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	Oceania
	Australia

Australian Capital Territory	New South Wales	Australia Northern Territory	Australia Queensland
South Australia	Tasmania	Western Australia

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Tasmania Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain Olav Zwarteveen - the Netherlands The island of Tasmania is Australia's smallest and most southerly state. With no land to its west before Africa, and nothing but Antartica to its south, Tasmania can seem an isolated and forbidding place, lashed by cold winds and rain from the Southern Ocean. This was certainly the impression it gave many convicts who were transported from England to serve out their lives in the penal colonies established by the British in the nineteenth century. However, there is another side to this island which today draws ever growing numbers of adventurous souls. The rugged interior holds some of Australia's wildest mountains, forests and rivers - wilderness to be compared equally with that of New Zealand or Patagonia. For others, the colonial heritage is of interest, as well as the common pleasures of resting in one of the world's more quiet and welcoming places. And although the winters are wet, the summers are filled with long hot days that can be spent lying on beaches of the purest quartz sand and clearest turquoise seas. Take a moment to browse the pages here, and see what Tasmania has to offer the tourist and adventurer. There may be other places in Australia or the world that have longer beaches, older forests, higher mountains or more charming towns. But none will have all four of these, and all accessible within a day. Tasmania's hosted bed and breakfasts are renowned One thing you should experience when visiting Tasmania is the legendary hospitality to be found in its wide variety of B & Bs. Tasmania has a wonderful heritage of historic buildings, many now adapted for use as B & B accommodation. There are also more modern houses, some grand and elegant, some purpose-built as bed and breakfast accommodation, some simply homely and comfortable. A new online directory has just been launched which will help you find B & B accommodation which is perfect for you. The feature which sets hosted B & Bs apart from every other type of accommodation is the warmth and hospitality of their hosts. And www.TasmaniaBedandBreakfasts.com.au has a section called Meet Your Hosts where you can read a little about the stories - and histories - of just a few of these hosts and their properties. __________History Edit This Cataract Gorge Tamar River.Tassie Cataract Gorge Tamar River.Tassie Pre-European History Naval Exploration 1642-1803 Settlement and War 1803-1830 Colonial Expansion 1830-1901 20th Century Hydroindustrialization 1901-1960 Wilderness Conservation Battles 1960-1990 Recent History Pre-European History Human habitation in Tasmania may date back some 58,000 years, at which time a land bridge existed between Tasmania and mainland Australia, connecting Flinders Island to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. This land bridge formed as a result of a global drop in sea level during the ice ages which occur every 20,000 years or so. During this ice age, and possibly subsequent ones around 39-23 and 27-13 thousand years ago, aboriginal people may have travelled back and forth from Tasmania to the mainland. However, due to the long periods of isolation including the most recent 13,000 years, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people came to be distinctly different from those in the remainder of Australia. The Tasmanian aboriginals were almost entirely nomadic, but this should not characterize their society as simple. At the time of invasion by European settlers, There are thought to have been four to six thousand indigenous inhabitants, forming nine tribes that were further subdivided into eight or nine bands each. Each tribe was highly adapted to the spefic region they inhabited. The Tasmanians built rafts and catamarans to fish and travel, and had considerable skills in weaving and tool-making. Although they mainly travelled naked, the people used animal grease and ochre for adornment and to withstand the wet, cold winters, and made a variety of necklaces and sewn skins for further clothing nd adornment. Each tribe had well-defined territories and a unique language, and a complex set of trade routes connected the society as a whole. [Top] Naval Exploration The first European explorer to sight Tasmania was the Dutch seafarer Able Tasman on his voyage of 1642. Tasman noted the islands existence but made no real investigation of it's extent. He did however, coin the areas original name, "Van Diemen's Land" . Tasmania was visited by several other Captains, such as Captain Cook who landed on Bruny island, and the French explorer La Perouse at Great Oyster Bay, both of whom made contact