Burnie overlooks Emu Bay on Tasmania’s North West Coast. The city has a proud industrial past and is a vibrant place to visit. Dense rainforest once surrounded Burnie, but this slowly disappeared as fortunes were made felling and milling timber for its now-closed pulp mill. Since its closure, the city has reinvented itself as a city of makers and creators.
The best place to see the work of local craft and artisans in action is at the Makers Workshop, part contemporary museum, part arts centre. Here you’ll find paper making, cheese tasting, whisky tasting, ceramics, textiles, glass, printmakers, painters, sculptors and lots more. Have a chat about what they’re making and see their objects for sale in the gift shop.
For nature lovers or those just wanting to stretch their legs, there are several waterfalls on the city’s edge, good bushwalks and on the way into (or out of) town there’s a stunning 12-hectare rhododendron garden. Also, nearby is the Fernglade Platypus Sanctuary.
Burnie is a 35-min drive (49 km) west of Devonport and around a 90-min drive (110 km) from Cradle Mountain.
Burnie, Tasmania Australia 7320
