Planning Trip to Tassie

[Chief]

Hi Guys, a Victorian here looking at coming down in January (~ about four days) for sight seeing (and for the glorious roads, or so I hear ).

Im in the planning stages determining travel path, hotels, 98RON petrol availability costs, etc.. and I was hoping to get a few tips from the locals on these issues amongst others.

A few questions and issues that I need help on:

1. What is 98RON availability status currently? If its still really hard to come buy I need to stock up on octane boosters before I come

2. Police presence, am I likely to get hassled by the local law enforcement authorities ? not that my car is really modded, its pretty quiet and fairly stock, but some places you go, you have issues anyways.

3.Some suggested places I could visit for sight seeing, and cruising, good roads with lots of nature around me, this is what Im coming to Tassie for.

4. Motel costs and availability in Tassie. At the moment my plan is to get to Tassie, and with a pre determined travel path worked out, just find a local motel where I can stay for the evening, and move on the following day. Is finding accomodation in Jan going to be difficult?

Any help will be greatly appreciated......

Cheers!

[Nutsack]

I wrote a long message but accidentally deleted it

[Nutsack]

But basically

No 98RON fuel

Police are not a problem up north

Lots of good scenic roads

Should be OK with accomodation

[Chief]

Thanks for the input Nutsack, no 98RON... how about 95RON availability?

If theres 95RON and I carry with me a few bottles of Octane booster it shouldnt be a problem.

Now if no 95RON, Im in trouble methinks..

As far as driving routes go, are the main highways the best way to get about or are there lesser known secondary roads that are better for the scenic/driving experience?

[Drifterdan]

Yes we have 95 ron at most servo's. You can get 98 ron but it only comes in barrels at around $1.70ish per/L.

Cops arn't a problem unless you speed heaps or do burnouts, they have anti hoon laws here so you can lose your car.

The roads are nice and twisty but poor quality in general so if you have hard suspesion bring a pillow...

Dont know about routes though.

[Nutsack]

Are you going to stay up north or head down south?

Theres some nice scenic routes around up where I am.... Maybe you'd like to go to cradle mountain for a look?

[Chief]

Both north and south Nutsack, am planning to try and go right round tassie in four days, dont know if this is realistic, but I wont be staying in one place too long though.

Im really looking for some wilderness rainforest areas which I love to see; wilderness costal areas in particular. Cradle mountain sounds good, sounds very good love the twisty stuff through alpine regions. Will have to get more info on exact location though, as Ive never heard of it.

Im curious on the Targa tasmania route, this sounds quite interesting. Does targa tassie route cover most of tasmania or is it located at particular areas?

I think this is a good start for me selecting route of travel. Want to see as much of tassie as possible. Is there a Tasmanian rural road directory available at all, I think this will be really handy for me; actually its prob a necessity in case I get lost.

[Drifterdan]

We have lots of wilderness types of places, but I doubt many of them would be on Targa stages.

There's not really one big Targa route as such but a lot of stages in different places. A lot of them are in residential areas too...But then again, some of the better roads away from suburbia arn't even Targa stages. Theres a good one near Cygnet but not much too look at in a sight seeing sence.

[Nutsack]

You need more than 4 days. All you'll be doing is driving with not much time to stop and enjoy things.

I f you want to sleep cheap bring a tent and a sleeping bag and stay in caravan parks!

Last time I did that on the mainland its about $10 a person and you have toilets, showers and some security

[Nutsack]

You need more than 4 days. All you'll be doing is driving with not much time to stop and enjoy things.

I f you want to sleep cheap bring a tent and a sleeping bag and stay in caravan parks!

Last time I did that on the mainland its about $10 a person and you have toilets, showers and some security.

I could draw some routes on a map if you wanted to meet me somewhere or get a scan of a map and send me.

[Chief]

OK possible route:

Start at Launceston, head east to St Helens, then straight down the coast down to Port Arthur.

From Port Arthur to Hobart and go south as far as Southport, then return to Hobart and then on to New Norfolk and Strathgordon for Wilderness cruising (this bit looks great for cruising).

