7 Day Western Wanderer (single room)

Tour Details

Operator

Groups Tasmania

Destinations

Hobart, Launceston, Deloraine, Cradle Mountain, Devonport, Huonville, Sheffield, Stanley, Ulverstone, Burnie, Latrobe, West Coast Tasmania, Strahan, Derwent Valley, Derwent River, New Norfolk, Lake St Claire, Mt Wellington, Salamanca Market, Devil's Kitchen and Huon Valley

Departs From

Hobart

Tour Description

7 Day Western Wanderer
3 departure options: 17 November 2008, 16 February 2009, 16 March 2009
Cost of tour: AUD$1575.00 per person twin share, AUD$2053.00 for a single room

Day 1 Huon Valley (D)

Your tour begins! Meet your experienced Tasmanian coach captain in the foyer of Wrest Point Hotel at 8:30am. This morning visit one of Hobart’s grand old houses, Runnymede. Then travel south through the Huon Valley, once home to the State’s thriving apple industry and wind you way back to Hobart via the picturesque villages of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Conclude the day with a visit to the top of Mt Wellington for majestic views over the city below.
• Runnymede, Hobart. Runnymede is an elegant colonial house situated in New Town just north of Hobart city. It is located in a lovely garden that overlooks New Town Bay on the River Derwent. It was built around 1836 for Robert Pitcairn, the first lawyer to qualify in the colony and a leading campaigner against the transportation of convicts from Britain. He named the house Cairn Lodge. When Captain Charles Bayley bought the house in 1864 he named it Runnymede after his favourite ship. The Bayley family lived in the house for the next 100 years. The National Trust has restored and furnished the house to its original elegance.
• D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Follow the meandering coastline through to Cygnet and the small towns that freckle the Huon Valley and D'Entrecasteaux Channel. Glimpse sails and spinnakers of cruising yachts, hard-working fishing boats and salmon farmers in their in runabouts.
• Grandvewe Cheeses, Peppermint Bay. Grandvewe Sheep Farm Cheesery sits in the lush Huon Valley south of Peppermint Bay. The Cheesery makes seven different types of sheep cheeses and nine types of cow's milk cheeses along with sheep yoghurts, in season. The cheeses can only be purchased in our farm shop, and are reminiscent of classic European style cheeses.
• Mt.Wellington. Overlooking Hobart, the Derwent Valley to the north and Huon Valley to the south is Mt.Wellington. On a clear day you can even see the Tasman Peninsula to the southeast and Maria Island on the east coast. Venture to the summit with the afternoon sun shining on the city below for a great photographic opportunity.

Stay: Wrest Point Hotel, Hobart (1 night)

Day 2 West Coast (B HD)
Say goodbye to Hobart, and travel to Strahan on Tasmania’s rugged west coast, visiting waterfalls and works of art on the way. For those that wish to take up the optional activity of the West Coast Wilderness Railway you will be in for the experience of a life time as you wind your way down to Strahan through this proclaimed World Heritage Area. Dinner tonight is a seafood buffet fresh from the days catch.
• The Wall in the Wilderness. Said to be the most ambitious art project undertaken is Australia for many years, “The Wall” is a series of story panels sculpted predominately in timber, depicting the history, hardship and perseverance of the people of the Central Highlands. Thought to take 10 years to complete the Wall will eventually consist of 100 panels each 3 metres high and 1metre wide.
• Nelson Falls. With the rainfall extremely high on the West Coast the waterfalls are spectacular.

Optional: West Coast Wilderness Railway
Now one of Tasmania’s premier attractions, this restored 1896 rack and pinion railway will travel through one of the world’s last pristine wilderness areas, crossing 40 bridges and wild rivers. This 35km journey from Queenstown to Strahan will pass through historic settlements and abandoned camps as well as over 200m up the 1:16 rack gradient.

Stay: Strahan Village, Strahan (2 nights)

Day 3 Gordon River (B HD)
This morning you can relax in your room or get out and explore Strahan at your own leisure. This afternoon board your state of the art catamaran as you cruise across the harbour and travel up the famous Gordon River. As the cruise does not return to approximately 8:00pm you will enjoy your dinner this evening whilst on the Gordon River with the evening sun setting in the distance.
• Gordon River Cruise, Strahan. The vessel departs Strahan and passes through Hell’s Gates, the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, then visits a trout and salmon farm enroute to Sarah Island, Tasmania’s first convict settlement, where a stopover allows for you to explore the history of the ruins. The travel up the Gordon River to Heritage Landing where you can enjoy a short walk on through rainforest.

Day 4 Cradle Mountain (B L D)
The destination today is Devonport. On the way you will visit one of Tasmania’s best know National Parks as well as the town of murals.
• The Wilderness Gallery, Cradle Mountain Chateau. Photographing wild places needs a mix of physical toughness, extraordinary skill and emotional sensitivity. See the captivating results in the Wilderness Gallery, Tasmania’s purpose built showcase for environmental photography. These beautiful and dramatic images from photographers based in Australia and around the world will excite your imagination, lift your spirits and expand your horizon. Enjoy lunch at Cradle Mountain Chateau.
• Cradle Mountain National Park. The northern entrance to the Cradle Mountain - Lake St.Clair National Park, the Department of Parks and Wildlife has an interpretation centre which depicts the flora, fauna and history of the region. Then it is on smaller coaches with an informative guide to transfer to Dove Lake from where on a clear day you can see Cradle Mountain.
A short walk around the shores finds you at the little hut known as ‘the boat house’, and then on your way back down from the lake call into to see Waldheim Hut, the original home for Austrian explorer Gustav Weindorfer who began the movement that eventually led to the region being included in the World Heritage Listing.
• Sheffield. The town of murals. See how talented local artists have used the proud old buildings as their canvases to tell the history of the Kentish District. Arts and crafts are also among the important activities in the area and galleries and studios display high quality hand weaving, leatherwork and pottery.

