10 days in Tassie - how best to do?

[drron]

There are quite a few towns that belong to the RV friendly scheme.Many allowing free overnight camping.I have not done it myself but worked a lot in Latrobe and out the back of the local supermarket was there RV site and it was free and with pumpout.Dont know about showers.
But here is one of the websites that explains it.
RV Friendly Towns Caravan Parks Free Overnight Stays Camping Tasmania

 

[RooFlyer]

Situation has got a bit complicated very recently when a court determined that a Council cannot offer 'free camping' where there is a commercial facility serving. That case was for one council but was assumed to now apply generally.

 

[Flashback]

My parents are going to come over and travel with us now, so once that all lines up I've worked out we're only left with a week so looks like this will be more of a taster trip of Southern Tassie. We'll basically have from the Friday till the following Wednesday evening.

Current thoughts are:
- Leave Hobart and head to Richmond and then onto Port Arthur
- Spend the night in Port Arthur, then look to do the Huon Trail
- 1 or 2 nights on Bruny Island (to visit at minimum, what I'm led to believe has Australia's southern most licensed pub? )
- 1 or 2 nights in the Huon Valley or further south
- That then leaves a night or two.... east coast maybe? Bay of Fires has been suggested

Based on that, a car & hotels/apartments may be a better option given the windy roads and ferry over to Bruny Island.

 

[Flashback]

Although, that being said.. something like this looks OK and doesn't seem too big, looks doable.

Cruisin Seeker - Campervan Hire Australia

About $235/day and has a toilet/shower onboard. Could be interesting.....!

Most sites seem to offer about the same pricing, if anyone has experience with them would be good to know. Cheapest seems to be VroomVroomVroom and DriveNow.com.au (only $45 over the full rental). Cancellation policies etc. all seem to look the same.

 

[RB]

Although, that being said.. something like this looks OK and doesn't seem too big, looks doable.

Cruisin Seeker - Campervan Hire Australia

About $235/day and has a toilet/shower onboard. Could be interesting.....!

Most sites seem to offer about the same pricing, if anyone has experience with them would be good to know. Cheapest seems to be VroomVroomVroom and DriveNow.com.au (only $45 over the full rental). Cancellation policies etc. all seem to look the same.

We hired a motorhome for 2 different holidays in New Zealand. We had the Fiat Ducato Maxi that we found to be a great size-smaller than the one you have linked. A few things we found at the time-(things may have changed):
1/ The Fiat was slightly wider than the Fords/Mercs so that the bed went the full width of the vehicle & faced from back to front of vehicle-this gave us the width of a king bed that we are used to
2/ The mob we rented off had a separate/independent gas heater in the back-very convenient & others lacked this
3/ Rear overhang & bed over the front cabin-our vehicles handled particularly well & it was easy to "know" how big you were & no need to adjust your driving. I know that some friends that own a motorhome have found the extended rear overhang is a real pain.
4/ The waste canister was very easy to handle
5/ Steps-our side steps didn't retract automatically & it is something that is easily overlooked
6/ We had a loo & shower onboard- shower was too small for me to contemplate

We hired a car for one of our Tassie trips-totally different style of holiday but just as enjoyable. Hired through vroom vroom & had no hassles

Photos of motorhome

 

[RooFlyer]

Current thoughts are:
- Leave Hobart and head to Richmond and then onto Port Arthur
- Spend the night in Port Arthur, then look to do the Huon Trail
- 1 or 2 nights on Bruny Island (to visit at minimum, what I'm led to believe has Australia's southern most licensed pub? )
- 1 or 2 nights in the Huon Valley or further south
- That then leaves a night or two.... east coast maybe? Bay of Fires has been suggested

That itinerary looks a bit awkward ( assuming you mean to do it in the order described).

Richmond and Port Arthur will be a rushed but probably necessary in your case. If you are doing the Huon the next day, would be good to return to Hobart, or near to it the same day.

