Sale lifts hopes of staff pay

The lifestyle village at Geilston Bay has been bought by a new company. Pictures: LUKE BOWDEN

A LIFESTYLE village at Geilston Bay owned by Tony Park, the director of a series of collapsed building companies, has been sold.

A new company, Clarence Lifestyle Village Pty Ltd, bought the village on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum from one of the collapsed firms, Park Land Developments.

Mr Park yesterday said the sale was good news for former staff owed entitlements such as holiday and termination pay.

The former staff could not get access to the Federal Government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee because their employer, Cosy Cabins, was separate and not in liquidation.

"I have been working to get the best deal for the blokes but have not had any funds to appoint a liquidator," he said.

"This sale ... will give me the funds to liquidate and give them access to [the] guarantee."

Mr Park's companies, Mornington Park Homes, Park Land Developments and Cosy Cabins Australia Marketing, were placed in receivership in February and March.

News of the sale offered hope for Alan and Carol Bannister, who are coming to terms with losing their jobs and home.

They have spent this week packing up, ready to move back to Dover.

Mr Bannister, who had been the company purchasing officer, was paid for the five years he was with the group by Cosy Cabins but, because that company is not in liquidation, was not eligible under the entitlements guarantee. He said he had also not been paid for his last week of work. Mrs Bannister was manager at the lifestyle village at Geilston Bay.

"The new owners said they could not offer me work and we have had to move out of the manager's house as a result," Mrs Bannister said. "It was a whole new life and our home as well and we looked forward to retiring and growing old with all the residents."

Another former employee said he felt hung out to dry by Mr Park, who had professed concern for workers at the time of the collapse.

"For him to say that his main concern was us -- his employees and our entitlements -- is an insult," he said.

"Each day brings another challenge to put food on the table and pay bills."

Another former staffer said his superannuation funds were not up to date. Staff who asked about super during the year had been told "we will fix it up".

The directors of Clarence Lifestyle Village are former staffer Craig Swan and investor Joshua Muskett.

Receivers McGrathNicol were appointed by National Australia Bank, owed $2.2 million by the companies.

nicholas.clark@news.com.au

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Historic hotel for sale

Hadleys Hotel, built by convicts in 1848, has been put on the market by receivers.

ONE of Hobart's grandest hotels has been put on the market by receivers and managers.

The Mercure Hadleys Hobart Hotel and Grand Mercure Hobart Central Apartments had been operated on a business-as-usual basis by chartered accountants Korda Mentha since January last year.

The sale covers a $30 million development of 125 brand new serviced apartments, conference facilities, restaurant and cafe in Inner Collins St as well as the 71-room boutique hotel.

Agents Jones Lang LasSalle have called for expressions of interest by April 15.

Hadleys Pty Ltd, which has been operated by the Doherty family, was placed in receivership last year owing BankWest $60.45 million.

The Doherty family operated a number of hotels around Tasmania, including Tidal Waters at St Helens as well as the Campbell Town and Ross hotels and once owned what is now the Grand Chancellor hotel in Launceston.

Last year the National Australia Bank appointed Ferrier Hodgson as receiver of the St Helens resort known as Tidal Waters. A report to the Australian Securities and Investments commission said Tidal Waters Pty Ltd owed the NAB $4.9 million.

KordaMentha was appointed to seven companies on behalf of secured creditors.

The creditors included Vos Constructions, which built the Inner Collins St apartments.

The sale follows the recent sale of the Macquarie Inn for $13.65 million by CBRE Hotels on behalf of Korda Mentha.

The Penny Royal hotel in Launceston is also being sold on behalf of the receivers of Bluechip Properties Australia Pty Ltd.

Hadleys Hotel was built by convicts in 1848.

Its first owner was former convict John Webb, who was transported to the colony for house-breaking.

After Webb died in 1881, the new licensees, John and Mary Hadley, changed the name to Hadley's Orient Hotel and the Hadley family operated it for 55 years.

