At the top right hand corner of the island, discover the many attractions of Mt William National Park. With 13,812 hectares of beaches, heathland and dry sclerophyll forest, the park is an ideal weekend destination but one with only basic facilities. It was first proclaimed in 1973 and serves as a refuge for the Forester kangaroo, and an ideal environment for a number of plant communities found nowhere else in Tasmania.

The Park is where you will find the historic lighthouse at Eddystone Point which was built in the 1880s. Local stone was used in its construction. It was a very necessary addition in the area, given the dangers that lurked out at sea, with rocks and reefs just waiting to cause havoc amongst the shipping community.

White sandy beaches and granite headlands make up much of the park's terrain from Ansons Bay to Musselroe Bay. Offshore rocky islands like the George Rocks are nature reserves for several species of sea birds.

Most visitors use the park for lounging on the beach, swimming in the mild, protected waters, bushwalking through groves of black peppermint eucalypts and banksias, or fishing for bream at Ansons Bay.

During winter months the park is the principal skiing area for people living in southern Tasmania. You can enjoy both cross-country and somewhat more limited downhill skiing.

Various waterfall walks will take you along easy walking tracks to Horseshoe, Lady Barron and Marriotts Falls. There are five walks which are graded easy and many others which are graded moderate to hard. The length of time they take to complete ranges from twenty five minutes to eight hours.

Another favourite pastime is observing the thousands of native marsupials along Forester Kangaroo Drive at the park's northern end.

Winding in and out of a developed pasture area, the road enables visitors to see mobs of foresters, Tasmania's only kangaroo, grazing on the ample grasses. Pademelons, wallabies and wombats also live here in profusion. The ideal times to see them are at dawn and dusk.

Birdwatching is also quite rewarding here, with more than 100 species recorded. The extensive sand flats around Musselroe Bay provide excellent feeding areas for the thousands of wading birds which are now visiting Tasmania. Further inland, honeyeaters appear whenever the banksias are in flower.

To really appreciate the park, it's worth climbing its namesake mountain. This is a very easy climb through dry forest to a flat rocky peak worn by millennia of erosion. The ocean vistas from the top take in features as far away as Cape Barren Island and Flinders Island.

Camping is permitted at several sites in the National Park, with fireplaces and picnic tables provided. You can also camp at Mayfield Beach, Lagoon Beach and at Musselroe Bay in the far north east. The other coastal reserves have almost no facilities and are intended for daytime use only.

Aside from the abundant bird and marine life, the pristine white sands and the clean blue water, Mt William National Park possesses another special quality - its isolation virtually ensures that if you are seeking solitude and quiet, this is where you will find it.

For more information contact the Mount Field National Park (002) 88 1149. There is a recorded information service covering the park in general and snow details, phone (002) 88 1319.

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