with the local aboriginal communities. After the 1788 establishment of a British colony at the site of present-day Sydney, the English government thought to establish it's presence elsehwere on "The Great Southern Land". There were two main reasons for establishing the second settlement in "Van Diemen's Land". From a strategic point of view, the English wanted a military presence to deter further French exploration. From a social point of view, the influx of free settlers to Sydney made it desirable to found a new, more isolated settlement for the establishment of penal colonies. In 1803 Lieutenant John Bowen was sent to establish a colony at the mouth of the Derwent River, at the Southern tip of Van Diemens Land. Simultaneously, Captain David Collins was sent to establish a presence at Port Phillip Bay on the northern side of the recently discovered Strait (site of present day Melbourne). Collins disliked the site at Port Phillip, so he moved his expedition south to join Lieutenant Bowen. Upon arrival, Collins also disapproved of Bowen's chosen site at Risdon Cove on the eastern shore of the Derwent. Collins moved the settlement across the river to Sullivans Cove, now the center of present day Hobart. Hobart is one of the oldest cities. [Top] Settlement and War, 1803-1830 The colony teetered on the brink of starvation for its first few years. The settlement of the Richmond area and the cultivation of wheat there was crucial. Besides the difficulties of subsistence, the early settlement was little more than a frontier. The workforce was mostly convicts, either transported from England or relocated from other notorious parts of the colonies. Those that escaped led the life of bandits (the Australian term being bushrangers), and the government had little ability to control them. The settlement was not truly brought under control for several decades, until the sheer number of settlers and men-at-arms outnumbered and outgunned the bushrangers. Elsewhere the expending settlement encroached on territory of the aboriginal tribes. Their logical response - hunting of settler's livestock - was greeted with harsh reprisal by the colonial authorities. Along the East Coast, whalers and sealers plied their trade, and also committed many attrocities upon the aboriginal people. Unwittingly however, their actions assisted the ultimate survival of the aboriginal people, for as the men took aboriginal wives for themselves they estblished communities that would continue to practice the traditional ways long after mainland tribes were permanently displaced. Owing to the confined geopgraphy of the state, the Tasmanian aboriginal people put up significantly more resistance to invasion by white settlers than elsewhere. Tasmania was the only state whose government effectively dclared war against the indigenous inhabitants, who mounted successful guerilla warfare against the encroaching settlement. This conflict peaked in the years 1823-1824, during which tiem the governmnent devised such desparate stragegies as "The White Line", in which every able-bodied man walked in line with others across the entire settled territories, in an attempt to capture all native inbatiants between the sea and the settlement at Port Arthur. The actual operation was an overt failure - it captured one old man and one young boy - but it did represent a turning point in which the aboriginal tribes were finally displaced from the settled areas. Also in 1824, the new Governor Arthur gave permission for a pastor named Augustus Robinson to travel the state in an attempt to reconcile with the remaining indigenous tribes. Of the several thousand thought to live on the island at the turn of the century, Robinson counted 300 left. He made an agreement with those remaining whereby the indigenous tribes relocated to Flinders Island and gave the English access to the remainder of the state. Presumably the aboriginal people believed that they would be left in peace on Flinder's Island, but the arrangement turned out to be one of incarceration, and the indigenous community was housed in a mission at Wybelena under white stewardship. [Top] Colonial Expansion, 1830-1901 Settlement in Tasmania continued to be driven by convict labour, men and women were leased to settlers as labourers and servants, and the government organized work gangs for quarrying stone, building roads, cutting lumber, etc. The construction of Port Arthur in 1830 made Tasmania a premiere destination for English convicts, as well as the occasional political prisoner. Port Arthur developed a fearsome reputation, owing to its gothis vantage point on the precipitous Tasmana Peninsula, surrounded by dense woodland, and with the only land bridge to the main island a narrow strip at Eagle Hwak Neck, which was guarded by men and dogs. All the same, life at Port Arthur was nowhere as bad as the settlement established at Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. This