Stay: Gateway Motor Inn, Devonport (1 night)

Day 5 North West (B D)
Before leaving Devonport this morning take time to visit the former residence of the only Tasmanian born Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons. From here travel up the coast stopping at some award winning gardens along the way. Tonight’s stop is in the coastal township of Wynyard.
• Home Hill, Devonport. The residence of the former Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, and Dame Enid Lyons. Built a year after their marriage, it was their home for the majority of their lives and is filled with memorabilia depicting their personal and political past.
• Annsleigh Gardens, Burnie. Described as a garden of ideas, this beautiful award winning garden has been developed over 17 years from a bare paddock. One innovative idea follows another; fountains, wishing well, sunken garden, gazebo, bridges over reticulated network of ponds, and a miniature cottage with working waterwheel and stream. During Spring see hundreds of rhododendrons, daffodils, azaleas, camellias and blossom trees. During Summer see fuchsia, roses, perennials and annual flowers. The shades of Autumn are not to be missed.
• Creative Paper, Burnie. Creative Paper Tasmania is a vibrant community of artists and craftspeople all dedicated to the fine art of handmade paper. Creative Paper Tasmania has been based in the old east mill at Burnie since 1996, and was originally a community project to provide local young people with a new trade. Since then, the studio has developed into one of Tasmania’s most unique tourist destinations with a dedication to environmentally sound practices as well as inspiring handmade paper.
• Wonders of Wynyard Exhibition Centre, Wynyard. A visitor who walks into the Wynyard Visitor Centre can be sure of a friendly greeting. Welcoming visitors to Wynyard is the pleasant task of the Volunteers of the Wynyard Visitor Centre. Some forty residents share their enthusiasm for the beauty of the north west with the many visitors who use the service each year. The centre features local resident Francis Ransley's collection of veteran motor cars, including a 1903 Model A Ford, one of only two in existence and the equal oldest Ford in the world. It also houses the Wynyard Visitor Information Centre and Wonders of Wynyard Gallery. The gallery will feature changing exhibitions of local "wonders", including artworks and displays of regional and state significance.

Stay: Waterfront Wynyard Motor Inn, Wynyard (2 nights)

Day 6 Far North West (B D)
Leave Wynyard this morning and make your way to the far NorthWest property of ‘Woolnorth’. Enjoy a tour of the property including a visit to Cape Grim which is the far North West tip of Tasmania. This afternoon visit the township of Stanley before making your way back down the coast to Wynyard.
• Taste of Woolnorth. Start your visit at the Roaring 40’s wind farm and then go on to visit Cape Grim on Woolnorth's rugged west coast and breathe the cleanest air in the world. This is recorded at the Baseline air pollution station that is situated on the cliffs of the Cape Grim coastline.
• Stanley Nut. As you drive westwards along the north coast and approach the historic town of Stanley you’ll see The Nut, a huge flat-topped circular headland that dominates the town. Its 152 metres high, with a path and a chairlift (own expense) to the top. Up there you can take a bracing walk around the edge and enjoy the wind in your face, the sun on your back and wonderful views up and down the coast.
• Table Cape Lookout, Wynyard. Just beyond Wynyard and nudging out into the sea Table Cape is flat-topped and fertile, with flowering tulips carpeting its fields in spring. Stop at the lighthouse lookout for fantastic views all up and down the coast and out into Bass Strait.

Day 7 Wynyard to Launceston (B)
Last Day in Tassie! As you make your way back to Launceston today stop at the township of Latrobe and spend some time here visiting the many antique shops, a unique shopping and browsing experience before your last stop at the magnificent Yarns Artwork in Silk. Arrive back in Launceston to catch a mid to late afternoon flight out.
• Latrobe. Latrobe presents one of Australia’s finest heritage faces, and with that face comes a host of activities and attractions, where you live the history and love the nature. The town owes its being to the early mining and agriculture and in the mid to late 19th century as a bustling port on the banks of the Mersey River. Much of the past remains in the streetscapes of central Latrobe – 76 heritage listed buildings, 6 of which are on the Register of the National Estate. Enjoy a walk along the Sheean Walkway which starts in the main street of Latrobe, at 'Teddy Sheean Memorial', and then follows the old railway line to the River Road junction, at Bell's Parade. Sheean Walk has a number of plaques detailing the various conflicts of World War II and pays homage to those involved in the Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and Korean conflicts.
• Ashgrove Cheese Factory, Elizabeth Town. The Ashgrove Cheese Factory is a family owned and run company. Enjoy a tour of the factory and see how award-winning cheeses are made. Sample as you go.
• Yarns Artwork in Silk, Deloraine. Have a look at this community artwork before you explore the Meander Valley. Each of the four 3.5 x 4 metre panels depicts a season in the valley and its history, mountains, rivers, rural industries and lifestyle. More than 300 people worked on the project under the direction of Neicy Van Der Elst-Brown. They put in 10,000 hours of work and used 200 metres of hand dyed silk to create Yarns in embroidery, appliqué, cross-stitch, weaving, patchwork, quilting and some “hybrid” surprises.

Tour ends back in Launceston at approximately 3.30pm

• Legend; B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner, HD = Highlight Dinner