The tiny Australian island of Tasmania has a special relationship with Mother Nature and with the sea. Its mild maritime climate brings four distinct seasons; its incomparable beauty, unique wildlife, world-class food and wine, and fascinating history will astonish you; and its five diverse regions - from the capital city of Hobart to its Eastern “Suncoast” - will leave you wanting for nothing.

We asked our locum doctors to recall the things they love about Tassie (beyond the famed hiking and wine), and this is what we learned. We did our best to limit the list to the top ten, but it wasn't easy.

1. Get close to Forester kangaroos, Bennett's "red-necked" wallabies, and wombats that graze on the plains and lawns at dusk in Narawntapu National Park. Watch for pademelons while you’re here, too - they’re extinct,
except in Tasmania.

2. Discover the string of charming towns from Evandale to Pontville along The Heritage Highway. Walk in the footsteps of infamous bushrangers, enterprising wool growers, convict road gangs, political exiles, scoundrels, and opportunists who are all at the heart of Tasmania's first main road. Surrounded by gracious homes, historic farming properties and a wealth of magnificent architecture, this scenic countryside inspired the famous artist, John Glover, The Father of Australian Landscape Painting.

3. Take a fragrant journey through the evolution of the rose – there’s more than 4,000 to enjoy at the historical Woolmers National Rose Garden in Longford.


  

4. Take a glide on a high wire at Hollybank Treetops Adventure and get a fresh perspective from the tip top of a forest on a Canopy Tour (why walk when you can fly?). Or try gliding through the lush, beautiful forests on a Segway Tour!

5. Watch the Fairy Penguins parade. A colony of these little blue penguins managed to hang onto their home at the end of a Burnie city beach, and thanks to local volunteers who (among other things) constructed hundreds of penguin igloo apartments to protect them, the Little Fairy Penguins are presented to visitors every summer.

6. Battle back and forth with a marlin, swordfish or bluefin tuna on a game-fishing charter out of St Helens - widely acclaimed as one of Australia’s best game-fishing spots.

7. Take to the water on a kayaking expedition into Bathurst Harbour, where the granite-jawed mountains keep the water – and all that surrounds it – gloriously pristine.

8. Meet the remarkable butcher of Hill Street Gourmet Meats in Hobart, Shane Mundy, who is known the world over for the enthusiasm he serves up along with his famed free-range, grass-fed beef and poultry. 

9. Raise a glass of beer at Boag's, where Wizard Smith is ale you drink and the magic is in the brewing.
James Boag’s famed brew is made of pure water, barley, hops and yeast from “the only place that makes it
possible - Tasmania.” Take a tasting tour of the Brewery or head to the Centre for Beer Lovers - a museum experience that no-one with a passion for beer and brewing should miss. If you take any Boag's with you when
you leave, guard it with your life.

10. And for the cherry on top, indulge in the luscious fresh fruit from the orchard at Spreyton farm, where more
than 15 varieties of cherries are grown.

You know what they say about all work and no play making a locum tenens doctor dull? Neither do we. Check out this commercial for Tasmania tourism, then get planning a locum assignment in Australia.