The Doherty family bought Hadleys in 1999.

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Sewage scare spoils oysters

A SEWAGE spill at Pitt Water has caused thousands of oysters to be pulled from shops and restaurants across Australia.

Southern Water yesterday came under fire for not reporting the leak, which it admitted had been detected as much as three weeks earlier.

A statement issued by the utility said the spill, in the state's South East, had earlier this month been mistaken for a freshwater leak.

The leak at Midway Point was repaired on Wednesday.

Tasmanian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program manager Alison Turnbull said the Sorell Council had alerted her to the leak on Wednesday.

Ms Turnbull said it would not be known if the spill had infiltrated oysters from six farms in the Pitt Water area until testing for viruses such as hepatitis A had been completed, in about a week.

She said the spill's volume had been low and early test results for bacteria in the water around the farms were encouraging, but the industry could not afford to take any chances.

A voluntary withdrawal of oysters harvested from the area continued yesterday.

Tasmanian Shellfish Executive Council chairman Jon Poke said it would be next week before farmers could count the numbers of oysters lost.

Farms that produce about 15 per cent of the state's oysters are expected to be out of action for at least two weeks.

Mr Poke said the closure ahead of Easter, the industry's second busiest week of the year, would be costly.

About 50,000 dozen Tasmanian oysters have been harvested in preparation for Easter.

Mr Poke said any oyster that was on the market would be safe to eat.

Director of Public Health Roscoe Taylor said the farm closures were a precaution. The farms were about 3km from the spill, Mr Taylor said.

He said the Health Department had not received any reports of illness caused by the oysters.

"I congratulate the shellfish industry for acting responsibly in withdrawing its product while a full assessment is made," he said.

Southern Water in a statement said the utility was investigating the incident in which a "low volume of sewage infiltrated the stormwater system in Midway Point".

A damaged sewer main had been identified and fixed on Wednesday.

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Metro cancels services

METRO has cancelled buses all day Wednesday and on Thursday morning and will not pay drivers as the battle over wage demands escalates.

Metro chief executive officer Heather Haselgrove said services around the state had been called off on Wednesday and on Thursday morning because stop-work meetings by drivers would affect too many travellers.

Ms Haselgrove said drivers would not be paid on those days.

Unions described the move as "disgusting", saying afternoon and peak hour services could still have gone ahead.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union Tasmanian secretary Samantha Simonetis said drivers had had a "gutful".

"Drivers would have been back on the road by 3.30," she said.

"I think Metro is portraying the public as stupid."

She said many drivers felt so angry they would not want to turn up after the stoppages, and that further action was possible.

She said Sustainable Transport Minister Nick McKim "needs to come to the table".

But Ms Haselgrove said Metro had no choice but to cancel services on those days next week.

"After examining the very long list of services that would be disrupted, it became clear we could not provide passengers with any certainty next Wednesday," she said.

"[It] raised the real risk of students being either stranded for hours waiting for a bus in the morning or stranded after school and that is simply untenable."

She said services would have been affected for more than six hours.

Drivers will hold stop-work meetings on Wednesday from 7.30 to 8.30am and 2 to 3pm.

On Thursday, services until 8.45am are cancelled and disruption expected until 9.45am.

Bus drivers want a 3per cent pay rise but Metro has lifted its offer only from 2 per cent to 2.1 per cent.

Unions Tasmania secretary Kevin Harkins said Metro's cancellation was malicious and irresponsible.

"The stop-work meetings arranged by drivers would have had minimal effect on the travelling public," Mr Harkins said.

He said Mr McKim's support of management had "strengthened the company's arm".

Mr McKim said he had not directed Metro and that it was a matter between Metro and the union.

"I sympathise with Metro's customers who are no doubt becoming increasingly frustrated with ongoing disruptions," he said.

"I think the public would rather see both parties negotiating a solution to this matter than ongoing disruption to timetables."

