Swaps · TAS Road Book

Swaps and alternatives 15

You gave up the Huon and Hartz day

THE TRADE · What changed

Two nights in Strahan, the Gordon River cruise, and Port Arthur properly rather than as a choice against Cape Hauy.

Costs
Hartz Peak, the Channel road, Cygnet and the Huon Valley food. It was the only day that could go - everything else is a travel day or a one-night stop.

Skip the cruise, drive instead

Day 3 · Swap

Montezuma Falls (3 hrs, 7 km gravel), the West Coast Wilderness Railway, or a long unhurried run down to Zeehan and back.

Costs
The cruise is the reason for the second night. If you are not doing it, you do not need the night and the Huon day comes back.

Afternoon: Queenstown or the dunes

Day 3 · Choose

Queenstown gives you the 99 Bends twice plus Iron Blow and the Galley Museum. Henty Dunes and Ocean Beach give you a slower afternoon and a better sunset.

Costs
Only one fits comfortably after a 15:00 return.

Skip Tarn Shelf

Day 4 · Cut

Four hours and 32 km of gravel back. The Three Falls Circuit is sealed and takes two hours.

Costs
The best alpine walk in the south of the state.

Turn back at Lake Pedder

Day 5 · Cut

40 min and 50 km back, and you still get the best of Gordon River Road.

Costs
The dam, which is the most impressive built thing on the trip.

MONA

Day 5 · Add-on

The one genuinely world-class thing in Hobart. Take the ferry, not the car.

Costs
Half a day you do not have on Day 5. It only fits if you cut Strathgordon.

Waterfall Bay instead of Cape Hauy

Day 6 · Substitute

A 1.5 hr clifftop walk instead of 4 hrs, which turns Port Arthur into an unhurried afternoon and gets you home in daylight with room to spare.

Costs
The best short walk in Tasmania.

Tasman Island Cruises

Day 6 · Add-on

Three hours under 300 m sea cliffs, seals and albatross. The best boat trip in the state.

Costs
It will not fit alongside both Cape Hauy and Port Arthur. Pick two of the three.

Split Port Arthur across two days

Day 6 · Reshuffle

The standard ticket is valid two consecutive days, so you could do the site properly on Day 6 and the ghost tour or Isle of the Dead on a second run down.

Costs
A second 3-hour round trip from Hobart, and you have no spare day for it.

Overnight Bicheno instead of Coles Bay

Day 7 · Reshuffle

More beds, the penguin tour at dusk, and 30 min closer to Day 8's roads.

Costs
30 min further from the Freycinet trailhead for an early start.

Cut St Marys Pass

Day 8 · Cut

45 min saved by continuing north from St Marys on the A4.

Costs
Loses one of the four passes.

Skip Blue Tier too

Day 8 · Cut

Pure driving day - four passes, the Bay of Fires, St Columba Falls and nothing else.

Costs
Nothing much. You have been to Launceston, so an early arrival is only worth so much.

Devils Gullet

Day 9 · Add-on

Plateau-edge lookout with a serious drop, 10 km of gravel off the A5.

Costs
About 1.5 hrs. Only if your sailing is late evening.

Add a tenth day at the front

Whole trip · Start earlier

Arrive Tue 3 Nov and the Huon and Hartz day comes back, or a second Stanley night buys the Tarkine Drive.

Costs
One more day off work, and the outbound sailing moved again.

Run it clockwise

Whole trip · Reverse

East coast first while you are fresh.

Costs
You would climb the east coast passes instead of descending them, and hit Cradle and Stanley tired at the end.