 Take your time travelling along Tasmania’s historic Heritage Highway - from Launceston to Hobart. Slow down - perhaps not to the pace of the horse-drawn coaches that once rattled through the wide grazing lands.
Today, the highway follows the route pioneered in 1807. Those first explorers took eight days to traverse the island. Soon afterwards, the fastest horse-drawn coaches were pounding their way between Hobart and Launceston 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 our most stunning pastoral scenery, bypassing colonial towns and villages – such as Perth, Oatlands, Ross, Campbell Town, Kempton and Pontville, where sandstone church spires overlook English oaks, elms and chestnuts, Georgian cottages line quiet streets and stone bridges are reflected in leaf-dappled water.
You will hear the stories of the people who shaped the landscape we see today – the convicts who hauled and hammered stone for bridges and churches; the bushrangers who stole from 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 can stay in a bed and breakfast cottage that once housed indentured servants; or enjoy a leisurely meal at a country pub where generations of travellers have been served at the mellow timber bar.
All along Tasmania’s Heritage Highway’ time moves at a leisurely pace. To add an element of mystery to your journey try a game of Skullduggery.The game leads you with a series of clues to learn more about our early settlers.
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