Tasmanian Young Labor president Adam Clarke condemned Metro's "extreme action".

"The pay offer is clearly not adequate. It will be extremely unlikely that other state sector workers will continue to stick to a 2 per cent wages offer when their industrial agreements come up for negotiation in the near future."

"It's time for Minister McKim to condemn the actions of Metro management and call for both parties to the dispute to return to the bargaining table in good faith."

michelle.paine@news.com.au

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Operation Shanghai

TASMANIA is poised to capitalise on the Asian Century with more signs, more education and a new office in Shanghai.

The new trade office in the financial behemoth, one of the world's largest cities, is a key plank of the State Government's response to the Asian Century White Paper. The Government will collaborate with Austrade to set up the trade and investment office in a bid to promote Tasmanian investmentopportunities and strengthen trade relations in Asia.

Ms Giddings said the office would draw on the extensive resources of Austrade, which has 13 offices across China, Hong Kong and Macau alone.

"The white paper makes it clear that we need to build strong relationships to make the most of the opportunities in the Asian Century," Ms Giddings said.

"Having an ongoing Tasmanian presence in China will allow us to more effectively follow up investor interest."

The State Opposition says Tasmania could have had a Chinese office eight years ago, pointing to a press release issued by the Premier in 2005 describing one in China as an extravagence that would duplicate services already provided.

Ms Giddings said embedding a Tasmanian officer within Austrade was an innovative way of tapping into the Commonwealth's extensive networks and overcoming the high cost of establishing a stand-alone trade office.

"The time is right for Tasmania to have its own representative in China in order to maximise the economic, educational, scientific and cultural opportunities," she said.

The representative would complement Tourism Tasmania's existing presence in the Asian region, with representatives in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Japan.

Unveiling the white paper yesterday, Ms Giddings said the $100,000 document, put together by the Tasmanian Government and the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy, included more than 200 pages of evidence and research that would help to drive policy related to Asia.

The first initiatives to be rolled out as a result of the paper, at a cost of about $1 million, will be:

THE establishment of the trade and investment office in Shanghai.

INCLUDING Asian languages in signs at key arrival points and major attractions.

CONDUCTING detailed analysis of economic opportunities in individual Asian countries, starting with China.

WORKING with industry and Brand Tasmania to develop consistent "Tasmanian Gourmet" food branding for cheese, wine, cherries, salmon and seafood for high-income Asian customers.

CONTINUING the Asian Education Strategy to broaden the focus on Asian literacy and cultural awareness.

OFFERING cultural awareness training workshops for business, in partnership with the Federal Government and local industry representative bodies.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Rockliff said yesterday the Government had had 14 years to put in place a strategy to better link Tasmania with Asia, "and it's telling that their own white paper essentially says they have failed to do so".

The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed the report with a few disclaimers yesterday.

TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey said it represented the beginning of a journey, not the completion.

matthew.smith@news.com.au

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Rare look into whale's world

Tagging expert Dr Virginia Andrews-Goff with a blue whale skin sample she collected. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

LIKE the whalers of old, Tasmanian marine biologist Virginia Andrews-Goff stood at the bow of a small boat in a wild sea, aimed her weapon at the body of a blue whale and fired.

Her direct hit implanted a satellite tracking device that would astound researchers with its revelations.

It was one of the high points in a modern voyage of discovery this summer that involved scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division and four other nations.

The team used acoustic buoys to track down more than 80 rare blue whales in the far Southern Ocean, getting close enough to take precious skin samples from 23 of them and attach satellite tags to two.

The research team in action

Expeditioners also took close-up photos of 57 whales to establish their identities and distinguishing marks.

One of the tagging experts, Dr Andrews-Goff said it was intimidating being so close to the world's largest animals some of them three times longer than a bus surging through the ocean at great speed.

"I was the size of an ant next to one of those giants," she said.

