Expert: Ian Smith - 4/14/2004

Question
Greetings Ian,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Australia this October - December.  Our itinerary has us arriving in Hobart on November 10, departing for Adelaide on November 18.  We are renting a car during our stay and would like advice on a route that would take us to the 'best' of Tasmania.  We have done some reading and definitely want to see Freycinct and Cradle Mountain.  

We are in our early 50's quite active (we live in bush Alaska) and although interested in historical sites like Port Arthur, are more drawn to the natural scenery.

We would like some assistance in planning a daily itinerary as we are unsure how much territory we can comfortably cover in a day.  If you can provide some advice in the arena, with a route and suggested overnight locations, we would be much better prepared to do some web research on available accommodations.

If you are also familiar with Adelaide and are willing to 'accept' another question from me, I will follow up later with an additional inquiry.

Thanks so much.

JoAnne Yerkes
Shell Lake, Alaska

Answer
O.K., a couple of other places you should definitely consider are the Pieman River Cruise and don't miss the Tahune State Forest.
Tasmania has some great B&Bs, just try "Google" and you'll come up with heaps and the Tasmanian Tourist Information Centre is also very helpful.
The motels are average and you can find them in most civilized towns.  5 star is not something Tassie is noted for, more around 3 stars.
Rather than go into detail here, get into my "virtualtourist" site which you can do by clicking on the "members" spot and then typing in "iandsmith".
I have heaps of pictures and detailed information there.
You will also find my Adelaide pages there.
The Adelaide hills will be a must for you.  There is an excellent walk from the bottom to the top that takes a bit over an hour each way.
If you want more info, write to me on "iandsmith69@hotmail.com".
Cheers, Ian