Tasmania and the Sheffield Steamfest by Rail, Road and River

This morning after breakfast, join your tour leader for a tour of the extensive Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Australia’s largest regional gallery. Spread over several ‘precincts’, part of which is housed in the refurbished railway yards and workshops, your tour includes the working tramway museum and blacksmith shop. Enjoy a tram ride at the Launceston Tramway Museum before having some free time for lunch.

After lunch, we’ll head a short way out of town to explore Entally Estate where the story of the inspiring Mary Reibey is revealed. An English-born merchant, who was transported to Australia as a convict, gained her freedom and became a shipowner and an astute, successful businesswoman. She  was a favourite of Governor Macquarie as he saw her as an example of the value of integrating convicts who had served their sentence back into society.

The Estate is a historic house museum, including Australia’s oldest conservatory, chapel, stables & carriage house, with magnificent gardens and a vineyard. Enjoy a guided tour and afternoon tea, before returning to the city to enjoy an evening at leisure.

Your tour leader will give you as many suggestions as you want for places to eat and drink – you might want to drop into the famous Red Brick Cider House for a drop of outstanding Tassie cider!

Overnight: Peppers Silo Hotel, Launceston (B)

Today provides a gentle day of coach touring and a heritage train ride at Tasmania’s oldest heritage railway and museum built on the remains of an old logging, mining, and rural service branch line.

After breakfast and check out, we’ll head out on Highway 1 along the Tamar Valley from Launceston to Devonport, learning along the way about the district and its development as the northern maritime gateway for Tasmania, before arriving at the station of the Don River Railway. A not-for-profit organisation owned and operated by its members and volunteers, this outstanding heritage railway museum was established in 1973 with the charter to preserve and present Tasmania’s railway history for everyone to enjoy.

You’ll have plenty of time to explore the extensive depot, workshops, heritage locomotives and carriages (celebrating the incredible work and commitment of volunteers at every turn) before boarding the vintage train for a short journey traversing the east bank of the Don River to the terminus at Coles Beach.

We’ll enjoy lunch together at a local favourite before transferring to our hotel in Devonport, our home for the next three nights.

Dinner this evening is at the hotel.

Overnight: Novotel, Devonport (B, L, D)

After an early breakfast this morning, it’s off to the heritage town of Sheffield to enjoy a day at the iconic and internationally celebrated SteamFest Festival. SteamFest brings history to life with one of the biggest collections of working steam machinery in Australia. Highlights include steam train rides, exhibitions of pioneering skills, including blacksmithing, and historic machinery displays, such as steam-powered threshers, rock crushers and vintage cars, all epitomising how things were done in days gone by. You’ll have time to also explore this marvellous town, famous for hosting one of Australia’s best collections of old advertising street art.

In the late afternoon, we return to our hotel for an evening at leisure.

Overnight: Novotel, Devonport (B)

Today after breakfast we hop back into our private coach and travel west along the northern coastline to Stanley, a romantic historic port town sitting on a slender sliver of land jutting out into the Bass Strait on Tasmania’s north west coast.

Stanley is remarkable for its incredibly well-preserved colonial buildings and its massive volcanic plug, cheekily called “the Nut”, which rises 150 metres out of the water and dominates the town skyline.

Historically, the town itself is living testament to the ravenous hunger for economic expansion so often present in colonialism.  In the 19th century, British businessmen were interested in developing colonial resources in Australia to ensure a cheap supply of wool to fuel the growing textile factories in Britain. As such, the Van Diemen’s Land Company was formed in May 1824, and in November 1825, officials arrived from England with a royal charter to take control of 250,000 acres of land, and establish its headquarters at Circular Head (now Stanley). The rest, as they say, is history.

We’ll enjoy lunch in a local café and explore the town before returning to Devonport for an evening at leisure.

Overnight: Novotel, Devonport (B, L)

After breakfast and check out, we’ll board our private coach for the journey down the West Coast to our final destination, the old seaport town of Strahan, via the iconic World Heritage Area of Cradle Mountain. From moss-covered ancient rainforests and deep river gorges to snow-covered mountain peaks, wild alpine moorlands and glacial lakes, the park is revered for its diverse and breath-taking landscapes.

We’ll visit the famous Dove Lake and the King Billy forests, and you’ll have the opportunity to ‘meet’ some Devils at the Cradle Tasmanian Devil sanctuary, or wander the wonderful network of scenic boardwalks around the National Park. With your leader guiding the way,

you’ll have free time to get some lunch before heading to Strahan, our home for the next three nights.