"I was deliriously happy when I managed to attach a tag." Since then, the satellite trackers have shown the whales travelling up to 100km a day.

"I was surprised at the distance and speed they swam," Dr Andrews-Goff said.

DNA analysis of the small skin samples is providing a wealth of information about the endangered species.

Australian Antarctic Division chief scientist Nick Gales said the voyage proved it was not necessary to kill whales for research, as Japanese hunters suggest.

Dr Gales said tracking and analysing living whales was far more productive.

"There isn't a scientific reason to go and kill a whale in the Southern Ocean," he said.

The Australian Antarctic Division chartered a large New Zealand freezer-trawler called Amaltal Explorer for the research project, which used sonar technology developed to track submarines in the Cold War and refined over three decades.

Marine mammal acoustic expert Brian Miller said blue whales sang songs in perfect pitch at very low frequencies, which could be detected hundreds of kilometres away.

Acoustic buoys launched from the trawler tracked the songs and provided details about the whales' locations.

In 626 hours of recording, Dr Miller and his colleagues detected more than 26,000 calls.

They monitored the sounds on board the trawler and when they got close, set more buoys in a triangle to narrow down the focus of the search. When the whales were spotted by on-board observers, taggers boarded small boats and approached the leviathans as they swam by.

The work went on in freezing conditions in all weather, often close to the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf.

Last year the scientists conducted a trial voyage to the west of Bass Strait and in November they practised tagging humpback whales for several weeks off south-east Tasmania.

The Antarctic blue whale was hunted almost to extinction by industrial-scale whaling in the early years of last century.

Its numbers crashed from an estimated 200,000 in the Southern Ocean to almost none by 1966, when hunting of the species was banned by the International Whaling Commission.

The population has recovered very slowly compared with other whale species and scientists estimate only about 2000 Antarctic blue whales exist in the Southern Ocean today.

philip.heyward@news.com.au

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Relief as backpacker found

PARKS and wildlife officer Bruce Ridden was posting photos of missing German backpacker Margarida Farinha on a noticeboard when he noticed the 18-year-old stroll into the Wineglass Bay carpark.

Miss Farinah was blissfully unaware of growing fears for her safety that had triggered a frantic two-day search.

Rather than being in danger, as her family in Germany feared, Miss Farinah was having the time of her life exploring the Freycinet Peninsula.

"It was awesome, it's so nice. The best place in the world," she said.

But she was sorry for causing so much alarm and said she was touched by how much Tasmanians cared for her safety.

Her parents raised the alarm on Sunday after Ms Farinah, from Lisbon, Portugal, did not make her daily phone call.

She said she had tried to contact her family but her mobile phone service did not have coverage on Tasmania's East Coast.

Bicheno constable Allan Skeggs said police involved in the search had been tormented by this month's 20th anniversary of the unsolved disappearance of German backpacker Nancy Grunwaldt.

But shortly after 1pm yesterday, once Constable Skeggs and Parks and Wildlife visitor Service co-ordinator David Adams had Miss Farinha and her Canadian companion Ivan Jenkinson safely on the beach at Coles Bay, they were all smiles.

Miss Farinah said the three nights of camping at Wineglass Bay "was awesome, just magic".

Six days earlier she had unexpectedly bumped into Mr Jenkinson at the Sorell library's internet access desk.

She had met him on a previous five-month Australian working holiday and they decided to hitch hike to Coles Bay.

Miss Farinha said a couple who picked them up, and invited them to camp at their Dolphin Sands home, before dropping them off near Coles Bay, must have played a part in guiding the police search.

Miss Farinha said she and Mr Jenkinson had camped at the Wineglass Bay campsite for three nights and had spent the days exploring the Freycinet Peninsula.

The backpackers were taken to the Bicheno police station so they could make long overdue phone calls to their families.

Miss Farinha, who is spending her gap year, between high school and university, in Australia, said she had also learned the importance of signing the walker registration books at National Park entrances.

