If you like the kind of adventure where you feel that the towns, villages, coastlines and parklands that you pass through remain relatively untouched, Tasmania's Great Nature Trail is the ideal journey for you.
This route takes you from the abundant wildlife found in Narawntapu National Park to the island's remote and remarkable far north-west coast.
Over four magical days you will experience not only the spectacular sights of this thriving region, but also the hearty hospitality of the down-to-earth locals that is often hard to find in other parts of the world.
Along the way you will discover seal colonies, penguin rookeries, platypuses, caves, canyons, waterfalls and a sunken blackwood forest – this is truly an animal and nature lover's journey of a lifetime.
In the national park you have a great opportunity to see Forester kangaroos among many other wonderful animal species.
From here you travel through Devonport and Burnie – the main towns of the region – which are home to rich history, fascinating culture and fresh local cuisine.
You will also pass smaller seaside villages such as Ulverstone and Penguin, where time can feel like it has stopped still. It stops still even further in the Leven Canyon, where either from a river cruise or an ascent to an astounding lookout, the views will make you appreciate what nature has laid out here. Penguin is also home to one of Australia’s ‘bigs’ – a Big Penguin … what else. But you can also catch the animals themselves along the coastline.
To the west lie lies fertile soil full of thriving vegetation, with commercial flower gardens blooming high above the ocean.
On the border of the Tarkine wilderness visitors reach the Edge of the World at Arthur River. Here you will be able to cruise to the ocean though majestic tall eucalypts and dense rainforest.
The Van Diemen's Land Company set up headquarters at Highfield House near Stanley, where it planned to grow wool for the British textile industry.
But the vast sheep station the pastoralists envisaged never came to fruition (they established it further west on the coast at Woolnorth) due to the rugged surrounding land and impenetrable forest – strongholds of nature that you will discover for yourself.