From Strathgordon back on the A10 travelling north to Queenstown and Strahan. Return to Queenstown and travel north to Cradle Mountain.

From Cradle Mountain to Somerset, and head west to Marrawah. Then head East to Devonport and onto Launceston.

This is what Im thinking of atm, Will mostly stay on the main highways as I assuming these will be the best roads to drive on. I know I have missed most of the central regions, are they worth looking into?

Any places that you all think I should go see around my travel path or otherwise? Any suggestions will be great. Thanks for all your suggestions so far.

Nutshack, I realize 4 days wont be enough to come even close to seeing it all but this is all the time Ive got atm.

The other thing is while I have a route for travel Im not sure what to expect as far as travel times and what to schedule on each day.

[Chief]

At the moment (ATM) its:

Arrive Sunday morn 7am.

Sunday: Launceston to Port Arthur (although this doesnt give me much time to see much of east coast.

Monday: Port Arthur to Southport and Back to Hobart, and move northwest possibly staying at Strathgordon overnight.

Tuseday:Strathgordon to Strauhan /Queenstown. Queenstown to Cradle Mountain(if time permitting otherwise skip cradle mountain) then north and west to Marrawati, staying overnight somewhere on the north coast.

Wednesday: Back to Launceston by mid afternoon ~5pm and leave with ferry at 7pm.

[Wogboy]

What ferry are you catching? Ferries from Tas leave from Devonport.

[Chief]

Doh, yeh thats right!

Hmm, might plan my trip in reverse, starting in Devonport and goin southwest first then east to hobart then north up east coast and return to devonport via Launceeston.

Only thing is maybe wont have time to really see all those areas Ive mentioned, thinking of dropping the far north west (Marrawah) or far south (Southport) to give me more time at other places.

What do you guys think? is Southport and Marrawah worth visiting or other areas better?

[Nutsack]

Theres not too much down marrawah way last time I was there anyway. Dont think Ive ever been to Southport either so not much help

Have a good trip

[PHaT MR30]

best bet in launceston is Caltex Vortex Gold and from the Charles St station, opposite Coles

[hotsky]

what is the road from hobart to queestown and then say strauhn to devonport like condition wise.. and how long would you recommomend allowing time wise to get along these points..taking it easy (nice cruising)......hob to queen i have been quoted between 2 1/2 and 5 hours

most important is from strauhn to dev..gotta get the boat the same day

[Wogboy]

what is the road from hobart to queestown and then say strauhn to devonport like condition wise.. and how long would you recommomend allowing  time wise to get along these points..taking it easy (nice cruising)......hob to queen i have been quoted between 2 1/2 and 5 hours

most important is from strauhn to dev..gotta get the boat the same day

Hobart to Queeny is 2 1/2 to 3 hrs cruzin, road is in good condition but is windy, Queeny to Strahan is 1/2 to 3/4 hrs also windy, Strahan to Devonport via Zeehan is again 2 1/2 to 3 hrs cruzin, road again is in good condition and not as windy as Hobart to Queeny.

Hope this helps, all in all good roads scoot a Skyline along!

[hotsky]

thanks heaps wogboy, this helps alot to know wether to do a gordon river cruise in strauhn before leave strauhn for the boat or not...one other smaller Q is from strahun heading to Dav...would you suggest getting there thru the hampshire wya to burnie then dav or thru shefield to dav? scenery isnt a concern..mainly the quickest easiest drive

brad

[Wogboy]

thanks heaps wogboy, this helps alot to know wether to do a gordon river cruise in strauhn before leave strauhn for the boat or not...one other smaller Q is   from strahun heading to Dav...would you suggest getting there thru the hampshire wya to burnie then dav or thru shefield to dav?  scenery isnt a concern..mainly the quickest easiest drive

brad

If you go thru the Cradle Link road (via Sheffield) it's about 30-40mins quicker than going thru Burnie.

Am on the boat tomorrow myself for a few weeks, heading from Melb up the Pacific Hwy to Sydney and Brisbane, to have a bit of a look!