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Major milestone for Gazette

SIX decades of Derwent Valley news will be celebrated in a special issue of The Gazette today.

Originally called the Derwent Gazette, the weekly paper was first published on this day in 1953.

Starting out as an independent publication at New Norfolk, the paper has been a stablemate of the Mercury since 1981.

Today's collectors' edition anniversary issue includes a 16-page supplement and a souvenir reprint of the original four-page broadsheet.

Readers are invited to share in a 60th anniversary cake at the New Norfolk Newsagency this morning.

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Traffic snarl on Tasman Hwy

POLICE have warned motorists to expect delays after a three-car crash on the Tasman Highway near Midway Point.

Police said the accident happened on the Midway Point bridge shortly after 5pm today, disrupting afternoon peak-hour traffic.

One person was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

In a statement issued about 6pm today, police said both lanes of the highway at the crash scene were now open.

Westbound traffic heading to Hobart was moving normally, while traffic in the eastbound lane was moving more slowly.

Motorists travelling towards Midway Point and Sorell were expected to experience delays for some time.

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DPP in crash probe

A cameraman at the scene of Sunday's fatal head-on crash on the Midland Highway, south of Oatlands. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis, SC, faces a wait of several months to know whether he will face criminal charges over a fatal road accident on the Midland Highway near Oatlands on Sunday.

Police yesterday confirmed witnesses had reported a blue 2011 Mercedes sedan  understood to be driven by Mr Ellis, right,  was on the wrong side of double white lines before the head-on collision at Lovely Banks at 6.15pm.

A 27-year-old West Launceston woman driving north in a white Toyota hatchback died instantly in the crash. Her death was later confirmed by a doctor who was at the scene.

Police said the Mercedes then veered into a black Commodore sedan also travelling north.

The Commodore's 23-year-old male driver and his female passenger were uninjured. Mr Ellis remains in the Royal Hobart Hospital in a stable condition with a broken leg and other non life-threatening injuries.

Police took blood samples after the crash and will conduct routine tests for the presence of drugs or alcohol. The results will take weeks.

Mr Ellis' wife, Guardianship and Administration Board president Anita Smith, 44, was discharged yesterday with a broken collarbone.

Police crash investigator Senior Constable Kelly Cordwell yesterday said the investigation was likely to take about six months.

"My approach to this is exactly the same as any other incident," she said.

"At the end of the day, a woman has lost her life and we mustn't lose sight of that.

"My primary concern right now is for her family and to ensure a thorough investigation is undertaken into the circumstances surrounding her death as to give them some clarity."

Constable Cordwell said she had spoken briefly to the driver of the Mercedes yesterday but he would not be formally interviewed for several days.

"I haven't spoken to him in detail about it," she said.

"I had a brief conversation with him this morning but I didn't go into detail with him about his recollection due to him being medicated," she said.

Constable Cordwell said preliminary indications were the Mercedes had crossed double white lines on a sweeping right-hand bend.

"It appears from witness statements that the blue Mercedes was on the incorrect side of the road ... we would need to make further inquiries in relation to that.

"Witnesses indicate it was daylight, the road was dry and conditions were fairly good.

"It is still early on in the investigation, we are still to speak to the driver involved in the collision regarding the circumstances of the crash, so nothing is set in concrete at this stage."

The Mercury understands the police investigation file will be reviewed by a senior lawyer independent of the DPP's office and will simultaneously be referred to the Coroner.

Attorney-General Brian Wightman said Solicitor-General Leigh Sealy, SC, would take over Mr Ellis' functions while he was absent because of his injuries.

"I extend my sincerest sympathy to all those involved in this incident, and my condolences to the family and loved ones of the woman who died in the crash," Mr Wightman said.

david.killick@news.com.au

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Yacht rescue drama

FOUR men had to be rescued after their yacht overturned when its mast broke off, leaving the quartet clinging to the vessel's hull in rough seas off northern Tasmania.

