6 Day Taste of Tasmania Tour - Hobart to Hobart

This is a really enjoyable small tour with maximum of 21 people in the group.

Day one saw an early start from Hobart, exploring Mount Field National Park, which includes Russell Falls and the Tall Trees walk plus later we took a walk along Lake St Clair which is Australia’s deepest lake and a great photo opportunity for photographers.

The evening was spent in a huge house solely used for the people on the group tour. The guide cooked a massive meal with a number of the group helping to prepare food, set the table and each of us washed our own dishes and cutlery. Following that we told each other where we were from and what we did for a living and things like that to get acquainted assisted by our guide “Wombat”.

“Wombat” was a knowledgeable guide and a great chef, he worked really hard to keep all of us in food and made the whole group feel welcome. He interacted with the group mostly to offer facts and information about the places we were visiting being a local Tasmanian he had great knowledge if you had a question.

The following day gave us an option of taking a bike ride or walking around the foreshore, through the rainforest to view the waterfall or up Water Tower Hill – which is steep as. I took the bike ride option and cycled around Strahan, up the Water Tower Hill and managed to cycle down to the waterfall (not sure if you are allowed to cycle down there, but managed not to hit anyone, lol !!)

Onto Henty Sand Dunes, massive!! We took on a big walk around the dunes and then a steep descent down the dunes. Next we visited Zeehan or ‘Silver City’ as it is known. Onto Lodge style accommodation in the Cradle Mountain National Park, opportunity to see a wild Wombat here and other Australian Wildlife, managed to see a wallaby but no Wombat except the tour guide!!

Next morning we make the early start to Cradle Mountain, this for me was the highlight of the tour. We took on a massive hike, taking roughly 5-6 hours round trip. Managed to view Dove Lake from all kinds of vantage points, and clambered up to the summit of Cradle Mountain. The section near the summit is particularly steep and challenging.

Onto Devonport, here we all opted for Pizza and a chilled night in the accommodation after a big walk, the accommodation had a pool table and heaters and a TV lounge, so an evening of relaxation.

Next morning we visit St Columbus Falls first thing. Then it’s onto Bay of Fires, with its famous red coloured rocks, big waves and white sand. Arriving at Bicheno there is an option in the evening to view the little penguins as they make their way out of the ocean to their nest after a day fishing. I took this option, it was cold, but I did manage to get a good view of the penguins. No photographs are allowed, but if you give the organisers an email address they will email some to you.

Freycinet National Park and Wineglass Bay offer the opportunity to hike to Wineglass Beach passing the lookout and getting a great view for photographs. It was a worthwhile, I took the longer of the two walks and it was worthwhile, especially as the weather was fairly good.

Onto Port Arthur, the opportunity to take a Ghost Tour was offered, but I had already done so on another tour. I really enjoyed the Ghost Tour when I did it, but surprisingly no one on this group took up the opportunity so it was onto our accommodation and dinner. Again there was pool table for a quick game before dinner. Wombat cooked up a storm as usual and everyone really enjoyed dinner.

The following morning it was a short drive to Port Arthur (we were literally round the corner) where we investigated the ruins, grounds and museum area before boat cruise around the harbour. After the boat cruise we made our way back towards Hobart, a couple of stops along the way, a small chocolate factory and the Tasmanian Devil Conservation park for those who wanted to. I took the opportunity to view the various animals including of course the Tasmanian Devil, Kangaroos, and various Australian birds.

We arrived back in Hobart at around 5.30 pm, time to get a shower and change and maybe do some washing. The tour might have ended when we got dropped at our accommodation, but some of the group still met up for a feed and a few Tasmanian beers.

Positives about this tour:

# Small group of just 21 mean you get to know most people and great if you are travelling as a couple, a group or on your own.
# Good level of interaction between tour group.
# Tour Guide did a fantastic job of cooking the many meals with some assistance by the tour group.
# Get to see a lot of Tasmania in a short amount of time.
# Cradle Mountain was a highlight for me
# Plenty of stops to stock up on snacks, coffee, beer and whatever else you might want.
# We stayed in accommodation exclusively for those on the tour
# In my opinion suitable for active, young minded people of ages 18 – 45

Negatives about this tour:

# Initial day starts pretty early, but you do get chance for a bit of a nap on the minibus.
# Time goes really quickly and it's all over really quickly