About Tasmanian Arboretum
The world's largest collection of Tasmanian living woody plants live here at the Tasmanian Arboretum, a peaceful landscape of flowers, trees, lakes and birds. With an objective to plant the widest possible range of tree species possible, the Tasmanian Arboretum is a picturesque landscape of carefully tended natural surrounds, where you can escape the crowds for a picnic in the shelters or on the grass. At the right time of day, platypus can be seen in the waters, with over 60 species of birds around the site.
What a special place. We heard about it whilst chatting with some special people at Illico Beach waiting for the penguins. So quiet and peaceful with no one around. Now we are from Sydney and not really into the big nature thing, but this was wonderful. We got to see platypus in a totally natural environment. The little guy swam right up under us as we stood on a little footbridge over a big pond. He swam all the way in, diving down into the mud and coming back up and diving down again...all the way until he was underneath us. We couldn't believe our luck. It was such a special moment. Extra special because as we arrived we were stomping away over the bridge talking away saying 'do you think we will see a platypus...'. Next minute there was a loud splash and a little guy had been sunning himself on a rock and got such a shock that he flew into the water. He stayed there for some time and we got such a wonderful view of him, but not enough time to dive for the camera. So, you can see why it was extra wonderful that he came back and we got a second chance and videoed the whole thing. We were so excited that we had to share it with the lady in the kiosk. How lovely was she. Here we found her very special homemade berry ice cream and homemade raspberry jam. YUM!!! To top it all off, when I went to the ladies, a simple structure, yet in the corner was a beautiful vase of the most divine smelling roses.!! You have no idea. How lovely is that. Thank you for a very special morning.