The men had been racing in the 9m trimaran Flagmaster about 8km off Devonport on Saturday afternoon when they abandoned the race because of wild waves, police said.

On its way to port, the boat speared off one wave and into another, causing it to lose its mast and capsize.

The yacht's skipper told police that they had been sailing about 20 knots at the time.

Waves were averaging 3m high, with some peaking at 5m.

It took crew members 25 minutes to reach and activate an emergency beacon (EPIRB) at 2.30pm, prompting a police rescue boat and helicopter search.

A police boat found them less than an hour later, clinging to the hull.

The crew had to swim to the police boat for rescue.

Flagmaster had been leading the race from Ulverstone to Devonport and return when it pulled out.

The crew were assessed by ambulance officers for exposure, cuts and an intake of salt water but none needed hospital treatment.

The yacht's owner was yesterday afternoon organising an aerial search for the abandoned trimaran's hull.

But bad weather had delayed the search.

The 9m Swedish Built SeaCart trimaran class has been described as a tough racing yacht, designed for speed rather than comfort.

"She's fast in the right conditions," said Mersey Yacht Club commodore Tim Grant.

Mr Grant said the trimaran was the latest to join a long list of competent offshore vessels that had fallen foul of Bass Strait.

He said the emergency response involving a Police Sentinel vessel, the Westpac police rescue helicopter and Tasports' Devonport pilot boat had been prompt and flawless.

Flagmaster was yesterday understood to be drifting in Bass Strait and was logged as a navigational hazard.

-- with AAP

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Tigers can taste victory

THE Tigers are so close to their third Sheffield Shield they can see their breath on it.

It was another day of drama, but also of Tasmanian dominance with Queensland needing a miracle to defend its Shield title.

With two days to go and needing a win to raise the trophy, the Bulls are 7-185, still 234 runs behind in their first innings with just three wickets left after taking 74.4 overs to slowly accumulate their score.

Queensland is still 34 runs off passing the follow on but it would surprise all if the Tigers enforced it, with captain George Bailey almost certain to bat the Bulls out of the game today on a wearing pitch.

While all the specialist bowlers chipped in, it was a man who arrived in Hobart as a batting all-rounder who did the damage.

Evan Gulbis, who survived a horror ordeal in his first season with four consecutive ducks followed by a season ending elbow-reconstruction, is now on track to becoming a Shield winner.

He captured top-scorer Peter Forrest (56) leg before and both Nathan Reardon (13) and Michael Neser (12) caught behind.

"We are in a great position, but with two days to go if we don't play good cricket we can still get beaten so there is still a lot of work to be done," Gulbis said.

Forrest said the visitors' position was dire, but there would be no white flag from the Bulls camp.

"The Queensland spirit is to keep fighting so we will go and have a few XXXXs and try and figure out a way we can still win the game," Forrest said.

"I'm sure you will see us positive and upbeat tomorrow and [we will] come out and try and attack the game and find a way to win."

The Tigers struck fairly early when the finals specialist, Luke Butterworth, beat Luke Pomersbach's defence and rattled off stump, before the Bulls had reason to maul the ground in anger.

Already narky with a grassless pitch, Bulls coach Darren Lehmann was left doubly fuming after the umpires dithered instead of heading for the changerooms early with a storm fast approaching.

The storm hit hard and the deluge had the groundstaff battling wind and rain while struggling to get the covers down.

As a result play was held up for two hours under brilliant sunshine because of a wet pitch and centre square.

The hold-up left Lehmann so angry, he refused to comment on the situation with a $3000 suspended fine hanging over his head for previously venting his spleen publicly.

Gulbis said it was like bowling with a hackie-sack on the slow Blundstone Arena pitch. But despite the lifeless wicket, he now has 20 wickets for the season at 24.5 runs each.

It is a long way from that disastrous runless start to his career.

"I didn't really warrant playing as a batter for a while, it's been well documented how I started my Shield career," Gulbis, 27, said.

"To have a little bit of pressure off the batting and to be able to bowl has been really fantastic for me and scoring a couple of runs here and there and hopefully forcing my way up the order eventually."

Play will resume today at 10.15am.

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Back to nature for Easter rites

CARAVAN, cabin and even remote wilderness camping sites are already full as Tasmanians prepare for the traditional Easter pilgrimage into the great outdoors.

There are no powered or unpowered sites left at the Port Arthur Caravan Park but campers can still "fight" over spaces in the park's grassed overflow area if they arrive early.

The situation is the same at Coles Bay.

The Big4 Iluka has been fully booked for two months and a spokesman said he expected changes to Tasmania's school holidays could be behind the camping boom.

Tents, sleeping bags and outdoor cookers continue to top the list of things to pack to go camping in Tasmania.

But expect to also see laptops and other modern devices at campsites this Easter when new, and old, generations of campers sleep rough without losing all connection to civilisation.

Burnie teenagers Bailee Gillard and Esha Cornish squeezed in a practice run before the Easter camping period kicked off by pitching a tent at Ridgley.

They enjoy "going bush" but still decided to keep in touch with their wider social world.

"I would be OK without taking any technology, but a lot of people my age might struggle to turn off Facebook and other social media even when camping," Bailee said.

Tasmanian camping stores say tents are still the big ticket item.

"Tents are still basic to look at on the outside but they have new technology inside like better fly-netting, sturdier poles and tropical boxes that can keep ice for a week," a spokesman from Tuff Wear camping in Burnie said.

Most campers, of all ages, are still looking to escape the perks of urban living when camping out.

"Swags, which allow the kids to sleep out under the stars without a tent, have sold well in the last couple of years and sleeping bags have never gone out of style," the Tuff Wear spokesman said.

Families often prefer powered sites or those closer to shops and other amenities, but a band of "hard-core" campers are prepared to carry their own tent to camp for a week in remote places.

You will find these campers in the Arthur Pieman Conservation Area, in the Ben Lomond National Park, at Cockle Creek, Cradle Mountain, Peggs Beach and the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

A band of loyal campers returns to Freycinet National Park camping ground year after year to bunk down in the sand dunes.

Because of the high demand for campsites in the national park, a ballot system operates for Easter bookings and payments are required more than six months before anyone hammers in a tent peg.

The park offers a variety of basic powered and unpowered sites. Some even come with cold showers.

Families and those looking to camp on the edge of, rather than in, Tasmania's wild areas head to parks at Coles Bay, Penguin, Port Arthur, Bruny Island and traditional East Coast hotspots.

Others will go more upmarket.

Glamping, or glamour camping, suits those who want to get back to nature without all the uncomfortable bits.

Huon Bush Retreats offers a deluxe tepee that will cost the "camper" $145 a night.

The tepees come complete with a sofa, a double bed, carpet and a cosy woodfire.

For just under $800, Life's An Adventure offers exclusive Bay of Fires guided walks and a three-day wilderness experience with all creature comforts.

Your bags will be transported each day, leaving you free to enjoy the walk.

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Help sought on hotel robbery

POLICE are seeking help from the public after an armed robbery at Moonah's Valern Hotel early yesterday morning.

Police said a masked man armed with a metal pole allegedly confronted a Valern Hotel employee at 1.45am and demanded money. The offender fled on foot with what police described as a "considerable amount" of cash.

Police searched the area but could not locate the alleged offender, who is described as being aged in his 30s, about 170cm tall, with olive or tanned skin, and blue or green eyes. He was wearing a balaclava, a hooded puffer jacket, black cargo pants, white sandshoes, and gloves.

Anyone with information about the alleged robbery, or who saw a man in the vicinity of Station St or the rear of the AMWU building around the time, is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000, or the Glenorchy police station.

kane.young@news.com.au

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