Touring Tasmania – Swansea

Schouten House in Swansea

Marking the entrance to the mouth of Great Oyster Bay is the seaside town of Swansea. Swansea has a number of attractions to convince visitors to stay for more than just a passing glance – it’s a historic town and as well as benefiting from Great Oyster Bay there are also wonderful views across the bay to the Freycinet Peninsula from here.

Swansea also has lovely beaches plus a good number of hotels and other Swansea accommodation to cater for the high numbers of tourists who pass this way during the peak season in particular. This gives you the option to stay in a Swansea hotel or travel a little further around the bay to the town of Coles Bay where there’s also a good choice of places to stay.

What to See and Do in Swansea
Being a historical town, Swansea has a quaint charm to it and walking around you get to see a number of the older buildings which are still in use today. Examples include Morris’ General Store which was built in 1838, the Council Chambers built in 1860, All Saints Church built in 1871, Schouten House built in 1845, and Resthaven built in 1841 – Resthaven is now the Oyster Bay Guest House though has also been known as the Black Swan Inn during its past.

Swansea Bark Mill and East Coast Museum – Another of Swansea’s historic buildings is the Swansea Bark Mill, dating from around 1885. This is the only restored black wattle bark mill in Australia. Here they processed the black wattle bark which was then used as the primary ingredient for tanning leather and was in use until 1935. You can see the machinery in action here and also visit the East Coast Museum next door which tells you more about the history of this part of Tasmania.

The next stage of our Tasmanian tour takes us around Great Oyster Bay to the town of Coles Bay and the entrance to the Freycinet National Park.

‘Swansea – Tasmania’ by Claire Bolgil