Dinner tonight will be rather special – the View 42° Restaurant and Bar, is located on a hilltop overlooking Strahan’s village and harbour and is renowned for its seafood.

Overnight: Hotel Strahan Village, Strahan (B, D)

After breakfast this morning, we’ll stroll down to the wharf and board the sleek and comfortable ‘Spirit of the Wild’, a 33.8m catamaran, purpose-built for cruising on the Gordon River in the sensitive environment of the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, for an adventure around the historic Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River.

The cruise, which includes a Chef-prepared buffet lunch, will take you on a once-in-a-lifetime  journey navigating the calm waters of one of the world’s last great, untouched wilderness areas, including the notorious Hells Gate, Heritage Landing and the remains of Sarah Island, a once dreaded penal colony.

Later this afternoon after arriving back in Strahan, we’ll watch a live performance of Australia’s longest-running play, “The Ship That Never Was”, the dramatic and hilarious story of the great convict escape from Sarah Island – a story with daring, humour, adventure, pirates, romance, betrayal and a fantastic twist in the tale.

Dinner this evening is at leisure.

Overnight: Hotel Strahan Village, Strahan (B, L)

Today we’ll experience a diesel train journey on the famous West Coast Wilderness Railway. The journey takes us along the harbour and over the Iron Bridge at Teepookana, once a thriving port town before disembarking at Lower Landing at the King River Gorge. Time for a short walk and taste the local honey, before returning back to Strahan. Magnificent rainforest vistas, wild rivers topped off with a locally inspired light lunch, refreshments and sparkling wine along the way are all part of the character of this journey.

In the afternoon we head to Zeehan and the West Coast Heritage Centre, which offers a unique insight into the history and heritage of the West Coast of Tasmania.

The Centre incorporates four historic buildings,  the Zeehan School of Mines and Metallurgy, Zeehan Post Office, Police Station-Court house, and the Gaiety Theatre-Grand Hotel, where one can explore the mining relics in the yard of the School of Mines or climb aboard a historic train, stroll through the region’s history in our photographic galleries or watch Edwardian films in the majestic Gaiety Theatre. Returning to Strahan, dinner tonight is at the hotel.

Overnight: Hotel Strahan Village, Strahan (B, L, D)

This morning after breakfast and checking out, we’ll jump back on our private coach for the scenic coach trip to Hobart, exploring some interesting sites along the way. Our first stop will be at unique and world class ‘The Wall in The Wilderness’, a stunning, 100-metre long wood carving depicting the history, hardship and perseverance of the people in the Central Highlands and paying homage to the individuals who settled and protected the area. Created and carved by world-renowned artist Greg Duncan, mainly in the rare Huon Pine, each metre of the panels, including horses, thylacines and foresters represents a month’s work. There is nothing like this anywhere else in Australia.

Lunch will be at the quirky Derwent River Wilderness Hotel, the halfway point to Hobart. After arriving in Hobart later in the afternoon, we’ll go directly to our hotel in the heart of the Hobart waterfront and check in. In a showcase of understated elegance by design, The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, is an architectural symphony; an overture of 1840s Georgian heritage, building to 1940s Art Deco, and a 2020s modern extension finale. Original sandstone contrasts spectacularly with a glass-encased prism of modern architecture.

Dinner is at leisure to enjoy the hotel’s facilities or explore the many restaurants and bars in the vicinity.

Overnight: Movenpick, Hobart (B, L)

Today is free for you to simply indulge in the hotel’s facilities or get out and about to explore this charming and compact capital city. You’ll have the option of exploring the iconic waterside Salamanca Markets with more than 300 stalls showcasing Tasmanian food, handmade jewellery and clothing, timbers, vintage collectables, and more. The markets are a great place to have some lunch if you’re there around that time. You might also want to check out Mawson’s Hut Museum, the Tasmanian Distillery Museum, or the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

Overnight: Movenpick, Hobart (B)

Our last day in Tasmania presents a feast of contrasts starting with an historic walking tour exploring the history and character of the city and its pivotal place in Australia’s early development.

After lunch at leisure in Hobart, we’ll  hop on our private coach for a short tour further afield to some of the interesting sites outside the city including some time to view the extensive collection at the fascinating Tasmanian Transport Museum at Glenorchy, before returning to the hotel for some free time to relax.

For those that would like to, you can drop by the astounding and acclaimed Museum of Old and New Art, (MONA), the largest privately funded museum in Australia, to do your own exploration at leisure. You can then make your way back by fast ferry to the heart of the city, a short walk from our hotel.

Our farewell dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

Overnight: Movenpick, Hobart (B, L)

Our tour ends after breakfast this morning. (B)