Burnie - North Coast, Tasmania.

There is something slightly incongruous about a nuggety little industrial town and deep-water port such as Burnie springing up amid the beauty and serenity of Tasmania’s north-west coast.

Nestled on Emu Bay and between Bass Strait and the sharply rising hinterland the city was formerly the hub of the districts timber industry and is still the fifth largest deep-water port in Australia.  Located at nearby Wynyard, Burnie Airport is the present day gateway to north-western Tasmania.

A major tourism initiative for the area is the Burnie Makers Workshop, a long-term tourism strategy which aims to show-case the regions art, craft and produce.  Designed as a cultural tourism hub for visitors to Burnie the centre will be home to the popular local attraction Creative Paper and the Burnie Visitor Information Centre.

First settled as a Van Diemen’s Land Company town to support surrounding land grants Burnie, or Emu Bay as it was originally known, eventually became an industrial centre and transport hub for tin, silver, timber and finally paper-pulp industries.

Today Burnie is home to the Lactos Cheese Factory whose well known and award winning brands include Tasmanian Heritage, Mersey Valley and Australian Gold.  The companies Tasmanian Heritage Signature Camambert was awarded best cheese in its class in the 2006 World Cheese Championships held in Wisconsin USA. 

And if that’s not enough to get your interest the Lactos Factory is right next door to Hellyers Road Distillery, producers of fine single-malt whiskey made from the finest local Barley, pure Tasmanian water and matured in American white-oak barrels.

Now there are just two great reasons to put Burnie on your “must visit” list.

This Tassie Local snapshot was produced by Footloose Photographic & Media Solutions

www.footloosephoto.com.au

Things to see around - Burnie