site, reserved for the most hardened criminals, was by all accounts as close to hell as the English Judicial System could devise. However, Tasmania was developed by free settlers as well as convicts, and their numbers grew faster. Launceston was established as Port Dalrymple not long after the original settlement of Hobart, and the North of the state quickly developed as an agricultural centre. Meanwhile, the Huon Valley developed as a major apple-growing region and the forests were plundered for exceptional timbers, especially the ancient Huon Pines, whose timbers were highly prized as ship lumber. Towards the end of the century mining also appeared as a prominent source of wealth, with the Mt Lyell Copper Mine established in Queenstown on top of the richest copper lode ever discovered. heeeeey=) As the settlement became established, the convict presence was seen as increasingly undesirable, and after vocal lobbying transportation of convicts ceased in 1853. Tasmania had been a separate colony since 1825, but its legislative and judicial institutions were squarely under the Governer control. This was also seen as undesirable, and in 1855 the British Government passed the Constitution Act, giving Tasmania all the trappings of a constitutional monarchy. Tasmania was also a supporter of Austrlia's move toward Federation in the 1890's, both as an opportunity for increased commerce, and because it could not afford to be left out. Meanwhile, European diseases and an uncaring attitude of government had taken their toll on the island's indigenous communities. In 1847 forty-six individuals were transferred from Flinders Island to a former convict probation station at Oyster Cove. The last surviving male, King Billy Lanne, died in 1869, his head removed by the colonial surgeon. With the passing of the last female Trugganini in 1876 the full-blooded Tasmanian aboriginal people ceased. However, a strong aboriginal community persits today, and in recent years has won increasing recognition, both in the return of sacred lands, and the remains of ancestors previously sequestered in British scientific institutions. [Top] 20th Century Hydroindustrialization, 1901-1960 In the early part of the twentieth century, Tasmania was an enthusiastic supporter of the British Empire, sending 14,025 men to fight in World War I, and persecuting those Germans that were residents of the state. The early part of the century was also typified by the continuing battle in Parliament between the conservative voice of business and church, and the emergence of the Labour Party. In Tasmania this distinction was blurred, as both sides of politics were preoccupied with the states advancement over ideology. This is typified by the example of Joseph Lyons, a Catholic and anti-conscriptionist, who rose to lead the Labour Party into State Government, but became Australia's Prime Minister as a Conservative. The 1930's depression struck Tasmania as everywhere, and at this time a number of government capitalization projects changed the course of the state. In Hobart a road was constructed to the pinnacle of Mt Wellington (also known as "Ogilvie's scar") and in the Central Highlands the country's first hydroelectric schemes were built across the Derwent River. These developments naturally inclined people to consider the opportunities of Tasmania's many rivers for power generation. The doctrine of hydro-industrialisation was born: by damming rivers for hydro-electric power generation, Tasmania could attract large industries to set up shop, thus overcoming the state's natural disadvantage due to it's isolated world position. In the post WWII era the doctrine of hydroindustrialisation, coupled with increased mining and forestry, served Tasmania well, with companies such as Pasminco Electrolytic Zinc Co. and Comalco (Aluminium production) establishing operations in the state. However, the same success bred a strong belief in state officials that industrial development and extraction of primary resources was the only means by which Tasmania could achieve it's goals of increased wealth, and the doctrine of hydro-industrialisation, as interpreted by the bureaucratic authority the Hydro-Electric Commission, went unchallenged. At the same time, the increasing penetration by the HEC and Forestry companies into Tasmanias wilderness led to a new breed of people, those who were astounded by the beauty they discovered, and felt a desire to share it with others and conserve it for future generations. [Top] Wilderness Conservation Battles, 1960-1990 These two ideologies finally clashed in the late 1960's over the damming of Lake Pedder. This lake, set in the heart of the South-West, was a true jewel of the wilderness, complete with a beach of fine pink quartzite sand a quarter-mile wide. It was proposed to flood the lake and surrounding valley in order to construct Tasmania's largest hydroelectric scheme