Latrobe

On the upper navigable reaches of the Mersey River, the historic township of Latrobe held pride of place as capital of the North West Coast in the 1870s and 1880s.

More than a century later, the blend of heritage and hospitality sets this beautiful town apart. Antiques, crafts and restaurants in restored cottages and buildings line the main street where timber, wool and produce once trundled to the port.

In the old Court House Museum and Thomas Johnson and Dolly Dalrymple's cottage at Bells Parade, the struggles and the stories of the early pioneers come to life. And on Boxing Day each year, the carnival that began back in the 1880s with penny farthing cycling and pedestrian footraces, draws the spotlight once again as Australia's fastest sportsmen cross the line.

Take a country back road through the lush farmlands of the region and buy fresh vegetables from a roadside stall and talk with local farmers at their gates. To the east of Latrobe are the holiday settlements of Port Sorell and Hawley Beach and the Asbestos Range National Park where at dusk you can watch the wombats and wallabies graze on native grasses.

An historical note:

Latrobe staged many of Tasmania's early sporting events including a football match in 1881, the first official chopping carnival in 1891, the first match between a touring England Eleven and North West Coast cricket team in 1888 and was the birthplace of homing pigeon racing in Tasmania. Dolly Dalrymple, daughter of an Aborigine woman and sealer-seaman father was the wife of ex-convict Thomas Johnson, who became one of the largest landowners in the early years of the district. In 1831 she fought off Aborigines who had surrounded her cottage for six hours, until her husband's return.