So before you pack your bag and book your airline tickets, I have put together my top ten list of things to do on a 10 day trip!

1. Tour the Tulips of Table Cape

   

   This one is an absolute beauty, truly a photographer"s paradise. Table Cape is best viewed in the first week of October, and is located on the north coast, about 2 hours west of Devonport, on Bass Highway towards Stanley.
   Best of all you can look and take photos from the road side for free. The farms also have great display's, bulbs and souvenirs for sale to remember your experience.

2. Feed a Tassie Devil!

   

   Made famous by the Warner Bros cartoon character, these little guys have the world's strongest jaw! They devour absolutely everything when fed, flesh, skin, and bone - not a scrap left behind! Don't worry about them while your camping, they are only scavengers! Please only feed them under supervision at the many wildlife parks scattered around tassie! While they are friendly, one bite could break every bone in your hand! Get in and see them soon, as unfortunately there is a bad face tumor disease that is really wiping them out.

3. Walk with the Penguins in Stanley

   

   Many places around Australia make you pay to see the Fairy Penguins come up from the beach. In Stanley you can see them for free! You can find them just down on the beach in front of the graveyard. They come out of the surf about 15 to 45 minutes after sunset. I even had one walk between my feet when I was there!
   Stanley is about 4 hours west of Devonport on the Bass Highway. Please don't touch, disturb or shine your bright torch lights on these birds, as they just want to come home and go to bed!

4. Drive the Western Explorer!

   

   This little known, but spectacular drive, traverses the windswept plains and valleys from Murrawah in the North, to Corinna in the South. Enjoy the spectacular views across the north west wilderness area and the appropriately named, savage river national park. It is a great days drive from Stanley, and there is accommodation and camping available in Corinna. Suitable for 2 wheel drives in good weather.

5. Discover the Southern Caves

   

   Well worth a day trip out from Hobart, are the Hastings Caves There are over 50 spectacular limestone caves in the area, all of them still very much alive and growing.
   The caves are managed by Parks Tasmania, and there is a small charge to go on a tour. You can get to them via Hastings Caves Road, off the A6, Huon Valley Highway.
   Enjoy your journey through the Huon, and take time to stop at all the craft, local fruit and vege and wood working shops on the way. The lush spectacular local scenery is not to be missed. Just out of Geeverston, you may like to visit their latest tourist attraction, the Tahune Air walk. This attraction boasts a 600m walk up to 50 meters above the forest and river below. This is a great way to enjoy the splendor of the majestic Huon Pine forests.

6. Tramp around the Majestic Dove Lake

   

   Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park, deserves the title of Tasmania's most popular tourist attraction. The ancient cold climate Huon rain forests have you looking for elves and fairies around every tree trunk. You may not see those elusive creatures, but you will find the park bursting with life! Wallaby's, echidna and wombats galore are everywhere. A 3 hour walk around the mysterious Dove Lake is not to be missed.

7. Walk with the Wombats in Cradle Mountain

   

   Included with your Parks Tasmania entry fee, are nightly wombat walks in the Cradle Mountain. Starting on the board walk, just down from the cradle mountain car park, you'll see dozens of the creatures out foraging, digging new burrows or out guarding their territory. Contact Parks Tasmania for more information, and don't forget to rug up. Wombat's enjoy a funny sort of weather!

8. Climb to Wineglass Bay

   

   Arguably, the most scenic beach in the world, it is only accessible after a 1.5 hour climb over a hill from the closest car park. Trust me, it is worth every step! The fine yellow white sand, granite boulders rocks, sky blue waters and rugged mountain back drop makes this place very special. Only the dedicated walkers reach this spot, so you don't have to worry about the crowds spoiling your photo. The only people you do see a lot of are the photographers with large format cameras, out to soak up every lumen of this place's beauty.
   You can get to Wineglass bay, via Coles Bay Road, off the Tasman Highway (A3). It is about 4 hours north of Hobart. Beware during the summer months the park can get closed due to bush fires, so contact Parks Tasmania for more information.

9. Smell the Lavender Fields of Scottsdale.

   

   The sweet smell of lavender puts a spring in your step, and a smile on your face. The lavender fields of Scottsdale are an awesome sight in full bloom, and are at their peak around January. Unfortunately, this does not line up with the tulip peak, so if you want to see these fields in full bloom, you may need to make a second trip. Take your time traveling around the farms, they nearly all have shop fronts, where you can buy lavender products, souvenirs and have a coffee or lunch all year round.