of all. Those in power were quite unprepared for the public outcry by the new class of conservationists, who took their protest as far as the Federal government in attempts to save the lake. Eventually the scheme went ahead, and Lake Pedder is now "enlarged", but this conflict was significant as the beginning of environmentalism in Tasmania, and to some extent, Australia at large. It also resulted in the formation of the United Tasmania Group which can lay claim to being the world;s first environmental political party. In the late 1970's the Tasmanian government brought forht it's next proposal, the "Gordon-below-Franklin scheme" to carry forth its mission of cheap power generation. This time experienced campaigners along with new initiates gathered to defend "Australia's last Wild River", the Franklin. When worker's moved to start construction, they were met by hundreds of protesters blockading the river in yellow rafts. A small guerilla war ensued with police and local residents searching the wilderness for protesters to be arrested, sometimes hundreds in a day, while in parliaments and courts the government and protest groups duelled back and forth over the scheme itself. The campaign went national, where a new Labour government was voted in on 1983, among other things promising to stop the dam by declaring the area World Heritage, thus bringing under Federal Authority. Ultimately the river was saved by a decision of Australia's Highest Court, which found by 4-3 majority that the Federal Government's actions were within Australia's constituion. The Franklim Dam debate was a defining moment for the state, and the nation. It represented a loud challenge to the doctrine of hydro-industrialisation and development-at-all-costs. It also produced a national environmental organisation called The Wilderness Society, which is one of Australia's major players in green politics today. Finally it brought to Tasmania's parliament the first "Green Independent", Bob Brown, who has gone onto lead a green party to Australia's Federal Senate. Tasmania in the 1980's continued to be dominated by environmental politics, with other green indipendents joining Bob Brown, while theLiberal/Conservative Government was led by the soft-spoken but determined Robin Gray. In a windfall election in 1989, the green independents gained the balance of power in Tasmania's parliament, the first green party in the world to hold sway in such a body. They entered into an accord with the then Labour Government under Michael Field. This accord ultimately failed, and in subsequent elections the Greens have lost much of their power, but they remain an active force in Tasmanian politics, despite all predictions to the contrary. [Top] Recent History A visitor to Tasmania is well to be aware of this recent history, especially if they are coming to see the Wilderness itself. It should be realised the strength and determination of those who fought to save the wilderness that is there today. It should also be realised that conservation has a price, and many rural areas of Tasmania can employ fewer people due to the restriction of their ability to plumb the resources of the wild. Today Tasmania faces a certain level of uncertainty. Traditional industries no longer provide the same security, and many areas of Tasmania are feeling the pinch of low commodity prices and company closures. At the same time the island is discovering new areas of wealth in tourism - especially in the wilderness that now attract people from across the globe - and high quality agricultural products such as wine, cheese and aquaculture. However, these new industries alone cannot support the state, all sides of the current political triangle - business, labour and conservation - must seek to cooperate for the island's future __________Getting Around Edit This [Add Local transport mode] By Bus Edit This For those without a car of their own, the source of public transport is a bus. Within the major towns there are public bus services that are sufficient for most tourist needs. Between towns there are two major coach services, Tasmanian Redline Coaches and TWT Tassielink. You can use these services to travel the major highways, and where a particular hike leaves from the highway, the driver will know the stop to let you off. If you give an indication of when you plan to finish your walk, the bus will even stop to pick you up as well! For more information, contact: more.. type: general World66 rating: [rate it] Hitching Edit This Tasmania is has a very warm and open community supportive of hitch-hikers. Wait times are not excessive and there is sufficient local and tourist traffic on most roads to provide you with exposure to both local Tasmanian culture (via your hosts - the drivers who pick you up) and other tourists stopping in at all the little sights along the way. One or two hitch-hikers have gone missing over the years, so