Things to Do in Tasmania

Sandy Bay is a quiet coastal community just past the central business district where sailing, the arts and serene sea views unite. Hire a yacht and cruise along the coast, where rugged cliffs meet peaceful neighborhoods, or spend an afternoon relaxing on the spotless beaches and wandering the pristine boardwalk. Unique shops selling one-of-a-kind items and a number of local restaurants line the streets of Sandy Bay. After a day outdoors visitors can spend an evening gambling at the Wrest Point Casino, the first in Tanzania.

Three hours from Devonport, on the secluded west coast of Tasmania, the fishing village of Strahan is a unique holiday destination. A small community built along the banks of the King River, Strahan is an authentic and nostalgic place to indulge in river cruise and fishing trips, and experience the Tasmanian wilderness.

Founded in 1877, there is little to remind visitors of the village’s more sinister past - Strahan is the closest town to the infamous Sarah Island, regarded as the worst convict prison in Australia. The 200 metre opening to the nearby Macquarie Harbour was dubbed ‘Hell’s Gates’ by convicts who had survived the tumultuous journey.

The smell of salty sea air and fresh fish mingles with the earthy scent of pine on pleasant harbour breezes. The calls of sea birds and the lapping of water provide a relaxing ambience. Fishing is, obviously, a popular local past time and a relatively easy skill to learn. Simply wandering around the edge of the bay can be an exercise in meditative, slow paced tourism.

Today, Strahan is a relatively untapped mecca for tourists wishing to take in the local area. Small shops and businesses dot the town’s harbour. Locals are friendly and unpretentious. Seafood is cheap and fresh, and activities of all sorts are available, including kayaking, jet boating, and all-terrain sand dune driving. Boat cruises along the Gordon River give travellers access to World Heritage Area wilderness, allowing them to travel through one of the last pristine temperate rainforests in the world, and showing off this truly unique part of Australia.

Tasmania’s national car museum has one of the country’s best collections of classic and historic cars and motorbikes, covering more than a century of automobile designs.

Vintage cars are the star attraction here, including old Model T Fords and the sparkling chassis of classic Rolls-Royce, Bentleys, Jaguars and Mercedes.

Super cars are another highlight, including streamlined Fords and the famous Australian vehicle of choice in the 1970s, the Holden Monaro – complete with racing stripes.

Motorcycles also get a look in, along with rare Ferraris and Daimlers. While the museum is a definite hit with car lovers, it also provides a snapshot of urban history and will intrigue visitors of all ages.

What was once a rundown warehouse and storage unit on the waterfront of Hobart has since become one of the most-visited destinations in the city. More than 600,000 people visit the fresh fruit, organic produce and handmade craft stalls of this public market each year. Its trendy bars, quiet cafes and inventive restaurants attract food-lovers from around the area, making it a uniquely Tanzania experience. Salamanca’s popularity has caused it to grow rapidly from 12 vendors in 1972 to more than 300 in 2010. As a result, there’s something for everyone at this once-a-week market that brings the best of Hobart together.

Modern Australia was famously founded by boatloads of British convicts, and Sarah Island off of western Tasmania was once reserved for the worst offenders. Isolated, wet and completely surrounded by the tempestuous Southern Ocean, not only is it Australia’s oldest penal colony, but the remote outpost was such a fearsome place to be sent that the mouth of the harbor leading out toward the island was simply known as “Hell’s Gate.” The penal colony was short-lived, however, only lasting from 1822 to 1833. During that time, convicts were enlisted for the backbreaking work of felling the surrounding pine trees, and there was a brief time when Sarah Island was the largest ship-building site in Australia.

There was once a time when visiting Port Arthur was akin with a sentence to death. Isolated on a scenic peninsula and facing the Tasman Sea, the famous and feared Port Arthur Penitentiary was where the worst of the worst of Britain’s convicts were sent to live out their days. Though not all convicts were sentenced to death, the harsh working conditions and manual labor were enough to drive convicts to literal insanity and commit murder for an early, death sentence exit.

For all of its grisly history, however, Port Arthur today is a sprawling historic site that’s been restored and preserved as the best example of Australia’s convict past. At the iconic Penitentiary building, gaze upon the concrete ruins where 480 convicts and prisoners spent days filled with toil and misery. The penitentiary ruins are rumored to be haunted, and with the eerie, watchful, and abandoned exterior that the penitentiary exudes, it’s an historic, authentic representation of the darker days of Port Arthur.