Tassie Heritage

Tasmania is Australia’s second oldest settlement with Hobart being settled soon after Sydney. Launceston was the third European settlement, but Tasmania’s history pre-dates that by thousands of years. Aboriginal people inhabited Tasmania during the last ice-age, some 10,000 years ago, and their carvings and handprints in charcoal, blood and ochre can still be seen on cave walls. Please visit these sites, but also respect them, as they are fragile and sacred to the Aboriginal people. Places to visit include the Tiagarra Aboriginal Centre (Devonport), Rocky Cape (north west), Bedlam Walls (near Hobart), Wybalenna (Flinders Island) and Henty Dunes (West Coast).

Europeans (Dutch) first arrived in Tasmania in 1642 and called it Van Dieman’s Land. French explorers followed, which explains the names for many of the bays, headlands and mountains. The English then settled, bringing convicts and soldiers from where farms and towns grew.

There are many stately homes and Georgian civic buildings that recall a grand, bold vision as well as reminders of the harsh convict days with hand-chiselled historic sites throughout the state. The convict heritage is strongest on the Tasman Peninsula, particularly Port Arthur, in towns like Richmond and Ross (the Female Factory and the hand-carved bridge), in the Old Hobart Gaol and on Maria Island where the penal settlement pre-dates Port Arthur.