Lucky twitchers might spot the endangered forty-spotted pardalote on Maria, or perhaps the aptly named swift parrot. You’ll certainly see Cape Barren geese waddling around (and depositing their dietary byproducts on) the lawns at Darlington. Meandering wombats and grazing wallabies are also a common sight. Keep an eye out for echidnas and nocturnal Tasmanian devils on forest tracks.
© Mark ODwyer/Shutterstock
Wildlife Watching
The East Coast
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
29.01 MILES
Framed by some of the state's finest beaches and rising into spectacular low mountains, Freycinet incorporates the southern end of Freycinet Peninsula,…
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27.23 MILES
About 7km south of Swansea is the rather amazing Spiky Bridge, built by convicts in the early 1840s using thousands of local fieldstones (yes, they're…
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3.93 MILES
With its chequered history, car-free Maria Island has some interesting World Heritage–listed convict and industrial ruins among exquisite natural features…
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0.18 MILES
The township of Darlington (officially the World Heritage–listed Darlington Probation Station) is where you’ll start your time on the island. Close to the…
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28.72 MILES
Pick your own fruit (including strawberries, raspberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, apples and loganberries) at this intensively planted 5-hectare farm…
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1.41 MILES
From Darlington it’s a one-hour return walk to the Painted Cliffs, at the southern end of Hopground Beach. From the beach you can clamber along the…
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29.54 MILES
As you approach Eaglehawk Neck from the north, turn east onto Pirates Bay Dr for eye-popping views across Pirates Bay, the Neck and the jagged coastline…
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10 MILES
In the Orford back-blocks up the hill opposite the service station, Darlington Vineyard is the most southerly of the east-coast wineries, producing…
Nearby The East Coast attractions
0.18 MILES
The township of Darlington (officially the World Heritage–listed Darlington Probation Station) is where you’ll start your time on the island. Close to the…
0.24 MILES
Built in 1825, the stately Commissariat Store now houses the national park visitor centre.
1.41 MILES
From Darlington it’s a one-hour return walk to the Painted Cliffs, at the southern end of Hopground Beach. From the beach you can clamber along the…
3.93 MILES
With its chequered history, car-free Maria Island has some interesting World Heritage–listed convict and industrial ruins among exquisite natural features…
10 MILES
In the Orford back-blocks up the hill opposite the service station, Darlington Vineyard is the most southerly of the east-coast wineries, producing…
27.23 MILES
About 7km south of Swansea is the rather amazing Spiky Bridge, built by convicts in the early 1840s using thousands of local fieldstones (yes, they're…
27.61 MILES
About 11km south of Sorell at Forcett, Nonesuch is yet another of Tasmania's new breed of hooch-makers, bottling up dry gin, sloe gin and sloe malt whisky…
28.72 MILES
Pick your own fruit (including strawberries, raspberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, apples and loganberries) at this intensively planted 5-hectare farm…