Huon/Bruny good, but Im not sure if the pub is the most southern though ( even if it claims to be). Great food and bev on Bruny.

Bay of Fires is way too far north for you on this trip. Freycinet/ Wineglass Bay at a maximum but you might want to spend more time closer to Hobart. Salamanca Market on Saturday morning don't forget! Mount Wellington summit, wine and cheese tasting Coal River valley on way to Richmond; MONA etc.

 

[Flashback]

That itinerary looks a bit awkward ( assuming you mean to do it in the order described).

Richmond and Port Arthur will be a rushed but probably necessary in your case. If you are doing the Huon the next day, would be good to return to Hobart, or near to it the same day.

Huon/Bruny good, but Im not sure if the pub is the most southern though ( even if it claims to be). Great food and bev on Bruny.

Bay of Fires is way too far north for you on this trip. Freycinet/ Wineglass Bay at a maximum but you might want to spend more time closer to Hobart. Salamanca Market on Saturday morning don't forget! Mount Wellington summit, wine and cheese tasting Coal River valley on way to Richmond; MONA etc.

Sounds like I need to re-jig then! Looking at the map that seemed OK. Doh.

I had seen the Salamanca market and was in 2 minds about whether we'd go or not, if we do - it means delaying setting off by another day, so that then means Fri in Hobart, Saturday morning in Hobart, then head off to Richmod & Port Arthur from there, spending the night in Port Arthur on Saturday night.

That then leaves working out the plan of attack for.... Sunday to Wednesday (need to be back in Hobart Wednesday evening as our flight leaves Thursday morning @ OMG o'clock).

 

[RooFlyer]

Check driving times on Google; remember most Tas roads are winding and relatively slow; Hobart to Bay of Fires is 4 hrs, driving only.

I think you will all enjoy 4 days south of Hobart in the Huon/Bruny environment. Check restaurants and gourmet places and you'll be right.

There is the Airport Travelodge at the entrance to the airport for your early flight back (if you don't Van it), but call them re the timing of their early 'shuttle' to the airport - I think they do something stupid like rely on the coach from the city for flights around 6am which comes by at abt 4:30am or something stupid therefore completely obviating the concept of 'airport hotel'.

 

[Cossie]

Not all rental companies allow their vehicles to go to Bruny Island, best to check first.

 

[VPS]

Not all rental companies allow their vehicles to go to Bruny Island, best to check first.

IIRC Avis let me but I had to get special permission and I have a feeling that there was a higher excess

 

[RooFlyer]

Unfortunately this comes about by the existence of some narrow, dirt roads on Bruny and a high incidence of rental cars going off them/rolling etc.

 

[Flashback]

Unless I find a cracking deal with any other rental agency, Hertz looks like it permits it (the AMEX Plat EMEA discount gives a pretty good price if we go for the car option over the RV option).

AutoRent Frequently Asked Questions

Can I take the vehicle out of Tasmania?
Vehicles may not be taken out of Mainland Tasmania without prior written agreement. It's permitted to utilise the vehicle on Bruny Island.

While searching, I even found a post on TripAdvisor from our very own drron (post 14)! (Rental Car for Bruny Island? - Bruny Island Message Board - TripAdvisor)

Given we're only going to be covering fairly short distances, it looks like maybe for this trip a car and motel/hotel option looks to be the better bet.

RooFlyer, you mentioned maybe my route plan was off in terms of order - what would you suggest?

 

[RooFlyer]

It was your suggestion of doing Port Arthur first, and east coast last, with south of Hobart in between. Port Arthur then east coast then back to Hobart would have minimised travel, but I don't think you are doing east coast any more.

If you haven't found this yet, its a very good site: Discover Tasmania

 

[VPS]

Personally as a non biased South Australian I found Wineglass Bay much nicer than Bruny Island

 

[Flashback]

After somewhat of a travel planners planning block, I've finally gained the motivation to start doing a bit more research and planning on this. Similar to my recent trip to the Balkans it's going to be pretty fast paced with lots fit in - but I think it's doable!

