A gap year in Tasmania
Gap years in Tasmania
Tasmania is a conservationist’s dream. From collecting jumpers for baby penguins to removing old bangers from bush land, the possibilities are endless. After a hard day cleaning out Devil cages you can relax with a Tasmanian beer and gaze at the landscape the country’s famous for. No wonder it’s full of happy GAPpers.
Gap Year Opportunities
Conservationists will enjoy volunteer work in Tasmania, where companies seek willing helpers for projects in the Wilderness (a designated World Heritage site, with Mount Cradle at the heart), and for projects in small communities.
Tasmania can also be combined with a spot of research in the Antarctic, fruit-picking in New Zealand, or surf school in Australia. Give this little country a month of your itinerary and learn how to relax Taz-style…
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About Tasmania
Since its colonial days Tasmania has suffered economic peaks and troughs – and significantly more of the latter. But in the last few years the country has picked itself up and recreated itself as a prime tourist venue. Its oldest buildings have been restored to offer B&B to enthusiastic road-trippers and the capital’s ferry-lines have been revived to ship more and more people back and forth from mainland Australia.
Gentle temperatures, rolling bush and impossibly high mountains provide the perfect conditions for all kinds of wildlife. About a third of the country is protected under National Park status. This is where the Tasmanian Devils formerly roamed in hordes (numbers are sadly declining) – and where you can, today, spot koalas, possums, kangaroos and wallabies.
Getting Around
You could hop on a historic train to wind your way through Tasmania (tourist railways only), or use the coach service to plan out your route (see link). But let’s face it: this country’s roads are built for a road trip.
Hire a camper van (just £20/day) and cruise through the lonely landscape in search of Tas’s own-brand beer.
Where to go
Nestling at the foot of Mount Wellington, Tasmania’s capital city is the second oldest in all of Australia. Hobart is a major port from which trade of beer and crops is conducted, and from which many Antarctic excursions begin. It’s famous for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, which kicks off each year on Boxing Day. But you can do a lot more in this tranquil, easy-going capital. Hobart’s pulse beats to a musical rhythm, and several expats have led successful international careers; today you can spend weeks attending music festivals, listen to the rich sounds of Tasmania’s national orchestra, or enjoy theatrical performances at Australia’s oldest theatre.
If you’re seeing Hobart you should also make the 80km trip to Port Arthur, Australia’s infamous penal colony. In the 19th century convicts were shipped out to this dramatic location to mine, bake, farm and build everything required to keep the colony going. Their labour wasn’t enough to make the colony self-sustainable and, when the convicts became old and unable to work, Port Arthur was forced to go into retirement. The land and buildings were auctioned off to locals who began to rebuild the community, eventually turning it into the tourist attraction of today.
Further up the east coast from Port Arthur and Hobart, you’ll find some of the most amazing coastlines in all of Australia – make time, too, for a trip into Freycinet National Park, where you can trek, kayak and bird-watch. If you’re continuing around the coast, you’ll undoubtedly be distracted by the pub that boasts a ‘beer-drinking pig’ – definitely something for your GAP year photograph album!