WITH Australia's size, diverse scenery and vast variety of attractions, some readers may be wondering why this column is lingering in Tasmania. Why not explore more of that continent and forget its "fringe outposts"?

Several reasons . . . there's plenty of information out there covering Australia's other wonders. With a population of nearly 20 million, 90 per cent live in cities and regions along its seaboard reaching from Brisbane to Adelaide. Four million are in and around Sydney alone.

But Tasmania doesn't get the attention it deserves. Most guidebooks rush through it in one short chapter. Because the "mainland" country is so enormous and difficult to cover adequately, few overseas visitors ever get out to the island.

Because its easiest accessibility is from Melbourne, the site of this year's Commonwealth Games, there's now a special opportunity to visit.

How did it ever get on this traveller's "to see list"? A long-time family friend had been youngest commander of a destroyer in the US Navy during World War Two. During his Pacific service, he became fascinated with Tasmania and spoke of it so often over the years that I became determined to visit there one day. It was worth the wait, far exceeding expectations and definitely worth an encore visit.

It's still sparsely populated, and you can drive far distances over this super-scenic landscape without signs of any development. And when you do encounter development, it often has an historic flavour, like the charms of Stanley or Richmond where some of the most interesting stone buildings are convict-built.

There are times it will seem everything here has a convict connection. I'll never forget walking into an antique shop and admiring some exceptional embroidery, very delicate circular doilies which I later purchased.

"They're convict-made, you know," volunteered the clerk when I checked out. "Did you know some of them did quite special work?"

Not as surprising as it first sounds. I once travelled from Paris south via train on a French Government press trip with several other journalists. One, a member of the Fieldcrest Mills family who provided linens to Marshall Field's Chicago Department store, took delight in doing delicate needlepoint while French passengers stared at him in amazement. Famous football player Roosevelt Grier was also noted for such work.

Certainly convicts had time, as did those working at Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard who did the scrimshaw carvings so treasured today.

TASMANIA is definitely a destination where renting a car is absolutely necessary if you want to capture the real mood of the country. Yes, there are some major cities like Hobart and Launceston and most are sprinkled with some interesting architecture, museums and historic sites worth your time.

But you haven't travelled over halfway around the world to concentrate solely on major cities. Quite charming villages, often populated with convict-built reminders of a colonial past, are another matter. So is a landscape as varied as Australia itself.

Vineyards in lush valleys attest to the growing popularity of the country's wines . . . rural farmlands remarkably reminiscent of the English countryside provides abundant crops . . . stately Georgian country estates and gardens of a more tranquil era reflect prosperity and many welcome guests. In some very nostalgic way, those parts of it are reminiscent of Bermuda in an earlier, slower-paced time.

But all those worthy attractions are only frosting on the cake. It's combining all that with miles of densely wooded wilderness, barely explored back country, dramatic coastline and an impressive list of national parks covering more than 28 per cent of Tasmania's land that lure explorer types.

The west coast is blessed with very rich mineral deposits . . . gold, silver, copper, tin, lead and zinc exist in abundance. Like America's frontier West, its scenery is dazzlingly dramatic.

While much of the region surrounding major settlements tends to be more placid and often compared to England or Ireland's countryside, what makes Tasmania so special is the grandeur of its wild places. One minute you think it's the English Lake District, then Scotland's Hebrides, Newfoundland and, finally, places so dramatic they've yet to be penetrated by roads, but much sought out by hikers, fishermen and wilderness wanderers. These are the places where Sir Edmund Hillary practised his skills.

It's been said this isolated slice of geography of just over half a million people is one of the world's most mountainous islands. Thanks to its size (comparable to Ireland or Scotland), travellers don't have to cope with enormous distances encountered on mainland Australia.

Although this traveller is admittedly irresistibly drawn back of the beyond, you needn't "go bush", as Australians are fond of saying, to discover dazzling scenery. The coastline west of Hobart is dramatically beautiful.

THE drive from Strahan on the coast en route to Queenstown will definitely sharpen your skills for navigating hairpin bends as they weave their way down Mount Owens' steep slopes, with camera-worthy rock formations so brilliant the best colour film is inadequate.

You're in the heart of mining country and memories of that lively past are strong. One night we stayed at a one-time mining centre now attempting tourist development. We ended up occupying an entire house, once residence of a mine official, with many bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, even a basement.

It was mid-October, the house was unheated and I unfortunately chose a bedroom without an electric blanket. Feeling near frostbite in the middle of the night and not wanting to wake anyone, my solution was building a fire in the living room fireplace.

Going out on the porch to haul enough wood in to last through the night was chilling, and so was curling up to sleep in an overstuffed chair in front of the fire, wrapped in blankets. Interesting in retrospect, but not an experience that would enthral most travellers.

Further exploration revealed all sorts of very comfortable accommodations . . . from a cottage at Bronte Park, whose owners were proud of their pet wombat, to a stately 19th-century B and B at colonial Richmond.

Locals theorised that because of Tasmania's small population, there had not been pressure to tear down treasured historic buildings for redevelopment. So, happily, they exist here in great abundance.

One example: Hobart's Hadley Hotel, vintage 1834, was placed where explorer Roald Amundsen stayed on his return from the South Pole in 1912.

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that many of the intriguing places to stay were convict-built, along with bridges, churches and assorted public buildings. Hobart's Lodge On Elizabeth is a large manor house convict-built in 1829, now an hotel. Warwick Cottages are two identical convict-built Hobart dwellings dating back to 1854 and furnished in colonial decor.

They're scattered across the country. Port Arthur's Cascades Colonial Accommodations offer cottages dating to back 1841 when part of a convict facility. There's even a museum there recalling its past. Both Amelia Cottage (1838) and Oatlands Lodge (1830) are at Oatlands, 53 miles north of Hobart, originally built as a garrison town. Both maintain their colonial character. There are so many properties of historic character, it's difficult to choose among them. Strahan has two acclaimed century-old mansions, Ormiston House and Franklin Manor.

ROSS is one of the island's most historic villages. At Somercotes there, guests stay at 1823 National Trust original colonial cottages of English emigrants. Colonial Cottages of Ross, constructed from 1830 to 1880, are another possibility. All have modern comforts, often kitchens, always a sense of history and considerable charm.

Woolmers at Longford is a perfectly preserved farmstead from 1816 where visitors can tour the Trust site and stay in a restored workers' cottage. Same is true at neighbouring Brickendon (1824) with 20 Trust buildings and cottages with fireplaces and antiques.

You get the idea. The country also has a wealth of historic sites, from Stanley's Highfield Historic Site where Van Diemen's Land Company once stood, to maritime and historic museums exploring the island's convict and Aborigine past. There's so much to see it's impossible to cover it all.

You'll be so galvanised roaming Port Arthur's penal colony that time will melt away. And, of course, there has to be a stop at Tasmania Devil Park seven miles north of Port Arthur to glimpse one of those ferocious little carnivorous Tasmanian devils.

We haven't had time to take you to Cradle Mountain National Park, or Freycinet National Park, both standouts. If all this was more accessible to the average traveller, you'd probably have to wait in line for a reservation!

4 Next week: Things you should know about Australia