Tasmania - Australia 2004 - page 623

Something Spooky
The Ghost Tours of Port Arthur leave nightly by lantern at 6:30, 8:30,
and 9:30pm (only 8:30pm during winter months) and cost A$14 (US$9) for
adults and A$8.60 (US$5.60) for children. You can purchase a Family ticket,
costing A$36 (US$24), which includes two adults and up to six children.
Reservations are essential; call & 1800/659 101 in Australia.

Finds

and 11am, and 5pm. The adjoining World Tiger Snake Centre, a unique med-
ical research project, contains some 1,500 highly venomous snakes.
WHERE TO STAY & DINE
Port Arthur Motor Inn If you decide to stop over rather than drive all the
way back to Hobart (remember marsupials get killed all the time on the roads
at night—and they can do a lot of damage to a rental car), then this AAA-rated
3 1 ⁄ 2 -star motor inn is a good choice. The rooms are attractive and overlook the
historic site. A range of packages are available, including a room with dinner,
breakfast and the ghost tour for A$99 (US$65) per person, or a room, 2-day's
entrance to the Port Arthur site, the ghost tour, and breakfast for A$103
(US$67) per person.
Port Arthur Historic Site, Arthur Hwy., Port Arthur, TAS 7182. & 1800/030 747 in Australia, or 03/6250 2101.
Fax [phone]. www.portarthur-inn.com.au. 35 units. A$99 (US$72) double. Extra person A$15 (US$9.75).
Children 11 and under stay free in parent's room. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Bus: Hobart Coaches run from
Hobart on weekdays. Amenities: Restaurant; kids' playground; coin-op laundry. In room:TV, coffeemaker, iron.

4 Freycinet National Park ™
206km (128miles) NE of Hobart; 214km (133 miles) SW of Launceston
If you only have time to visit one place in Tasmania, make sure it's Freycinet
National Park. The Freycinet Peninsula hangs down off the eastern coast of Tas-
mania. It's a place of craggy pink granite peaks, spectacular white beaches, wet-
lands, heathlands, coastal dunes, and dry eucalyptus forests. This is the place to
come to spot sea eagles, wallabies, seals, pods of dolphins, and humpback and
southern right whales during their migration to and from the warmer waters of
northern New South Wales from May through August. The township of Coles
Bay is the main staging post, and there are many bushwalks in the area. The
Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve —an important breeding ground for black
swans and wild ducks—is signposted along the highway into Coles Bay from
Bicheno. Some 10,000 black swans inhabit the lake, so it's very rare not to see
them. Six kilometers (3 3 ⁄ 4 miles) outside town and inside the national park is the
Cape Tourville Lighthouse, from where there are extensive views north and south
along the coast and across several of the small islands in the Tasman Ocean.
The spectacular Wineglass Bay , named as one of the world's top 10
beaches by Outside magazine, is a lovely spot for a walk.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE Tasmanian Redline Coaches ( & 03/6336 1446 ) runs
between Launceston (112 George St.) at 2pm Monday through Thursday, and at
3:45pm on Friday, and take less than 3 hours. From Bicheno catch a local bus
run by Bicheno Coach Services ( & 03/6257 0293, or mobile [phone]).