Путеводитель для туриста: Тасмания – затерянный мир

"Stay on the path: you may accidentally trample on the eggs of rare birds and animals!" the plate says. Exactly: there is someone's masonry in the bushes.

As for the eggs of animals, the pure truth. In Tasmania, there are mammals that lay eggs, and the hatchlings are nurtured in bags. Platypuses and echidnas feel completely at ease on this island, because they have no enemies here. Many endemics have found refuge here. Here, for example, is such a “handsome man” as a toothy marsupial devil, he is also a Tasmanian devil. It used to be found in Australia, but was driven out of there by wild dingo dogs.

Beautiful, in every sense.

There are 20 national parks in Tasmania. The most accessible is Mount Field in the southeast of the island. Families with children and the elderly are actively invited here, providing them with comfortable paths, campsites, brochures, showers, snack bars and toilets. Numerous rangers working in the park "rake up" the whole family and arrange sightseeing tours of protected areas.

Onward to the lost world!

It seems more logical to keep strangers out of the reserves, let nothing threaten animals and plants that were once on the verge of extinction. Meanwhile, we were quite surprised how easy it is in the cities to rent a room in a luxury hotel, and a modest apartment, or even a bed in a hostel. There are rental cars everywhere, and you can travel on your own on good English roads.

The ghost of hard labor.

Почему английским? Потому что Тасмания – это своеобразный кусочек Англии. Открыл остров голландец Абель Тасман. Но его соотечественники не оценили находку. Очень долго затерянный мир не интересовал европейцев. И только в начале 20 века на него обратили внимание англичане и отправили туда … каторжников.

Today, tourists are taken to the fortress-prison of Port Arthur, built by the outcasts of society. True, almost all of it is a remake: the gloomy settlement almost completely burned down due to the fault of its former inhabitants. Their ghosts, as the guide says, roam in the dungeons and in the hospital, and their moans can be heard in a nearby hotel built for thrill-seekers.

To the south pole!

In continuation of the English theme: merchants from Foggy Albion, who by chance brought to Tasmania, built cities similar to those in which they once lived in their distant homeland.

Indeed, we seemed to find ourselves in England of the era of King George, when we went for a walk along Salamanca Place in Hobart, the capital of the island. And in the vicinity of Hobart, the typically English village of Richmond crouched with clean toy houses and a stone bridge - the oldest in Australia. The special beauty of Hobart is that it was erected in the most picturesque place, by the sea at the foot of Mount Wellington.

This is the largest port, to which not only boats for walks moor, but whalers and ... icebreakers! Yes, it is here that maritime forced marches to Antarctica are organized, which is only 2.5 thousand kilometers from here.

Where are you natives?

By helicopter, you can quickly get from south Hobart north to the city of Launceston or northwest to Stanley. And you can fly to the northeast to the Bay of Fire, where hills of sea shells have been preserved. Mollusks were once eaten by natives, and, alas, they themselves were exterminated by aliens from the civilized world. However, the blood of the ancient Tasmanians runs in the veins of modern Tasmanians.

Tasmania / Australia.

*Just 10,000 years ago, Tasmania was joined to Australia. But after the melting of the glaciers, she "sailed" from the mainland to the distance of the strait, which bears the name of its discoverer - the Englishman George Bass.

* The capital of Tasmania, Hobart, is the second deepest port in the world after the famous Brazilian Rio de Janeiro.

* To protect against Forrester's kangaroo, the largest marsupial on the island, Mount William National Park was created in 1973.

A tourist's note.

On the roads of Tasmania, it is better not to scorch. Firstly, they wind a lot, and secondly, some animals jump out on the highway all the time. If you want to travel by bus, please book a seat in advance.

It makes sense to buy a Tasmanian lunch card. It is valid for 30 days for a company of up to 6 people and provides discounts on food from 15 to 50 % in more than 40 cities of the island.