exercise the prudence and caution that hitch-hiking anywhere demands, but the greatest risk you are likely to face along the way is that of road accidents more.. type: general World66 rating: [rate it] tel: 03-62788012 url: bernd.wechner.info email: pleasedontspamme@bernd.wechner.info By Bike Edit This For the energeticly inclined, Tasmania is small enough to be accessible by bike tours. The East Coast highway is a particularly delightful route, with many towns, national parks and secluded beaches to delight the tourist. One note, Tasmania is NOT flat, so people planning a cycling tour should be those who enjoy the exertion of a spirited ascent. type: general World66 rating: [rate it] email: louis.vranken@bekaert.com By Car Edit This Tasmania has no internal rail service to speak of, and it is too small to make air travel necessary, so movement is restricted to the road. The major population centres are Hobart in the South-East, Launceston in the North and the string of towns along the North-West coast, in particlular Devonport and Burnie. The main stretch between Launceston and Hobart is called the Midlands highway. It is possible to follow other major roads along most of the coastline, from South East Cape up the entire East Coast, then across the North Coast and Down the West. Two points should more.. type: general World66 rating: [rate it] By Plane Edit This For quick access to the most isolated areas of the state, plane travel is a simple, though possibly expensive, option. Regular flights travel to and from King Island and Flinders Island, departing from Launceston Devonport, provided by two local companies - Tasair and Par Avion. The same two companies, Par Avion and Tasair, operate charter flights to the South-West from outside Hobart. These can be scenic flights, day trips, or one-way trips that let you start your hike from inside the World Heritage Area and walk out to civilisation. The cost more.. type: general World66 rating: [rate it] Ajith kumar Edit This Bus Services from (Launceston) to (Cradle Mountain Park) World66 rating: [rate it] tel: 03-96893767 address: 32,geelong road ,footscray, Melbourne victoria email: ajithkumaraxk@hotmail.com ____________Getting There Edit This There are two ways to get to Tasmania, by air or by sea. By Air Australia has three domestic airlines flying to Tasmania, VirginBlue, Jetstar and Qantas. Which you choose to fly will depend on their deals of the moment, or which one code-shares with your international carrier. Most flights to Tasmania depart from Syndey or Melbourne and arrive in Hobart. It is possible to fly into Launceston or even Devonport by plane, both of these destinations are reached from Melbourne. Both airlines currently operate five flights a day. A direct flight from Sydney to Hobart takes two hours, but most flights will take three because you will connect through Melbourne. The flight time from Melbourne is one hour and ten minutes. A typical fare previously used to be $A 270 return from Melbourne and $A 370 return from Sydney (21 days advance). However, as a result of more competition among airlines you can now easily get flights from Sydney or Melbourne for below A$100 each way. Recently two new domestic carriers have commence operation in Australia, Jetstar (Qantas' low cost subsidiary) and Virgin Blue (formerly Richard Branson's Australian venture but now owned by a different publicly listed company). Both these airlines are aimed at the budget travel market, and may offer substantially lower fares on some flights, especially for last minute or web-only deals. Qantas Airlines Virgin Blue Jetstar By Sea If you are travelling cheap, or you have a car, you can take an overnight ferry from Melbourne to Devonport. The price for a hostel berth varies between $A 106 and $A 136 one-way over the year, or it can be economical to book a 4 berth cabin if travelling as a group. The cost of bringing a car is $A 30-40. The ferry leaves about 6 pm every second day (note: you must arrive earlier to board), arriving on the other side of Bass Strait at 8 am the next morning. Facilities on the boat include four restaurant, bar, pool and plenty of lounges. Also on board are souvenir shops and a visitors information centre. A new transport option (started December 1999) is the DevilCat, a high-speed catamaran service that travels between Melbourne and the port of Georgetown - 70 km north of Launceston. The travel time is significantly faster - six hours - and the cost is only an extra $30 compared with the ferry. This option is good for someone travelling with a car who wants to make the crossing in the day-time (perhaps planning a night drive to the South or interior), but unless you are really pushed for time why not take the ferry and enjoy the ride. As a personal note, I have taken the ferry on numerous occasions both as a child with my family and when travelling with a car, and I quite enjoy the experience. Air