Although Burnie is a regional city best known for its busy container port and major industries, there exists a wealth of unexpected places for visitors to explore.
Burnie's central business and shopping district provides a thoroughfare to the beachside boardwalk and to a 17-kilometre walking trail that skirts the city. The Burnie Park is close to the city centre. A wildlife sanctuary is in the centre of the park, and there is a walking track to Oldaker Falls. Burnie Inn (1847), the first licensed pub in Burnie, has been relocated to the park and is now a tearoom.
Just a few minutes drive east of the city at Fern Glade, you can view wild platypus in the tranquil retreat for picnicking or simply meander along the banks of the Emu River.
When you've worked up an appetite head up the hill to sample the region's famous cheeses at the Lactos Cheese Tasting Centre and take advantage of the local prices and vast array of Tasmanian speciality produce from pickles and native peppercorns to the best Tasmanian wines.
Continue south and you'll reach spectacular Annsleigh Gardens and Tea Rooms (open September to May) and the renowned Rhododendron Gardens (open August to February) - superb displays of more than 9,000 wild and hybrid rhododendrons in a natural 12-hectare amphitheatre. Indeed, the Emu Valley and Annsleigh Gardens each have thousands of rhododendrons and are open to the public from about September until March. Burnie's Agricultural Show is combined with the Rhododendron Festival, held in October.
Further still, you might enjoy Australia's biggest Guide Falls – a gentle cascade in summer flowing to a torrent during winter.
