A Tassie roadtrip

After years of barely venturing beyond Hobart, Leonie and her husband set off in their motorhome to explore Tasmania at a slower pace – discovering convict history, wild landscapes and unforgettable wildlife along the way.

By Leonie Jarrett

My husband and I live in Melbourne. Pretty close to Tasmania really. So, we always thought we’d explore Tassie some day. But, as is often the way when somewhere is close, we’d barely seen any of Tasmania. We had been to Hobart a couple of times but we’d never seen much else of Tasmania.

Last year, we bought a motorhome so that we could explore more of Australia at a slower pace. We decided that our first big trip would be to explore Tasmania. Almost a circumnavigation.

We allowed three and a half weeks, thinking that was almost overkill. Spoiler alert – it wasn’t! Other than Cradle Mountain, we only went to coastal places and, even then, we didn’t have time to see everything we wanted to see. Although we did give it a pretty good tilt!!

And we breathed the cleanest air in the world. Well, that’s what the skipper on our Pennicott Bruny Island cruise told us as we headed out past South Bruny Island towards the Southern Ocean. In the moment in that wonderful, wild place, surrounded by swirling seabirds, frolicking dolphins and majestic fur seals, it was hard to argue.

City or country?

Motorhomes and cities don’t mix that well. Ours is eight metres long with another metre or so for the bike rack. Having said that, we live in a big city so we didn’t go to Tasmania to look at cities. We went for the nature, the wildlife and the history. Not only did it deliver in spades but nature, wildlife and history all intersected.

As the song goes, here are a few of our favourite things….

Maria Island - an island off an island off an island

The ferry trip to Maria Island with Encounter Maria is about a 45 minute trip from Triabunna. When we arrived, we went into the Commissariat Store, dating from 1825, and we watched a fascinating video about the Tasmanian Devils bred in captivity and released on Maria Island. This learning made us appreciate the Devils even more when we visited the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo a few days later.

We picked up our hired bikes and rode about 15 minutes to the beautiful Painted Cliffs which can only be accessed at low tide. Waves, salty sea spray and weathering have carved intricate sandstone patterns and iron-rich groundwater has seeped through, creating layers of red, orange and yellow. The vivid, swirling colours and shapes are stunning.

We wandered the former main town of Darlington, part of the eleven heritage sites which comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site and are called The Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property. The 1842 Convict Probation station is recognised as the best preserved example of its kind globally.

For our dose of wildlife on Maria Island, we saw plenty of Cape Barren Geese, kangaroos and wallabies. As we walked back towards the ferry, we saw two wombats, an adult and a baby. They happily grazed and dug as onlookers kept a respectful distance.

The Port Arthur Historic Site – both achingly beautiful and achingly sad

Another of the eleven heritage sites, we had a private guided tour of this site of harsh secondary punishment which dates from 1830 to 1877. The 100 acre site is achingly beautiful yet the grim history is achingly sad.

Our Guide, Claire, told us many stories including about Port Puer (puer meaning a youth or boy). In the Port Arthur days, prisoners were transported as young as 9 years of age. The age of responsibility at the time was only 7!

Port Puer was the first juvenile reformatory under British control. The aim was to keep boys away from adult prisoners in overcrowded “universities of crime” and to teach them trades like shoe making and stone cutting. The boys also received compulsory religious education or “moral reformation.” Once educated, the boys were released into society as skilled workers.

With Claire, we walked through the still standing silent prison. Prisoners were kept in solitary confinement 23 of 24 hours. No talking was allowed and convicts, known only by a number, were hooded and masked when moved. It was a very cruel form of psychological punishment.

One of our favourite parts of our day at Port Arthur was the complimentary boat cruise of about 20 minutes through the sheltered harbour which is actually deeper than Sydney Harbour. The perspective of the Port Arthur settlement from the water is truly beautiful.

An Unzoo – what is that?

Very close to the Port Arthur Historic Site is the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo. Established in 1978 and still with the same owners, this was first a Tasmanian Devil Park but has been an Unzoo since 2014. Enclosures were removed so that the site is now somewhere between a wildlife park and the wild.

Jen took us on a private tour and she fed some wallaby to a Tasmanian Devil. I asked his name and was told that the Unzoo philosophy is not to name the animals so as to keep the wild aspect. Seeing the Devil eat the wallaby - bones, flesh, fur, skin, everything was a real treat. As Jen told us, a Tasmanian Devil has big teeth and amazing jaw power; enough to crush a human hand.

Seeing the Devils was a highlight of our entire trip but we saw other wildlife at Unzoo too – pademelons (like small wallabies), Cape Barren Geese, green rosellas (endemic to Tasmania) and Forester kangaroos. We delightedly hand-fed rosellas and kangaroos.

The wild and wonderful West Coast

Our highlight of our time in Strahan was a Gordon River cruise on the “Spirit of the Wild,” a 33.8m catamaran built in Tasmania and launched in 2018. We started in Macquarie Harbour, the second largest harbour in Australia and six times larger than Sydney Harbour. Only Port Phillip Bay in Victoria is bigger.

We then cruised through the narrow Hells Gates and into the Gordon River, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Seeing this pristine wilderness with our own eyes for the first time, we were very grateful to the protesters who stopped this area being dammed in the early 1980s.

The boat slowed and switched to silent electric motors as we silently glided through the dense green wilderness and cathedral-like rainforest.

So, what did we think?

Tourism Tasmania’s slogan is, “Come down for Air.” Maybe “Come down for Awe” is more apt.

Planning your Tassie road trip

How we travelled to Tassie:

·      We travelled on the Spirit of Tasmania from Melbourne (Geelong actually) to Devonport and back. That’s the only way to travel if you want to take a vehicle. The ferry crossing is about 10 hours. There are day and overnight sailings.  Note - new ships are coming late in 2026.

·      Alternatively, you can fly and rent a vehicle in Tasmania.

Maria Island:

·      Prebook the ferry and, with the ferry ticket, prebook bike hire. There are no e-bikes to hire.

·      Purchase a Parks Pass.

·      Pack all your food and water and take it all home with you.

·      Keep two metres away from wildlife 

·      We stayed in Triabunna for two nights so that we didn’t have to rush our day on Maria Island. You can walk to where the ferry departs and also to the IGA supermarket.

Port Arthur:

·      The entrance ticket enables visits over two, consecutive days. Devote at least one day to this incredible site.

·      Consider staying nearby as it is a reasonable drive from Hobart.

^{Feature image: Leonie Jarrett}

Leonie travelled at her own expense but with assistance for activities from Tourism Tasmania. She was a guest of Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, Tasmania Parks & Wildlife, Tourism Tasmania for the Encounter Maria trip, Port Arthur Historic Site for the visit and private tour, Tasmanian Devil Unzoo for the visit and private tour and NRMA for the Gordon River Cruise.

You can follow Leonie’s travels on Instagram at and on YouTube.

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