Destination Information

Far South

Mother Nature is at her most spectacular in this part of Tasmania, dazzling dolomite caves, thermal springs, deep blue waters, brilliant white beaches, cool fresh rainforests and golden sunsets. Beyond the mouth of the Huon River, the landscape is wilder, the peaks steeper, the sea a deeper blue – you're getting closer to the end of Australia's most southerly road on the rim of the continent.

Along the way, the fishing fleets of Dover and Southport shelter in the deep bays where the first European navigators dropped anchor. Today, the people of these seaside towns harvest the cold, clean waters of the Channel and the Southern Ocean catching the freshest oysters and mussels, succulent crayfish and delicate salmon that end up in restaurants and cafés throughout Tasmania and abroad.

To the west are the peaks of the World Heritage wilderness. In valleys running back into the hills are the world's tallest flowering plants, the mighty Swamp Gums.

Higher up in sub-alpine rainforests are the survivors of the break up of Gondwana, the southern super continent – plants like myrtle, celery top pine and deciduous beech (Australia's only native deciduous tree) can be found here, plants whose ancestors lie as fossils in Antarctic rock.

[ Click on these links for accommodation, attractions, tours and events in the Huon Trail ]

Follow the route further south to Recherche Bay, a place of whales and history, timber cutters and fishermen.

At Cockle Creek one road ends, and a longer trail begins – the multi-day hike along the South Coast Track threads its way down to the sea, where the waves of the Great Southern Ocean crash endlessly on the sands of South Cape Bay.

TOP OF PAGE