978 Travel Guide

The Wesley Uniting Church at 56 Melville Street, Hobart, is one of Tasmania's oldest churches still in use. Its predecessor was a Wesleyan Methodist place of worship: construction of the church began in 1837, growing out of a Methodist chapel site offered by local merchant David Lord, and it stands among the most historic Methodist buildings in Australia. In 1977, with the national union of denominations, the congregation joined the Uniting Church in Australia. The dignified early colonial church architecture and its long faith history make it a heritage landmark worth pausing at in Hobart.

The Wonders of Wynyard Exhibition and Visitor Information Centre sits on Exhibition Link in the centre of the north-west Tasmanian town of Wynyard, sharing its building with the local visitor information centre and open free of charge. Its centrepiece is the internationally recognised Ransley Veteran Car Collection, displaying more than 14 early motor vehicles, including one of the oldest surviving Fords in the world, with remarkable coachwork and mechanical detail. Alongside the vintage cars the centre presents local and regional historical artefacts and houses a small shop selling souvenirs — a natural stop on any drive along Tasmania's north-west coast.

The Tarkine (takayna in the local Aboriginal language) is a vast wilderness of about 450,000 hectares in north-west Tasmania, protecting Australia's largest, and the Southern Hemisphere's largest single tract (world's second-largest), of temperate rainforest. Forest, wetlands, sea-misted dunes and mountains coexist here, sheltering ancient myrtle beech and huon pine plus more than 60 rare, threatened or endangered species of flora and fauna, along with significant Aboriginal heritage. It is bounded by the Arthur River to the north and the Pieman River to the south. Short walks from the Arthur River area and the Philosopher Falls track lead deep into the interior.

Triabunna is a small coastal town on Spring Bay in eastern Tasmania, about 1.5 hours from Hobart and 2.5 hours from Launceston on the Tasman Highway (A3). It is the official gateway to Maria Island National Park: a passenger ferry runs daily from Triabunna's wharf to Darlington (a 30-45 minute crossing). The town retains its fishing, seafood and processing heritage, and the old woodchip-mill site known as Spring Bay Mill has been reimagined as a cultural venue. Maria Island's convict probation-station ruins are part of a World Heritage property, and the island is home to wombats and other wildlife.

Don River Railway sits at Don near Devonport in Tasmania, run by volunteers and one of the state’s leading rail-heritage attractions. It holds Tasmania’s largest collection of historic locomotives and carriages; visitors can walk through the open restoration workshop and see the original Devonport signal box and vintage station buildings. The highlight is a vintage train journey of about 30 minutes along the Don Reserve to Coles Beach and back, running Thursday to Sunday. The site opens Wednesday 9:00-12:00 and Thursday-Sunday 9:00-15:00; museum-only entry is 5 AUD, while the train costs adult 20, senior 17.50, child (4-17) 15 and family 60, with under 3 free. Unusually, leashed pets are welcome on the train and grounds, and both the site and Coles Beach have free BBQs and picnic areas.

Longford sits in northern Tasmania, 20 km south of Launceston, on the Norfolk Plains with remarkably intact Georgian sandstone architecture protected across the town centre. Visitors can collect the National Trust Path of History map and self-guide 34 heritage buildings, including Christ Church (built 1839) and the old Toll House. Just outside town are the UNESCO-listed convict estates Brickendon and Woolmers, the latter home to one of the Southern Hemisphere’s finest historic rose gardens. From 1953 to 1968 Longford’s streets became the Longford Circuit, then the fastest motor-racing circuit in the Southern Hemisphere, hosting several Australian Grands Prix; the Country Club Hotel still displays racing memorabilia.