Tasmania -- The State that hasn't fully grasped the implications of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 :-)
It's kind of strange in Tassie, they often seem to think of themselves as kind of a distinct nation from the mainland. For example in QLD or NSW it's the federal and state governments while in Tasmania it's the Australian and Tasmanian governments. I'm sure intellectually at least the majority of them do realise that they are actually part of Australia, but it doesn't seem to have fully sunk into their collective sub-conscious yet. For example I'm sure the majority of them think of themselves as Tasmanians, while I think of myself as an Australian not a Queenslander or a New South Welshman.
That strangeness aside Tasmania has a bunch of good features as well. It's several years "behind" the mainland* in some regards. Land prices are cheaper then in the areas of the mainland I normally visit.They also have plenty of space despite the small size of the island, and the weather is nice, at least in summer.
My trip to Tasmania -- A brief summary
My family and I flew into Launceston on the 17th of November, we then traveled around visiting the north-east corner of the Island, where we saw some fairy penguins in Bicheno, Ben Lomond National Park, and various other stuff. After spending a week in the north-east we headed west and my Dad, brother, sister and myself walked the Overland track . My mum and other sister drove round to pick us up at the end five days after we left. After this we visited Queenstown [which was literally a hole in the ground] and the west coast. We soon travelled on to Hobart before doing the south-east section, where we travelled to the furthest south part of Australia accessible by car. Once we'd done the south-east we headed up to quickly do the north-west before returning to Hobart to fly home.
* In this case behind is mostly a good thing, e.g. they have lots of free campsites, and a more accepting public attitude towards guns. Both of which my parents assure me existed on the mainland about 20 years ago. :-) Admittedly I have seen the same sort of things when I've traveled out west as well, so it may only be limited to the east coast.
