Tasmania's capital shines

Tasmania's capital, Hobart (population about 200,000) is Australia's second-oldest state capital, after Sydney. Founded in 1804 at the mouth of the River Derwent against the striking backdrop of Mount Wellington, Hobart is a city of attractive Georgian sandstone and brick buildings, many convict-built.

It's a great city to walk and Salamanca Place, a row of Georgian waterfront houses, is a good place to start. Try Salamanca Markets on a Saturday morning (craftwork made from native woods, local pottery and glass), Salamanca Square (cafes and boutiques) or the many waterfront seafood restaurants and pubs. You have the rare opportunity to explore a working harbour where fishing boats, Antarctic ice breakers and cruise ships come and go.

The original fishing village can still be seen in the now gentrified Battery Point, and you can explore on your own or take a guided walking tour.

Downtown, Macquarie Street leads past many fine old buildings to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The Museum has displays on Tasmania's unique fauna, including the Tasmanian tiger (or thylacine), a handsome, striped marsupial generally thought to have been hunted to extinction by 1936. Unconfirmed sightings persist in remote parts of the Island.

Tasmanian tigers are depicted on the labels of Cascade beer, one of Tasmania's top drops and Australia's oldest brewery.