Tasmania - The Holiday Isle

Tasmania is the only island state of Australia. Moreover, it is also the smallest and the least populated state of Australia. Tasmania reminds many travellers of UK. In contrast to the mainland, Tasmania is green, cold and Tasmanian cities resemble European cities.

With a lower cost of living than most other states, Tasmania also combines a unique and tourist friendly environment that already attracts a large international student body.

With the capital city, Hobart, home to around 190,000 people and the states total population numbers approximately 450,000. With a large amount of World Heritage Area, National Park and other reserves, the environment plays a key role in day to day life, and is a feature of most peoples recreational activities. Hobart offers a unique unmatched lifestyle which is the cause of envy for the people living on the mainland.

So you like the cold, huh?
For people after the refreshing chill of cold air in lungs, Hobart can be a pretty good place to start. With winter day time temperatures in Hobart and Launceston sometimes struggling to get about 10 degrees, you are certainly going to find Tasmania to be one of the colder places to live in. However, given its southern location, the summer time days are quite long and with day light saving will see sunlight until around 8pm. Summer temperatures are in the mid 20’s, although it is possible for the mercury to rise over 40 once or twice a year.

Facts about Tasmania
Tasmania boasts of the purest water and air in the world. It is also the safest Australian state with an extremely low level of crime. Tasmanians are known as the friendliest aussies.

Tasmanians are not as ethnically diverse as other regions, such as Victoria (well, Melbourne, really) and New South Wales (Sydney!). More than 60% of the population who were not born in Tasmania are from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA or Canada.

Given that Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city, and home to a large part of Australia’s penal history, a lot of the tourism based activities are related to sites of historical importance. If you have no idea about or interest in old buildings and gaols, you are probably going to be more interested in the natural wonders of the state. Wander to any street in Hobart or look out from any window of a house in Hobart, you are sure to treat yourself to a million dollar view.

Major Cities in Tasmania
Hobart and Launceston, along with Burnie and Devonport are the only cities of any real size, and even then are smaller than most country towns in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Top 5 attractions in Hobart and Tasmania
1. Salamanca Place
2. Mt Wellington
3. Tahune Air Walk
4. Port Arthur
5. Cradle Mountain

What should you be drinking?
It all depends on where you are in the state and who you are with. The basic rule is that if you are Hobart, or the southern parts of Tasmania, you should be drinking Cascade. If, however, you find yourself in the north, you’d better ask for a Boags.

Major Universities
University of Tasmania, Australian Maritime College

Number of International students
With just two major higher educational institutions in the state, the number of international students is suprisingly high. Tasmania has around 2,500 international students as per the data released in 2003. The Mainland universities have a majority of international students coming from South East Asian countries whereas Tasmanian institutions have a larger proportion of students from USA, UK and Germany.