Abundant with national treasures, Tasmania is a haven of natural wonders. With reservations and national parks sprawling across over 40 percent of the country, a few natural attributes shine above the rest. Here is our selection of Tasmania’s best natural wonders.
CRADLE MOUNTAIN
Tasmania’s most famous and renowned natural wonder. It is Tasmania’s fifth-highest mountain and possibly its most recognizable all-natural feature is the lake beside it. Growing from Dove Lake, the bowed summit of Cradle Mountain is a rare and unusual Australian landform – a nunatak or island of stone that stood over the glaciers as they ditch the landscape around it. The mountain can be seen by the water’s edge of Dove Lake by visiting Marions Lookout and trekking through the Overland Track
WINEGLASS BAY
There may be shores with thinner sands – albeit somewhat – but is there another shore as perfectly shaped as Wineglass Bay? Curling within an arc between two lines of mountains in the Freycinet Peninsula, Wineglass Bay is really shaped as its name implies, although it was really named for much more gruesome motives. In its early days, it operated as a whaling station, and the bay’s waters ran red from blood. Since then, the area has had a complete facelift and rebrand, with it now being a popular location for luxury accommodation services. It may also be viewed with no effort whatsoever on a day cruise with Wineglass Bay Cruises. The ideal opinion, however, comes from the top of Mt Amos. The Freycinet region is a fantastic place to unwind after your adventures and relax in a day spa.
TESSELLATED PAVEMENT
Eaglehawk Neck is wondrous enough, but visit the northern end of its seashore and you discover the inquisitive Tessellated Pavement. This coastal system of stone was eroded to a geometrically perfect grid of rectangular stones, including the paving stone of this title. To be here on sunrise, together with the luminous clouds reflected from the water pooled inside every paver, is something quite unique.
LAKE RHONA
If you’d like sandy shores, you visit Tasmania’s east coast, right? Or how about a sandy shore high in a distant mountain range in the Southwest? Lake Rhona lies in the slopes of the Denison Range, and is famous for it’s pale pink sandy shore. Lake Rhona could only be attained within an overnight hike, crossing the Gordon River to a log and halfway through a swampy button grass simple for a very long day into the lake. But it’s really worthwhile.
TOTEM POLE
Totem Pole is a rock climbers dream. The Needle-thin, 65-meter-high sea pile rises instantly beside Cape Hauy. Its slim, apparently fragile figure appearing to defy logic contrary to the continuous fury of the Southern Ocean that endlessly smashes against it. Nearly every climber in the world understands that the “Tote” and its unique adversity to climbers – even reaching its foundation is an incredible accomplishment. There are cruises and kayaking groups who take you right up close to truly witness its incredible formation.
TARKINE
Located in Tasmania’s north-west, the distant Tarkine wilderness is said to be the planet’s second largest expanse of temperate rainforest. Having a wild shore (like the appropriately named Edge of the World) along with also a shadowy heart of deep woods, it is a place where a feeling of exploration remains. In the North, it is possible to follow minor roads into the likes of Trowutta Arch, Beckett Falls, and Dip Falls, while at the south you are able to escape into the mouth of the forest-smothered Pieman River. To get a lingering look, there is the four-day Tarkine Rainforest walk by Tarkine Trails.