Tasmania (Hobart Region)
Forestier and Tasman Peninsula
The fastest route from Hobart to the Tasman Peninsula heads northeast along the Tasman Highway and then across the Sorell Causeway to the small town of Sorell, your last chance for full shopping and any banking; on the huge expanse of Pittwater, windsurfers are out in force on a sunny day.

From Sorell, the Arthur Highway heads 34km southeast to Dunalley (fuel available), where a bridge crosses the narrow isthmus to the Forestier Peninsula. The bridge regularly opens to let boats through, which can cause delays. Once across, it’s a further 42km to the infamous Eaglehawk Neck, the narrow point connecting the two peninsulas, once guarded by vicious dogs that in effect turned the Tasman Peninsula into a kind of prison island.
Port Arthur, at the very bottom of the Tasman Peninsula, is the major attraction, but the hardly developed peninsula has several good bushwalks, and some impressive rock formations on the rough ocean side. Some of the finest coastal features are around Eaglehawk Neck: just to the north, there’s the Tessellated Pavement, onto which you can climb down at low tide; and to the south, off the highway, a fierce blowhole, the huge Tasman Arch, and the Devils Kitchen, a sheer rock cleft into which the sea surges. The Tasman Trail is an exhilarating coastal walk starting from the Devils Kitchen and ending at Fortescue Bay, which has a good camping area (otherwise, the bay is 12km down a dirt road east off the Arthur Highway). 

South of Port Arthur, several walking tracks begin from Remarkable Cave: to Crescent Bay (5hr return), Mount Brown (5hr return) and Maingon Blowhole (3hr return). At the time of writing, much of this area was awaiting declaration as the Tasman National Park. When it’s established, park fees will apply and a NPWS visitor centre will be built to provide information and advice. In the meantime, to get details on the walking trails, look for a copy of Tasman Tracks, by Shirley and Peter Storey, in a Hobart bookshop.

For something to eat, try the French-run Eaglehawk Cafe Restaurant, on the Arthur Highway near the turn-off to the blowhole (tel 03/6250 3331; licensed; open for breakfast, lunch and dinner), in a two-storey house overlooking Norfolk Bay; the food is tasty and reasonably priced, utilizing local produce with a menu ranging from vegetarian to traditional meat dishes, plus coffee and cakes.

The nearby Eaglehawk Dive Centre (tel 03/6250 3566) offers dive-boat charters (equipment included) at low rates to caves, shipwrecks, kelp forests and nearby seal colonies with an underwater visibility of 15–30m. 

Southwest of Eaglehawk Neck, in the middle of the Tasman Peninsula at the small settlement of Koonya, Seaview Lodge also makes an excellent base for bushwalking. The friendly managers have their own minibus and will pick you up from Port Arthur or Eaglehawk Neck, take you to the start of walking trails and give tours of the area.