the Aboriginal Culture Centre to preserve the art and culture of the Tasmanian Aborigines and the Gallery & Arts Centre housed in a converted Baptist church which displays 20th century paintings, ceramics and glasswork.
Burnie Tasmania Australia
Located on the shores of Emu Bay, Burnie is backed by rich farming land and is Tasmania's fourth largest city. Its main attraction is its deep water port for cargo shipping.
The old Emu Bay railway still operates through wild impressive country but is not yet allowed to carry passengers. Visitors can stroll around Pioneer Village Museum, visit the Burnie Park animal sanctuary and the Creative Paper Mill where paper is handmade using mould-and-deckle techniques.
Queenstown Tasmania Australia
When gold was discovered in the Queen River valley in 1881, prospectors came in their droves to extract first the gold and then the copper ore. After 20 years of mining the rain forested hills around Queenstown were stripped bare and 3 million tonnes of timber was cut to keep the furnaces stoked.
The high rainfall washed away the topsoil and prevented re-vegetation for many years. However the smelters are closed and green is starting to appear on the slopes, though Queenstown is still a bit of a moonscape.
Strahan Tasmania Australia
South west of Queenstown on Macquarie Harbour, Strahan lies on the rugged west coast and was a thriving port for Queenstown miners.
Today it is a popular tourist destination for besides its many natural and historical attractions, it is also the stepping off point for Gordon River wildness cruises.
More State Information for Tasmania (Tas) Australia
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Eucalyptus globulus, was proclaimed as the floral emblem of Tasmania on 27 November 1962. Eucalyptus globulus was first collected on the south-east coast of Tasmania in 1792-93 by a distinguished French botanist, Jacques-Julien Houton de Labillardiere (1755-1834), and described by him in 1799.
Flora & Fauna in Tasmania (Tas) Australia
Tasmanian rivers and lakes offer superb trout fishing and a licence is required to fish inland waterways.
South of Hobart are the scenic timber and fruit growing areas of the Huon Peninsula, while Bruny island, joined to the mainland by an isthmus, is home to mutton birds and other waterfowl breeds.
At Cygnet there are black swans on the bay and in the lake country on Tasmania's central plateau there is a variety of wildlife. Freycinet National Park is noted for its wildflowers and wildlife including black cockatoos, yellow wattlebirds, honeyeaters and Bennett's wallabies.
The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens boasts the largest collection of mature conifers in the southern hemisphere.