transport in Australia is safe and of high quality, and can often be the most economical for foreign travellers because of favourable domestic rates linked to an international flight, or because time is limited. However, if you aren't pushed for time and have a car, then the ferry is a pretty good option. __________Other Activities Edit This Skiing Despite Mountainous terain and southern latitude, Tasmania does not recieve a great deal of snow because it is small and surrounded by ocean. If you want a great Southern Hemisphere skiing holiday, go to New Zealand. However, if you are in Australia for the winter, or if you have seen Tasmania in the summer and want to see it in a different light, then strap on those huge palnks of wood. The length of the runs may be a little short, but hey can be plenty steep. I especially reccomend Nordic skiing (also known as free-heel o cross-country skiing). In other countries Nordic skiing falls into two types, track skiing as in the Winter Olympics, and Telemarking which is almost like ordinary downhilskiing. In Australia, these two variants are merged into touring, heading out into the wilderness and camping in the snow. Depending on your skill you can think of it as a winter hiking trip, or go looking for the extra steep chutes away from the resorts. Try these locations: Ben Lomond: the state's major downhill ski resort, although the runs are very short by world standards. Take a day trip or weekend and try some of the backcountry trails to explore the beautiful plateaus. Mt Field National Park: the ski field for the south, where the method of getting up the hill is still rope tows. However, on the Rodway range you will find more than enough vertical to sate your desires, and the park is the perfect spot for a backcountry weekend. Mt Rufus and the Central Highlands: the Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National PArk offers as many opportunities for ski touring in the winter as it does for bushwalking in the summer. Mt Rufus is a weekend trip heading west from Lake St Clair, off the usual path of hiking in the Reserve. Mt Anne and the Mt Eliza Plateau: The South-West, for all it's mountains, is too close to the coast to get reliable snow cover in the winter (just terrible weather). However, Mt Anne and the Mt Eliza Plateau do receive some decent cover. Apart from these places, there are many undulating ranges in the state that can make for an exciting winter tour. Rafting Tasmania is definitely one of Australia's top refting destinations on account of it's high rainfall and mountainous terrain (adds up to lots of rivers). Unfortunately for rafters, many a great Tasmanian river has fallen victim to hydro-electric power schemes. However, you will still enjoy what is left, especially the majestic Franklin River, which figures so prominently in the states, indeed the nations, history. Other rivers such as the Houn, Picton, and Denison rivers offer rafting opportunities. Sea Kayaking If you can sail around it ... See the links page for a good Tassie site on this sport. __________Geography Edit This Tasmania is an odd part of the world in that, in very many ways, it has more in common with other continents than the one to which it belongs. Although part of the general Australian landarea, Tasmania was originally connected to South America, New Zealand and Antarctica during the period of the two super continents Laurasia and Gondwana. Tasmania's plants illustrate this ancient connection; the temperate rainforests resemble those of New Zealand or Patagonia more so than the other rainforests of Australia. Tasmania's mountains also exhibit far more evidence of glacial activity than the rest of Australia, and its climate is different from the rest of Australia due to its latitude and exposure to the Southern Ocean. Topography Tasmania is shaped like an arrowhead pointing to the South Pole. It is several hundred kilometres from North to South and a similar width along its North coast. The southern end does not taper to a single point, but is truncated to two Capes - South East and South West - which are less than 100 kilometres apart. The following paragraph is from "Tasmania at a Glance" published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics: "The state of Tasmania is a group of islands that lie south of the south-eastern corner of the Australian mainland. The total area of the state, including its smaller islands, is 68,119 square kilometres, about 0.9% of the total area of Australia. Tasmania is separated from the mainland by a body of water known as Bass Strait, which averages 240 kilometres in width. The remaining coastline is bounded by the Southern Ocean on the south and west and the Tasman Sea on the east. At its greatest length, Tasmania spans some 296 kilometres from north to south; at its greatest width, it is 315 kilometres from the eastern coast to the west coast." Although Tasmania