Tasmania

Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park
Jean-Paul Ferrero / Auscape International

Tasmania is bursting with wonderful surprises. A winding country road can suddenly reveal a colonial village, a boutique vineyard or a breathtaking ocean view like that of Wineglass Bay. From landscape and history to food and culture, Australia’s island state is a feast for travellers.

Although it is Australia’s smallest state – only 296 kilometres from south to north and 315 kilometres east to west – Tasmania’s territory also includes the Bass Strait islands and subantarctic Macquarie Island. A population of just over 488 000 is eclipsed by over half a million visitors each year, and Tasmania is famous for its friendly, welcome and relaxed pace of life.

The Palawa and Lia Pootah people have been here for around 35 000 years, and despite the terrible impact of white settlement, they are a large and increasingly influential community today. Middens are common around the coastline, showing where generations of Aboriginal people cooked shellfish meals.

Abel Tasman sighted and named Van Diemen’s Land in 1642, closely followed by French and British explorers. The British – never keen to be outdone by the French – acted in 1803 to establish a presence on the River Derwent. With the arrival of the British, white settlement got off to a rollicking and violent start as a penal colony for the first 50 years.

In more recent history, Tasmania is the home of the world’s first Greens party. Local environmental politics captured international attention in the 1980s when the No Dams campaign saved the Franklin River from being flooded for a hydro-electric scheme.

The island’s spirited cultural life includes the renowned Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, award-winning author Richard Flanagan and many arts and literary events.

Although two-thirds of the land is too harsh for farming, Tasmania has a growing reputation for boutique agriculture and aquaculture. A gastronomic circumnavigation of the island offers as much diversity as the landscape and a chance to discover Tasmania’s cool-climate wines, fresh seafood, fruits and fine cheeses.