Great Eastern Highway & George Town

We left Hobart and relocated to the most north-easterly tip of Tasmania.  We rented a house in Low Head just outside of historic George Town.  We have a view of  Lagoon Bay, where the River Tamar empties into the Bass Strait separating Tasmania from the rest of Australia.  We have access to the ocean just 25 meters from our front door.

Our Home For Four Days

Lagoon Bay - River Tamar

First Beer at the Beach

Instead of driving Tasmania’s #1 highway north through the center of the state, we drove the Great Eastern Highway north to St. Marys before cutting inland to Launceston and north to George Town.

The drive took over six hours with stops in Tribunna for morning coffee, Swansea to view the East Coast Heritage Museum, Bicheno for lunch, the Elephant Pass between Chain of Lagoons and St Marys to scare the crap out of ourselves with the narrow road and steep drop off to oblivion, and finally at St Marys for gas and a walk-about to calm the nerves.

Coffee Stop in Tribunna

Aboriginal Art - Bicheno

Camel Farm on Elephant Pass - No Elephants

There wasn’t a whole lot to see in the way of people or towns.  That is to say, if huge farms, a whole lot of sheep and breathtaking vistas of the sea is “nothing”.  Both Swansea and Maria Island (just outside of Tribunna) were once second stage convict prisons.  After a convict had completed their “hard time” they were moved to probationary prisons where they could go to work on local farms and businesses to prepare themselves for life after prison.

The French were the first to explore Swansea and I liked the sentiments expressed in a letter I read in the museum.  It seems the French (at least this one) had a different view of the aboriginals than the British.

We arrived in George Town and stocked up on provisions before covering the last 6 km to Low Head.

George Town had its start in 1804 and is the third oldest settlement in Australia after Hobart and Sydney.  It has a long maritime history and is now a service center for the Tamar Valley’s thriving agricultural industry. 

Low Head sports the oldest group of Pilot Station lighthouse built by convicts in 1805 to help guide ships into the Tamar River.

George Town Harbour

Walk Between Low Head and George Town

One of the Low Head Pilot Lighthouses

That’s it for now.  We are here for four days and intend to explore the region.