What’s special about Burnie?
The Pioneer Village Museum will provide you with a detailed account of the city's history, while at The Makers Workshop you can explore the craft of local and visiting artists, and paper-making, including roo poo hand-made paper and wonderful life-size paper sculptures. Better yet, get your hands wet making your own paper. While it dries there is a cheese tasting area alongside a great cafe on site. Craft, cheese and coffee. Close by is the Hellyer's Road Whisky Distillery, where you can sample single malt whisky in the new visitor centre.
Test your stamina in the Burnie Ten road race, held every October for runners of all fitness levels. Burnie is close to the Fernglade Platypus Sanctuary and Guide Falls, and approximately 90 minutes' drive from Cradle Mountain.
Burnie experiences temperate conditions, with an average maximum of 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) in January and 13.5 degrees Celsius (56.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in June.
More things to do:
Wildlife watching
Train ride- Burnie Railway Station
The story of Burnie:
Burnie was first explored by Bass and Flinders and was known as Emu Bay when it was settled by the Van Diemen's Land Company in 1827. The town was once surrounded by dense rainforest, but this slowly disappeared as fortunes were made felling and milling timber. The paper and pulp mill on the city's outskirts operated from 1938 to 1998.
Travel directions:
Burnie is 30 minutes' drive west (49 kilometres/30 miles) of Devonport.