Hobart, on the eastern shore of the estuary

The depot at Cambridge

The Hobart depot is at 201 Kennedy Drive, Cambridge, on the eastern shore about fifteen minutes from the city and closer than that to the airport. Office hours are 09:00 to 15:00 Monday to Friday, and 09:00 to 11:00 on Saturday. The office is closed on Sunday.

Cambridge is a service suburb on the Tasman Highway: car yards, light industry, and the road south to the Tasman Peninsula. If you are flying in, this is the easiest depot on the list to reach. If you are arriving by ferry from the mainland, it is on the far side of the city from Devonport. The window is short enough to plan the arrival around, and campervan hire Hobart sets out the Cambridge hours and what is kept there.

The depot lists after-hours collection and return as available. Confirm the arrangement when you book. The office window is short and Tasmania's weather does not reward an unplanned arrival.

What this depot is for

This is a collection and return point for trips that start in Tasmania. The island is small enough that a week covers a lot of it, and the roads are sealed almost everywhere that matters, which makes a two-wheel-drive campervan a reasonable choice for the whole island.

The long trip is the one this site is about, and from Hobart it is the longest of all: the island, the Bass Strait crossing, and then the length of the mainland to the North West Cape. That is a month rather than a fortnight. A month is long enough that the mainland end is worth fixing early, and campervan hire locations on the mainland shows where the island trip can hand over to the long drive.

Five things within an hour

kunanyi / Mount Wellington. The mountain above the city, reached by a sealed road that climbs through rainforest to the summit at 1,271 metres. The weather at the top is not the weather at the bottom, and the road closes in snow and ice.

MONA. The Museum of Old and New Art at Berriedale, on the Derwent north of the city. It is built into a sandstone cliff and reached by ferry or by road, and it is the reason a lot of people come to Hobart at all.

Salamanca Place and Battery Point. The sandstone warehouses along the waterfront, with the market on Saturdays, and the colonial streets of Battery Point behind them. It is a walking precinct rather than a drive, and the vehicle stays parked.

Richmond. A village in the Coal River valley with a stone bridge built by convicts in 1823, and a main street that has not changed shape in a century. The road out is sealed and short, which makes it a half-day rather than a day.

Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsula. The convict site on the peninsula, reached by a sealed road through Dunalley and Eaglehawk Neck. The peninsula also holds the Tessellated Pavement and the Devil's Kitchen, which are stops on the same drive.

Before you cross the island

Three things belong in Hobart rather than on the road.

The first is the park pass. Tasmania's national parks charge entry, and a holiday pass covers the vehicle and its occupants for the length of the stay. Cradle Mountain, Freycinet and the Walls of Jerusalem all sit behind that pass.

The second is the west coast weather. The roads to Strahan and Cradle Mountain are sealed, but they cross country that gets rain on most days of the year, and the passes can close in winter.

The third is the crossing north. The Bass Strait ferries leave from Devonport, at the other end of the island, and the booking is the fixed point that the rest of the itinerary has to fit around.