Gondwana's Legacy

Just after seven in the evening, the Spirit of Tasmania I slowly moves away from the quay. But it’s not the classic mooring ropes being cast off – instead, six double sets of giant suction cups release their grip on the ship. Automated mooring, they call this process. It’s an impressive feat of technology, as …

Show destinationsGeelong – Bass Strait – Devonport – Latrobe – Railton – Sheffield – Cradle Mountain–Lake St Claire National Park – Dove Lake – Ronny Creek

Then the azure bay turned red

Maybe she was starving when she stole that piece of bacon. But the judge had no sympathy for her. Mary Dodd was just seventeen when she was sentenced to seven years in prison – a sentence she had to serve in Tasmania, a distant and unknown land she had never even heard of. The thought of …

Show destinationsChudleigh – Deloraine – Launceston – Cataract Gorge Reserve – Campbell Town – Freycinet National Park – Honeymoon Bay – Wineglass Bay – Cape Tourville – Sleepy Bay – Richardson’s Beach

Sailed for and discovered in the year 1642

In 1832, a carriage travelled for the first time from Hobart to Launceston. It must have been a colourful sight – coachmen in their scarlet-red jackets, white beaver hats, boots, and suspenders. The route they followed is now known as the Heritage Highway, a stone road built entirely by convicts. Just like the Old Convicts Road, which ...

Show destinationsSpiky Bridge – Richmond – Richmond Gaol – Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary – Hobart – Battery Point