Tassie or SA for Christmas

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker but this is my first thread.

My wife and I are looking at embarking on a trip this summer, originally our plan was to go to Tasmania in January for 3 weeks but unfortunately I wasn't able to take leave from work and so we've moved it to December. Our dog minder is unavailable for this time so we'll need to take our 12 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with us (she's part of the family anyway) which changes what we're able to do significantly. I've never been to Tasmania and have no idea how dog friendly it is, although most of the hikes and attractions seem to be in National Parks where dogs are a no-no. Can anyone tell me how easy it is to tour Tasmania with a dog and how restricted we'll be? I understand the west coast might be a possibility, but don't know what's interesting over there.

Another option we came up with was going over to the Eyre Penninsula in SA. It looks beautiful over there and we might get the chance camp on the beach and throw a line or two. If we go to SA we'll tow a 12' van, most of the caravan parks seem to be dog friendly and it seems there are a fair few free/cheap camp areas outside national parks and alongside beaches. Our van is fully self sufficient for about a week away from town and we'll be towing it with a well set up 4x4. My concern with SA is how hot and crowded it might be this time of year, can anyone give me info on what it'll be like?

We also have the time constraint that we need to be in Melbourne on the 8th January and back in Sydney by the 12th January, we'll probably leave Sydney on the 10th of December or so. Thanks for any advice on the above, but if you think of a different destination I'm open to all suggestions,

Tim