Tasmania by Caravan in May/June

Gday Russell,yep it'll be cold,try down to -8 frosty mornings but you get a beauty of a day after these things.Me ,im heading up into the Kimberly region for May/June and boy am I gunna suffer with the cold when we get back.
Still with a caravan and good heater its a beautiful place to see in the winter.Just look out for the black ice on highland roads and bring warm clothes.
Cheers Nick

I have spent a lot of time in Tasmania in winter. It is about dressing correctly with things like pure wool vest and some days wool long johns. Good woollen blankets and doona. I think there is something very nice about winter in Tasmania and don't mind it at all. The large size Coleman Catalytic heater for when you get up in morning and at night prior to going to bed would be a great purchase prior to going. There is no problems finding free and magic places to free camp especially in winter. Tasmanians all stay in their tacky little boxes all winter with the fire going so you will have the place to yourselves.
I don't know if you realise, but Tasmania certainly does not rain all the time as the general impression is. Hobart is from memory the second driest capital city. The north and east coast average around 550mm to 600mm a year which is less rain than Sydney. The rain on the east and north coast is generally spread over the whole year. It is places like Cradle Mountain and Lake Margaret on the west coast that only have 32 days a year without rain. The west coast in some places get between 3.6 and 4.2 METRES of rain a year. Yes the west coast generally is wet to very wet.
I don't think it is being 'cheap sods' it is seeing the place at a different time of year with substantially less people - tourists as well as locals.

Yep - virtually assured it'll be damned cold - but I like it - nippy, fine weather suits me for a holiday....... you can stand on top of a rise in those higher regions and sniff in that biting air.... great. I do one sked a week for VKS737 as an operator, and while checking the weather situation for each state, Tassie has weather warnings of some sort, for what seems every week ! Big blows on the coasts, cold snaps etc. Also, it can snow on the peaks (and surroundings) at any time during the summer - it did last year ! Gives you an idea what's possible in winter. We went to the top of Mt Wellington one April - like a blizzard - snow - gale force winds - quite an experience - think it closed just as we came off - too much snow. Overall, if you strike fine weather it could still be very cold - if you get rain, it would be dead miserable. A local told me this week that in Queenstown (west) its always either raining, or about to (maybe he exaggerates !).

Cold??? Bloody Freezing would be my description!
If its dry it 'll be OK but if its raining it 'll be downright miserable....!

Thanks all, I'm not a lover of the heat (too much insulation) so I'll vote to go in May.

Regards to all.

Russell

Hi,
we did a tour of Tassie about 3 years ago in winter and it was fantastic.
The only really cold places were down south in Strahan (where we got up in the morning and our van was covered in ice.
And another cold area was Mole Creek where there are some nice caves to look at.
Up on the noth coast was beautiful.
And the best thing is that the place is deserted, you get the caravan parks to yourself.
Only prob is that some things close over the winter months.

oops nearly forgot, You have to go down to Huon and go on the Devil Boat now thats fun in winter.