[This website is retained for reference purposes only. For information on future Conferences, please refer to the general Biennial Conference page on the main ANPSA website.]

Pre- and Post-Conference Field Trips

Pre- and Post-Conference guided tours have been planned, which will allow participants to experience the diversity of the flora of Tasmania.

Bookings for all tours are now closed

Summary of Pre- and Post-Conference Tours

Alpine to Rainforest - AR1 and AR2

Distinctively Tasmanian floras are those of alpine areas and cool temperate rainforest. Each flora abounds in Tasmanian endemics with Gondwanan ancestry.

Join us for five days as we explore these along with some magnificent glaciated scenery and other special places. We will travel from Hobart and stay two nights in motel-type accommodation in the highlands near Great Lake, then two nights on the West Coast in Queenstown. Days will be spent on a comfortable bus taking in historic places or short walks on mostly level, well-graded tracks. Included will be a visit to the incredible Huon pine carvings displayed at The Wall and the magnificent scenery of Lake St Clair.

Some may choose to miss some of the best bits out of Queenstown and organise themselves on a day trip on the Wilderness Railway.

King Island - KI1 and KI2

Magnificent scenery, rugged cliffs to the West and white sandy beaches to the East, a lighthouse North and South, and a wide selection of flora. Stunning views in all directions, shipwrecks all around the coast, one still visible, and wind complete the picture of King Island.

We will spend five days and four nights on the island flying from Melbourne's Tullamarine airport, in a light plane that will complete the trip in one hour and has a maximum baggage allowance of 15kg. Once on the island, two off-road vehicles will be our transport. Accommodation is at Waverider which is twin share backpacker style accommodation. Tour and return air fares from Melbourne, all meals, transfers, Park and Museum entries are included in the package. Participants need to make their own travel arrangements for Melbourne to Hobart to attend the Conference and vice versa if doing the post KI Tour (KI2).

For more information on this tour please contact Jill Clark at plantladyjill@bigpond.com

Hobart Environs - HE1

This tour's accommodation will be based in Hobart and the participants will travel daily to their destinations of the Tasman National Park; Hartz Mountain National Park; Mount Field National Park and Wellington Park. This tour requires a good level of fitness and waterproof and warm clothing as weather can be variable especially in alpine areas.

• Tasman National Park
  The Tasman National Park covers large sections of the eastern and southern coastal areas of the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas in south eastern Tasmania. The latter peninsula has come to notice for more than the Port Arthur Historic Site since the opening of part of the new Three Capes Track. This "new" track provides easier access for walkers from Port Arthur to Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy, terminating at beautiful Fortescue Bay. This tour offers diverse flora, both heathland and woodland and unique coastal scenery with spectacular sea cliff views.

• Hartz Mountain National Park
  About 1½ hours south of Hobart, via Geeveston, lies the beautiful Hartz Mountain National Park. This park offers an abundance of delightful alpine vegetation including rare endemic Richeas, beautiful alpine lakes and mountain views, along tracks that are a little rough but have no big climbs.

• Mount Field National Park
  After travelling via the Derwent Valley to the Mount Field National Park, the road to Lake Dobson climbs steadily through tall Eucalyptus forests to sub-montane flora to Wombat Moor where alpine flora abounds including cushion plants. A walk around Lake Dobson and through a Richea pandanifolia Grove is not to be missed and is a beautiful way to end a day of botanising.

• Wellington Park
  A mere 20 minutes from the city of Hobart, Wellington Park has a wide diversity of plant communities from dry sclerophyll forests on the lower slopes, through wet sclerophyll and sub-montane flora, ascending to the upper slopes to montane flora at the 1100m summit area. There is plenty to interest all Australian plant lovers.
  In years past, European flora was introduced to the Park but today very little has survived leaving only the rock-work of days gone by. During the depression years of the 1930s, the Park benefited from construction of the Pinnacle Road, which made access easy for motorised vehicles during all but the heaviest snowfall days, while foot tracks, fire trails and increasingly bike tracks criss-cross from the foothills to the summit. Flora study on the Mountain is a very rewarding pastime throughout the year. There is even an Australian Plants nursery nearby that specialises in Tasmanian species.

Bruny Island - BI1 and BI2

An 8am start will be necessary to avoid the ferry queues waiting to cross D'Entrecasteaux Channel. We will stop to inspect some coastal vegetation near Great Bay before crossing the Neck separating North and South Bruny. The Inala Jurassic Garden (Gondwana species) will be the next destination for morning tea, a tour of the garden and lunch.

Our next stop will be Jetty Beach where lighthouse supplies were unloaded to transport to the nearby Cape Bruny lighthouse. From Jetty Beach, we will walk a small section of Luggaboine Track on Labillardierre Peninsula with its varied vegetation, and hopefully see late flowers of the Blandfordia punicea before heading back to the ferry.

Warra Supersite - WS1

Forest Pathologist / Ecologist Dr Tim Wardlaw will provide a presentation at the conference on the Warra Tall Eucalypt Supersite, one of ten such sites in Australia's Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Tim will accompany the group to the Warra Supersite, on the way providing an interesting review of the short term and longer term history of the forests. At the Supersite you will see just how dynamic the forest is - how carbon dioxide and water moving into and out of the forest fluctuate with weather conditions through the day. Finish with a walk through the canopy of these forests at the Tahune Airwalk. For an insight into this work and detailed information follow this link.