is relatively low-lying (the highest point is ~1600 metres or ~5500 feet) it is Australia's most mountainous state, with no truly flat terrain. The major mountain ranges lie along the Western half of the state, starting at the coast in the South West and extending inland as one travels north. They are the remnants of an ancient range of volcanic mountains from the period of Gondwana, and are the source of a large portion of Tasmania's wealth in the form of mining. Although the eastern half of the state is generally lower and flatter, there are several significant mountain ranges in the East. On account of its rugged topography and high rainfall, Tasmania has a great number of rivers, almost all of which have been dammed at some point to provide enough hydroelectricity for the entire state's needs. Almost all the major rivers begin in the Central highlands and flow to the coast. The Derwent River flows South East and reaches the coast at Hobart, the Esk, Tamar and Mersey rivers flow North to the coast at Launceston (somewhat inland) and Devonport. The Franklin and Gordon rivers flow west to meet the coast at Strahan - The Franklin is still undammed along its entire length. Climate Tasmania has a generally cooler and wetter climate than Australia, something that attracted settlers in the nineteenth century who found it more similar to England than the drier mainland. The temperature in winter can go as low as -10 °C in the highlands in winter, although the coastal areas rarely go below freezing. Summer temperatures can reach up to 35 °C, but in general will be in the range 20-30 °C. The mean daily maximums and minimums for Hobart are 17.6 and 9.2 °C respectively. In general Tasmania receives its weather from the West. In winter there are a steady stream of cold fronts from the Southern Ocean, while in summer they are subdued by high pressure systems moving south from central Australia. Given the western orientation of both the weather and the topography, most of the precipitation falls across the West coast, where it promotes the extensive growth of temperate rainforests. The East of the state is much drier, and can even experience drought conditions in certain years. The vegetation is thus markedly different - dominated by eucalypts and hard-leaved plants. __________People Edit This Tasmania's present population is 477,675. The majority of Tasmanians live in in or around the major population centres: 194,166 in the greater Hobart area, 98,160 in the greater Launceston area, and 78,147 in the Burnie-Devonport region. Although births (5909) exceeded deaths (3557) in the year of these statistics, Tasmania's population is currently declining due to emigration. The great majority of Tasmanians are caucasion, and mainly British descent at that. As a general rule, Tasmania has been less influneced by twentieth century migration that the mainland of Australia due to it's relative isolation. Residents of other states are occasionaly liable to make disparraging jokes in this regard, which intimate at the relatively intertwined lineage of many Tasmanian families. Nevertheless Tasmania has received waves of immigration in the past, especially post-WWII immigrants of Eastern Europe who were attracted for labour on the hydroelectric schemes then under commision. As may occur with many small and established regions, Tasmania has developed it's own internal rivalries. Residents of the South may pride themselves on living in the earlier settled regions of the state, and having Hobart as the state's capital and largest city. Northern residnts will claim that theirs is the more economically productive region of the state, and note that these areas were not originally established as centres for incarceration of England's criminals. Such parochial rivalries are played out by snobbery betwwen the main centres of Hobart and Launceston, patronage of different newspapers or TV stations, and the contest of differing sporting teams in sports such as Australian-Rules Football. By national standards Tasmania is not a wealthy state, and the last decade has, if anything, exacerbated this disparity, Tasmania suffers from high levels of unemployment and an overall declining population. However, the cost of living is also lower in Tasmania, especially housing costs (petrol and other imports can be more expensive). Tasmania does not lack for a wealthy class, from established fortunes - some dating back to landed gentry of colonial days - to chiefs of industry or government, and new entrepreneurs and professionals. On the other hand, there are many communities, suburbs of the larger cities and especially some isolated towns in rural areas, that are face particular hardships due to recent closures of som large industries. Nevertheless, as a whole the Tasmanian community is known to be welcoming and supportive, and travellers are sure to find assistance and friendship wherever they choose to go.