We would have left Hobart a day earlier, but the attraction of the Saturday morning markets at Salamanca tied our hands on that one.

What we're currently looking at and about to start booking (unless anyone has any major suggestions or think this isn't achievable!):
- Leave Hobart Saturday lunchtime after having visited Salamanca markets and stop in Richmond on our way to Port Arthur (1 night in Port Arthur)
- Up early on Sunday, do various attractions around Port Arthur (consider also a jet boat ride on Pennicott Journeys) and then set off late afternoon/early evening for the ~3 hour drive to Coles Bay. One option would be to break up the drive and spend the night somewhere else, but then it reduces our time around Coles Bay/Freycinet and would mean an earlier start the next day anyway). (1/2 nights Coles Bay)
- Up early on Monday and some hiking around the Freycinet National Park (Wineglass Bay, etc.) (2/2 nights Coles Bay)
- Meander from Coles Bay to Hamilton via Bothwell (1 night Hamilton)
- Meander from Hamilton to Hobart via New Norfolk (1 night Hobart)
- Fly out OMG O'Clock

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I am putting my suggestion of Corinna up again. Lovely relaxing little place on the remote west coast

Corinna | Wilderness Retreat | At Home In The Wilderness

 

[Flashback]

I am putting my suggestion of Corinna up again. Lovely relaxing little place on the remote west coast

Corinna | Wilderness Retreat | At Home In The Wilderness

I think time is going to be against us on this trip! Guess I'll have to schlep across the globe another time to get to NW Tassie

 

[Flashback]

After somewhat of a travel planners planning block, I've finally gained the motivation to start doing a bit more research and planning on this. Similar to my recent trip to the Balkans it's going to be pretty fast paced with lots fit in - but I think it's doable!

We would have left Hobart a day earlier, but the attraction of the Saturday morning markets at Salamanca tied our hands on that one.

What we're currently looking at and about to start booking (unless anyone has any major suggestions or think this isn't achievable!):
- Leave Hobart Saturday lunchtime after having visited Salamanca markets and stop in Richmond on our way to Port Arthur (1 night in Port Arthur)
- Up early on Sunday, do various attractions around Port Arthur (consider also a jet boat ride on Pennicott Journeys) and then set off late afternoon/early evening for the ~3 hour drive to Coles Bay. One option would be to break up the drive and spend the night somewhere else, but then it reduces our time around Coles Bay/Freycinet and would mean an earlier start the next day anyway). (1/2 nights Coles Bay)
- Up early on Monday and some hiking around the Freycinet National Park (Wineglass Bay, etc.) (2/2 nights Coles Bay)
- Meander from Coles Bay to Hamilton via Bothwell (1 night Hamilton)
- Meander from Hamilton to Hobart via New Norfolk (1 night Hobart)
- Fly out OMG O'Clock

As there doesn't seem to be any "no this isn't possible" comments, I shall crack on with booking the rental car and accommodation

 

[Flashback]

All accommodation booked now, was pretty easy using booking.com to find places that would cater for 4 adults (2 couples). Most nights we booked direct with the accommodation as even with the CC surcharge it was less than booking.com. We ended settling on the small town of Bothwell rather than Hamilton as we found a quaint looking place (Whites Corner). Short overnight stop anyway then off through Hamilton and New Norfolk back to Hobart.

 

[Steady]

All accommodation booked now, was pretty easy using booking.com to find places that would cater for 4 adults (2 couples). Most nights we booked direct with the accommodation as even with the CC surcharge it was less than booking.com. We ended settling on the small town of Bothwell rather than Hamilton as we found a quaint looking place (Whites Corner). Short overnight stop anyway then off through Hamilton and New Norfolk back to Hobart.

I’ll be passing through Bothwell tomorrow