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Welcome to new travel horizons in the heart of Tasmania.
Take your time travelling through Tasmania’s historic Midlands.
Slow down — perhaps not as slow as the trotting speed of the
coaches that once rattled through the wide grazing lands between
Launceston and Hobart, but at least enough to appreciate the gentler
pace of life in times gone by. Todafs Heritage Highway follows
the route pioneered in 1807. Those first explorers took eight days
to traverse the island. Soon afterwards, the fastest horse-drawn
coaches completed the journey in 15 hours, changing horses every
10 miles. These days, you can drive from Launceston to Hobart in a
couple of hours — but if you do, you’ll be missing some of
Tasmania’s most gently-beautiful country scenery, and bypassing
the State’s best-preserved colonial towns and villages, where church
spires overlook English trees, Georgian cottages line the quiet
streets and stone bridges are reflected in leaf-dappled water.
So, take your time on the Heritage Highway. Pause here and there,
and turn off to discover the stories of people who went before — the
convicts who shaped the enduring stone for bridges and churches; the
bushrangers who swept down on unsuspecting travellers; and the
farmers and graziers who opened up the new land, making their
fortunes from bushels of wheat and bales of wool.
You’ll see their stories and their legacy all along the highway, and
you’ll meet the Tasmanians who proudly preserve the memories
and heritage of the past.
Stay in a colonial B&B cottage — the steps will be hollowed from
years of warm welcomes. Enjoy a meal at a country pub —
generations of travellers have been served at the mellow timber bar.
Relax on a sunny bank by a 19th century bridge — it could have been
shadowing the gently-flowing river for 150 years. Search for treasures
in a quaint antique shop — whose is the portrait in the
ornate frame? How many times did families gather around that
cedar table? All along the Heritage Highway, time moves more
slowly — and so should you.
MAP
OF TASMANIA
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