Maria Island, a world heritage national park, is just off Tasmania's east coast between the Freycinet Peninsula and Hobart so Susie de Carteret had suggested that we might like to stop there for a few hours on our last full day in Australia's southernmost state. And what a brilliant idea that turned out to be!
Yes! Blue skies. Finally. Which was pleasant for our 350km drive across the top of Tasmania from the Mountain Valley Retreat to St Helens on the east coast. I was again struck by how quickly the landscape changes...
From Strahan to the Mountain Valley Eco Retreat, advertised as set “in the lost vally of Loongana”. Nestled at the bottom of the valley along the Leven river, the nature reserve is off the mobile phone grid and there is no internet...
On our way here it was but a short detour to see the famous view of Cradle Mountain from Dove Lake...
The 300 km drive from Hobart on Tasmania's east coast to Strahan on the west, takes you through a bewildering variety of landscapes and climates...
The Sandridge bridge tells the interesting tale of Australia's inhabitants, from the first to the most recent
First impressions of Melbourne: urban signposts, Fitzroy and the Melbourne Museum.
So, Tasmanian Odyssey has come up trumps and Susie has managed, overnight, to organise a fantastic week-long tour for us, as you can see on the map above. She's provided amazingly detailed instructions...
To be honest Tasmania would not likely have been high on my list of "must see" places if it weren't for the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) in the state capital Hobart...
