Trip planning
Planning a West Coast Tasmania trip
The most common mistake on a West Coast trip is booking a different town every night. The distances look small on a map and drive long in reality, and you end up seeing the inside of the car.
The alternative is to pick one base and run days out from it. Zeehan works for this because of where it sits: 30 minutes to Queenstown, 40 to Strahan, 40 into the Tarkine, 30 to the wild coast at Trial and Granville Harbour, and about an hour to Cradle Mountain.
That means a Gordon River day, a Queenstown and railway day, a Tarkine day and a Zeehan day are all possible without packing a bag more than once.
It also means you are not paying summer village prices for the privilege, and you are not driving tired at dusk on roads with wildlife on them.
Breakfast opens at 5am, every day
Days out here start early, particularly the Strahan one. Breakfast from 5am is what makes a 4 day plan like this comfortable rather than rushed.
Practical
A workable 4 days
- Day 1: arrive, the Spray Tunnel and the Heritage Centre, dinner in the bistro.
- Day 2: Strahan. The Gordon River cruise, Ocean Beach at sunset, Henty Dunes on the way back.
- Day 3: Queenstown and the Wilderness Railway, Nelson Falls if you have the light.
- Day 4: the Tarkine and Corinna, or Montezuma Falls if you would rather walk.
Stay the night at the Heemskirk
One base, 4 very different days, and no packing between them.