There’s good reason some consider this park the ‘Serengeti of Tasmania’. It’s quietly one of the best places to see wildlife. Come at dusk and Forester kangaroos perform — grazing and bounding across long open plains.

The archaeological site of Pupput is often empty of visitors - those arriving early in the mornings may find themselves one-on-one with the scant remains of a former settlement and some rather well-preserved - for the time being, at least - Byzantine mosaics.

It is an engineering marvel, the world's steepest steam-operated railway. This is Tasmania's West Coast Wilderness Railway, and it is 28 tonnes of special. Today, passengers are moved by the same locomotives that began the run from Queenstown back in 1896. They take a comfortable 16-kilometre run through the wildlands, uphill through spectacular landscapes and down to a place called Dubbill Barrill, with stops for a little gold panning and sightseeing. These locos were originally built to move copper ore for the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, delivering the mine's deep riches out of a massive, landlocked deposit at Queenstown to the port of Strahan, and from there, to the world. And every passenger is greeted by one of the line's original workhorses, a 28-tonne steam locomotive that's ready to roll — and guaranteed to raise a smile.