Tarkine Drive and Tasmania's North-West - Apollo

Six nights and 1,250 kilometres in a loop from Hobart in a campervan, up through the middle of Tasmania to the north-west coast and back.

Lake St Clair comes first, the deepest lake in Australia and the southern end of the Overland Track, then Wynyard on the north coast, with Table Cape beside it, a flat-topped volcanic plug with tulip fields on it in October.

Arthur River follows, on the edge of the Tarkine, which is the largest tract of temperate rainforest in Australia and where the air coming off the Southern Ocean is measured as among the cleanest in the world. Stanley comes next under the Nut, a volcanic plug rising from a spit of land, then the run down the west coast to Strahan, with Lake St Clair again on the way home.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Apollo, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Seven days for 1,250 kilometres is a fair pace with a route that doubles back, so the return covers ground already driven. The island is a good deal cooler than the mainland and this coast takes the weather straight off the ocean. The Tarkine Drive loop out of Arthur River is sealed, though some of the side roads are not, which is worth checking against the hire terms. The Gordon River cruises at Strahan need booking. The loop format avoids a one-way relocation fee.