NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Tasmania: Wild walks and whisky

Sandra Conchie
By Sandra Conchie
Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·NZ Herald·
29 Nov, 2020 11:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Overland track. Photo / Getty Images

The Overland track. Photo / Getty Images

Not for sale

Sandra Conchie explores the eerily beautiful parks and heritage towns of Tasmania.

Silence surrounds us as we wander along the boardwalks running through the valleys of Tasmania's stunning Cradle Mountain National Park.

This famous heritage site is the awesome centrepiece of our journey through Australia's island state.

One of the country's premier national parks, it offers fantastic views of the superb glacier-sculpted mountain range, remote lakes and vast tracts of wild alpine.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Thankfully, the weather gods are kind and we get unobstructed views of Cradle Mountain.

This is prime bush-walking territory, from the week-long Overland Track, which winds its way 80km south of Lake St Clair, to shorter boardwalk hikes for the less adventurous. Dove Lake is the starting point for many of those hikes, and the purpose-built boardwalks allow you to meander at your own pace through the ancient forests.

Eerily beautiful and magical, it's definitely a part of Tasmania I'm keen to explore further.

Not all of Tasmania's attractions are so wholesome. We head west to the seaside town of Burnie, on the shores of Bass Strait. For 75 years Burnie key industry was papermaking.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Today, it's home to Australia's largest boutique whisky makers, Hellyers Road Distillery, which was named after Henry Hellyer who was the chief surveyor of the Van Dieman's Land Company.

In some ways, it's an unlikely location for whisky distillation — producing the spirit was outlawed in conservative Tasmania for 154 years from 1832-1992. Times have changed and the distillery's premier single-malt whisky has become a global smash. It also produces flavoured vodkas.

Leaving Burnie we head to Sheffield, Tassie's unique "town of murals" with its profusion of more than 50 fantastic murals which adorn the town's facades. Each depicts the town's rich pioneer history.

The annual Mural Fest ensures more works are added to the collection.

Discover more

Travel

1 in 50 chance of finding love in the air

31 Aug 01:53 AM
Travel

Flight check: Da Nang to Singapore

31 Aug 02:00 AM
Travel

Europe: Small cities with big appeal

02 Sep 12:00 AM
Travel

Pizza vending machine debuts in Japan

03 Sep 11:30 PM

We continue heading south through the picturesque Meander Valley to Tasmania's northern capital Launceston, pronounced "Lon-ceston", which is about 198km from Hobart.

Laidback Launceston, one of Australia's oldest cities with an estimated 66,000 residents, is a vibrant hub packed with city and country charms.

It's also a very walkable city so, armed with my camera, I head out and stroll past some of the city's most elegant stately heritage homes and buildings from the Victorian and Georgian eras. In my last few hours in Tassie, we visit Cataract Gorge, a glorious slice of wilderness right in the heart of the city, where friendly peacocks roam freely and the South Esk River flows below towering rock faces.

Two walking tracks straddle the gorge, and as visitors glide across the spectacular basin on the world's longest single-span chairlift it feels like we're a million miles away from town.

After a scenic drive through the Tamar Valley's rolling hills, we have lunch at award-winning Josef Chromy Winery.

It's the perfect way to toast my fellow passengers as we exchange contact details before I leave them behind to head home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

My jam-packed journey has only whetted my appetite to see more of Tasmania.

Please check the latest border restrictions in each state and territory before travelling, for more information visit australia.com

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM
Travel

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM
Herald NOW

Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

One pass, ten snowy adventures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM

The 2025 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index has been announced.

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM
Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

16 Jun 08:16 PM
Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP