GRAND TRADITIONS
It’s only 260 kilometres from Hobart to Queenstown, tucked high in the mountains of Tasmania’s west coast wilderness. But the road is hilly and windy and concludes with the last five-km stretch famed for its 99 bends. So motorists should be warned to allow at least four hours for the drive, more if they plan to take in any of the sights along the way.
If that sounds arduous, spare a thought for adventurer, sealer and explorer James Kelly, who in 1815, at the age of 24, became the first European to enter Macquarie Harbour during his epic 3000-kilometre circumnavigation of Tasmania in a whale boat. It took him nine days to sail from Hobart and his report made mention of the Huon
