Page 470 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

468  T ASM ANIA

stretching over the northeast
of the state. The vegetation
includes alpine daisies and
carnivorous sundew plants. The
park is also home to wallabies,
wombats and possums. From
Conara Junction on the Heritage
Hwy, take the Esk Main Road
east before turning off towards
Ben Lomond National Park.
The mountain’s foothills have
been devastated by decades
of mining and forestry, and
Man-O-Ross Hotel at the Four Corners of Ross crossroads many of the townships, such
as Rossarden and Avoca, have
8Ross Corners of Ross: “Temptation, since suffered an economic
Damnation, Salvation and decline. The road through the
* 425. @ n Tasmanian Wool
Centre, Church St (03) 6381 5466. Recreation”. These are repre- South Esk Valley along the Esk
∑ taswoolcentre.com.au sented respectively on each River loops back to the valley’s
corner by the Man-O-Ross main centre of Fingal. From
Set on the banks of the Hotel, the jail, the church and here, you can continue through
Macquarie River, Ross, like the town hall. the small township of St Marys
Oatlands (see p467), was once before joining the Tasman Hwy
a military station and coaching 9Ben Lomond and travelling up the east coast.
stop along the Midlands Hwy.
It lies at the heart of the richest National Park
sheep farming district in @ when ski slopes are open. 0Launceston
Tasmania, internationally n National Parks & Wildlife Service, * 71,400. ~ @ n Visitor
recognized for its fine merino 167 Westbury Rd Prospect, Information Centre, 68–72 Cameron St
wool. Some of the large rural Launceston (03) 6777 2179. & 1800 651 827.
homesteads in the area have
remained within the same In the hinterlands between the In colonial days, the coach ride
families since the 1820s when Midlands and the east coast, between Tasmania’s capital,
the village was settled. 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Hobart, and the township of
The town’s most famous sight Launceston, Ben Lomond is the Launceston took a full day, but
is Ross Bridge, built by convict highest mountain in northern today the 200-km (125-mile)
labour and opened in Tasmania and home to route is flat and direct. Nestling
1836. It features 186 one of the state’s two in the Tamar River Valley,
unique carvings by main ski slopes. The Launceston was settled in 1804
convict sculptor Daniel 16,000-ha (40,000-acre) and is Australia’s third-oldest
Herbert, who was given national park surround- city. It has a charming ambience
a Queen’s Pardon for his ing the mountain covers of old buildings, parks, gardens,
intricate work. The town an alpine plateau of riverside walks, craft galleries
centres on its historic Man O’Ross barren and dramatic and hilly streets lined with
crossroads, the Four hotel sign scenery, with views weatherboard houses. The

Alpine plateau in Ben Lomond National Park, backed by Ben Lomond Mountain
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp496–7 and pp533–5