AN EAST COAST ESCAPE
Tasmania’s East Coast is one of the most picturesque coastal regions in the world. Extending 350km from Cape Pillar on the Tasman Peninsula to Cape Naturaliste on Bass Strait, this magnificent coastline features sweeping white-sand beaches lapped by turquoise waters, secluded bays enclosed by granite headlands splashed with flaming orange lichen, and the tallest sea cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere. Promoted as the ‘East Coast Escape,’ the scenic Tasman Highway (A3) shadows the coast from Hobart to St Helens, connecting historic townships, busy fishing ports and small rural communities that burst at the seams with summertime holiday-makers.
THE ‘SUN COAST’
In contrast, to the wet and windy west coast, Tasmania’s eastern littoral is sheltered from the notorious ‘Roaring Forties’, and enjoys a drier, more temperate climate with warm summers and cool winters, earning it the happy epithet of the ‘Sun Coast.’
A singular feature of its relatively undeveloped landscape is the profusion of extraordinary geological formations, ranging from the towering dolerite columns fringing the Tasman Peninsula and the jagged pink granite peaks of the Freycinet Peninsula to the massive lichencrusted boulders that litter the Bay of Fires.
Overlying these ancient relics, between shoreline and hinterland ranges, is a matrix of conservation reserves protecting unique terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments teeming with native flora and fauna. Five spectacular national parks (Tasman, Maria Island, Freycinet, Douglas-Aspley and Mount William) and the world-famous Bay of Fires Conservation Area provide boundless
