Devonport, Tasmania

Devonport sits the banks of the Mersey River and is Tasmania’s third largest city. It is one of the Island’s primary access points and home to the Spirit of Tasmania ferries.

The city has a population of about 22,000 and is surrounded by rich, fertile soil that produces more than 40 per cent of Tasmania’s vegetable crops. The roadsides are lined with fields of potatoes, carrots and the yellow and white pyrethrum flower used as a natural insecticide, and paddocks of grazing Friesian cows.

You can explore Devonport’s coastline by walking or cycling along Victoria Parade to the Bluff, where Tiagarra Aboriginal Centre explains the areas Aboriginal history and nearby rock carvings.

Statues along the waterfront walk include those of Joseph Lyons, the only Tasmanian to have held the office of prime minister (1932–39), and his wife, 1940s Federal parliamentarian Dame Enid Lyons. Their National Trust residence at Home Hill is open to the public.

The Spirit of Tasmania car and passenger ships are almost landmarks in this city. As they negotiate a U-turn in the Mersey River, they seem to be sailing right up the main street. There’s so much maritime history in the town that a visit to the Maritime Museum is essential.

The Don River Railway has an impressive collection of locomotives, including a steam train that travels to Coles beach. Devonport’s Imaginarium is Tasmania’s only science discovery centre and is full of hands-on activities.

The Devonport Art Gallery is in a converted church and has some excellent works of regional artists.

Devonport was originally settled as two towns, Formby and Torquay in 1826, but the towns were amalgamated in 1890.

Devonport reaches an average maximum temperature of 21.5 degrees Celsius (70.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in January and 13 degrees Celsius (55.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in June. It is 98 kilometres (61 miles, or one hour’s drive) west of Launceston on the Bass Highway (A2).