10. Laugh at the Launceston town monkeys

    

    Free council run zoos are very much a rarity in modern Australia, so this is delightful find. You can find these amusing creatures, right in the heart of Launceston's “City Park”, only a short stroll from the main shopping precinct.
    There are about 20 Japanese monkeys that are kept in the enclosure, which is open from 9am to 5pm each day. It makes a great place to have lunch, or to bring the kids

Pack Your Bags and Visit!

So, I hope I have inspired you to pack your bags and board a ferry / plane to come and visit the most beautiful isle in the world. Whilst these are only my top ten, there are so many more highlights that you should experience, including:

• The snowy top of Mt Wellington, Hobart.
• The Cadbury chocolate factory, Hobart
• Lake St Clair
• The chairlift and "Nut" at Stanley
• The blowhole and penguins of Bicheno
• The super cheap cheese factory at Burnie
• The flowery beaches of Swansea (see the picture on the right)
• The beautiful farmland, craft stores and murals of Sheffield
• The rugged beauty of the south west wilderness

Enjoy!

Our city is very family oriented. The children and the parents dress up in Dutch costumes every year and have an official scrubbing of the streets to show our cleanliness. The “Dutch” cleanser company actually come to our city took pictures of our dancing Dutch girls and put it on their cleanser can for everyone to see.

We are proud of the fact that over the years, we have had many Presidents and Presidential campaigners come to be in our Saturday Parades. We have often had guest celebrities over the years as well as Royalty. The Queen of The Netherlands paid us a visit along with her court.

Many times the citizens join together to clean up the city before the festivities starts as they like putting on a clean face. The children practice marching in the Children's parade and you can listen to the music of the marching bands long before the tourists arrive.

The uniqueness of our city helped us to win an award for being one of the beautiful cities in America today. The whole community noted for working together in times of crisis as well as helping each other on a daily basis. We have many churches in our town some are large and others are small. Our city founded by Van Raalte and his followers are instrumental in keeping our ecosystem.

Holland, Michigan is located by the lake shore and has many factories for those who desire to relocate and move in our community. Heinz's major American pickle-processing plant is located in our city and one of the oldest manufacturers in the area. We have other factories such as Request Foods, Perrigo, Herman Miller, Prince Corp, Howard Miller (Clock Company known around the world) and many more manufacturers. We are proud of our manufacturers, as they have paid an important part in keeping with the environment and recycling.

We have shopping malls, major department stores, and other large chain stores just like other cities. We have in our downtown area very nice unique shops that are family owned and many times, you can find things that you never thought existed. The streets lined with red brick and have a melting system underneath to keep the snow away in the winter.

Our local restaurants pride themselves in excellent Dutch foods and Hispanic foods. The Russ Restaurant is famous for their foods all made at their own commissary and in the Dutch style.

The winter months in Holland are beautiful you may catch the waves as they freeze in a certain pattern or go ice-skating. We have cross-country skiing and ice fishing. We have places that you can visit and watch the artisans create beautiful candles, wooden shoes, and other things that depict our city.

Our children are robust and healthy. They walk to school or playing outside on their sleds all of them enjoy the hearty winter climate. Our city has many people of many races that work together as a team. We have many Hispanics besides the Dutch population. We have many other smaller minorities that co-exist in our city and take great pride in being a part of our celebration during our Tulip Festival.

The Hispanic people of our city have help to build the community culture into part of what it is today. The Cinco De Mayo festival starts the Tulip Festival off with a flare. The food and the hospitality that the Hispanic people in our community are an outstanding feature that adds to our Dutch heritage. The Cinco de Mayo festival has many dancers and singers who portray the culture of their native country just as the Dutch present the culture of their native country.

Our sister city in Mexico brought us a beautiful fountain that we keep in Kollens park which is beside lake Macatawa a subsidiary of Lake Michigan. Along side the beautiful fountain, you will find a statute of three Dutch people as they are landing in our community.

The diversity that our community has together is part of what makes our city the beautiful city it is today. I would like to invite all of you to visit us anytime but especially in May during the Cinco de Mayo and the Tulip Festival. You will get very good culture awareness and share with us our hope for the future, our children living, working, and praying together.

Today in our city, many people fill our market places and enjoy our beaches all summer long. The winter months are great for winter sports and we still enjoy the company of many visitors.

The city is always growing and changing with the modern times but it seems to maintain the early era of our Dutch and Spanish settlers. We have museums and art shops that many who enjoy our culture like to visit.

We also have several colleges that are Hope College, Davenport, and Grand Valley University, where many come to get their higher education. The city noted for its work with the disabled as well. The residents are very helpful with workshops, taking food to the elderly, day camps and a beautiful center for the seniors called Evergreen Commons.

Welcome to Holland, Michigan, U.S.A.