Tasmania Highlights

If you like nature, wildlife, and delicious food, add Tasmania to your list of places to visit. Our Tasmania road trip featured all that and more. I had previously envisioned Tassie as a mini New Zealand, but the state stands out as it’s own place with it’s own slow pace and friendly personality. Australia is a casual country, where even in Sydney, its biggest city, you’ll often see barefoot surfers waiting for the bus. Tasmania, with the world’s cleanest air and loads of natural scenery, is even more relaxed. If you have months, take them to explore this beautiful state. We had too little time and jammed it with these Tasmania highlights.

Tasmanian Islands

The state of Tasmania is made up of 334 islands. The two we visited, Bruny and Maria (pronounced Mariah, as in Carey) islands, were easily among our Tasmania highlights.

BRUNY ISLAND

Located south of Hobart and a twenty minute ferry ride across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Bruny Island is known for its natural beauty and fresh and delicious food.

Bruny Island neck
Beautiful view from our tour of Bruny Island, Tasmania
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Port Macquarie

After years of sailing on our schedule, it’s challenging to be stuck for weeks with no progress on fixing Go. Yes, we have been stuck in worse places so we’re trying to make the best of our down time. Here’s how we’ve been having fun and staying busy in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, known in Aussie lingo as “Port”.

About Port Macquarie

A town in the Mid-North Coast region of New South Wales, Port is located almost 400km north of Sydney. Located at the mouth of the Port Hastings River, its known for beaches, koalas, and convicts, not necessarily in that order.

Port Macquarie on a map east coast Australia
Port Macquarie on a map on the east coast of Australia

The town has a population of around 50,000, many of whom are retirees. We also see a lot of young families mingling with the retirees at cafes and on the waterfront paths. This town is busy on weekends and holidays, when families and vacationers fill the caravan parks and hotels. What are they coming for?

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Tasmania Road Trip

We went to Tasmania and loved it! Tassie for short, it’s a beautiful large island surrounded by many islands south of the main island of Australia. We had less than two weeks and spent 10 days of it on our Tasmania road trip. Here’s where we went and what we loved!

Why Do a Tasmania Road Trip

Tasmania is the 26th largest island on Earth, about 1/2 the size of England and the same size as West Virginia. It is known for its diverse wildlife, natural beauty, and for having the cleanest air in the world. We also noticed Tasmania’s delicious fresh seafood and produce, extensive craft beer and wine scene, and a relaxed and fun lifestyle.

Tassie is located in the Roaring 40s, notorious to sailors for strong winds and big waves that damage ships. Now you understand why we didn’t sail. Over 26,000sq miles, Tassie’s compact size means a road trip is an ideal way to see Australia’s smallest state.

Tasmania Road Trip view farm and sky
View from the car on our Tassie road trip
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