Touring Tasmania – Devonport to Rocky Cape National Park

Wynyard Tulip Farm (Tourism Tasmania and John de la Roche)

Leaving Devonport on the coastal road to the east there are numerous towns to travel through and places to see on the way up to the Rocky Cape National Park.

Penguin
The coastal drive through Ulverstone and on to the town of Penguin is another of Tasmania’s many scenic coastal areas. As you might expect with a name like Penguin there are good opportunities to see penguins near this small town, and the evening penguin tours are very popular!

Burnie
Moving onwards along the coast to Burnie and you again have plenty of chances to see penguins, in addition to platypus on an evening tour. There are several hotels in Burnie, so you could choose to stay the night here if you wanted to join a penguin tour. Despite Burnie being an industrial port town there are actually a number of interesting attractions here for visitors, so this may be a good place to stop for the night to see what else is on offer. Highlights include the self-guided Heritage Town Walk and the Pioneer Village Museum which shows visitors what Burnie was like during its boom time from 1890 to 1910.

Wynyard
A little further west along the coast from Burnie is Wynyard. If you didn’t stay in Burnie for the night Wynyard is a good alternative as there are several nice hotels and other Wynyard accommodation here too. Wynyard is best known for its fields of tulips and the Bloomin’ Tulips Festival which takes place over 10 days in October. Another highlight is hiking up to Table Cape, one of the most prominent landmarks in the area, from which you get some great views and there’s also the old lighthouse here too.

Boat Harbour
Boat Harbour is a picturesque little town, originally called Jacob’s Boat Harbour after Captain John Jacob. Boat Harbour Beach, which is actually the name of a separate township, is very popular and as the name suggests, the main feature is the nice sandy beach. Boat Harbour Beach is another great little spot to spend a night or two and there are some great Boat Harbour accommodation places here. This actually makes a good base from which to explore the Rocky Cape National Park which is right on its doorstep, as there is no camping in Rocky Cape.

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‘Touring Tasmania – Devonport to Rocky Cape National Park’ by Claire Bolgil