Tasmania

Tasmania is an island located 240 km off the south-east corner of mainland Australia. Next stop south is Antarctica, 2000 km away.
· Tasmania is a natural island with geography ranging from temperate rainforest and mountains on the west coast to sandy beaches on the east coast. A land of dramatic coastlines, rugged mountains, tall forests and sparkling highland lakes.
· First Tasmanian Aboriginals reached there 40,000 years ago.
· Tasmania is the smallest Australian state
· The population of Tasmania is 472,000.
· Main centres are Hobart (the capital city with 195,500 people), Launceston (98,500), Burnie (18,000) and Devonport (25,000)
· Tasmania has more than 2000 km of walking tracks and 18 national parks.
· The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area covers 1.38 million hectares which is about 1/3 of its surface.
· The average summer temperature is a comfortable 21°C.
· Winter's average is 12°C.
· In Tasmania there live several endemits p.e. Tasmanian devil
· Port Arthur Historic Site. Between 1830 and 1877 about 12,500 transported convicts were imprisoned at Port Arthur, on the shores of a beautiful bay and set against the tranquil hills and forest of the Tasman Peninsula. Many of the sandstone prison buildings remain and have been preserved. Archaeologists and historians have pieced together the history of the prison and the sad story is told in an excellent display in the visitor's centre. There are day and evening guided tours of the historic site (125 hectares), giving you an impression of what life might have been like in the 1800s for the convicts, soldiers and civilians. One in seven convicts at Port Arthur died there - you can take a cruise to the Isle of the Dead, where convicts and civilians were buried
· Oakford on the Pier is surrounded by water on three sides in the heart of the picturesque city docks. Everybody enjoys stunning views of the Derwent River there.
· Salamanca Place, in Sullivans Cove, Hobart's historic waterfront, is a long row of stylish Georgian sandstone warehouses built in the 1830s. The buildings now house boutiques, bars, bookshops, restaurants, outdoor cafes, art studios, craft galleries and jewellers. Each Saturday there's a famous market, where you can buy anything from a handmade wooden toy to a 50-year-old china plate. Across the road there are green lawns and park benches shaded by plane trees that twinkle with lights in the evenings. Behind Salamanca Place is Salamanca Square, where you can sit by the cooling fountain.
· Hunter Street was the birthplace of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). It was the old causeway of Hobart Town and it once joined Hunter Island to the stores of Sullivans Cove. Along the causeway flowed the food, animals, people and tools needed to start a new life so far away from Europe. As the colony began to prosper, merchants built fine big warehouses to holds the goods pouring into and out of Hobart Town.
· Federation Concert Hall is the magnificent new home of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Situated adjacent to the Hotel Grand Chancellor on Hobart's historic and beautiful waterfront, Federation Concert Hall hosted its first performance in October 2000.The venue has been designed first and foremost as a concert hall with priority given to high quality acoustics and performance needs. The principal architect, Garry Forward of Design Inc and the acoustic designer Peter Griffiths of Ove Arup worked closely with the TSO to design a space that is both functional and extremely beautiful. It is intimate but at the same time grand and seats nearly 1100 people. It is a truly magnificent performance venue that has enhanced the cultural life of Tasmania.
· Mount Wellington is situsted 22 km from Hobart. From the top you can see miles and miles up the Derwent Valley, down to the Southern Ocean and across to Port Arthur. The gulfs, bays, hills and this beautiful city are spread out in a stunning panorama, explained in detail in the lookout at the summit. Mt Wellington is part of the Wellington Park, which includes many other recognisable landmarks, including Sleeping Beauty and Collins Bonnet.
· In 1827 Joseph Fossey saw a dramatic mountain peak at the northern end of what is now the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, in the World Heritage Area. The mountain is one of the favourite features in the park and is surrounded by stands of native deciduous beech, rainforest,icy streams cascade down the mountainsides, and ancient pines are reflected in the still glacial lakes.
· The Lake St. Clair is the deepest in Australia (190 metres), scooped out by glaciers 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age. High dolerite cliffs rise from the water and there is a drowned moraine at the southern end.
· The Mole Creek Karst National Park contains more than 200 caves, which began to form about 30 million years ago. With a guide you can tour some of the caves and see animals that dwell in the dark, stalagmites that soar to lofty roofs, streams that disappear into the ground, glow-worms that twinkle like stars in this underground wonderland.