Spaghetti with green olive and marjoram at Fico. Photo: Supplied The Good Food team share their favourite places to eat and drink in their second homes. Hobart has become such a food destination, planning one perfect day is barely possible. Do you grab impeccable breads and pastries from Pigeon Whole Bakers on Argyle Street and […]
The Agrarian Kitchen recently opened at New Norfolk. Photo: Peter Mathew Dark Mofo feasts, winter festivals, fondue: How to celebrate the solstice 2018 Bonfires, boars and craft beers: Where the wild winter festivals of 2018 are Sound the bell. For a town known for its brisk weather, Hobart is one of the hottest places to eat […]
The Museum of Old and New Art. Photo: Peter Mathew After a lifetime spent relegated to the role of daggy provincial cousin, a new and not-so-sleepy Hobart has emerged, shaking off any last remnants of island inferiority complex and finding its feet as one of Australia’s most celebrated culinary and cultural destinations. As the rest […]
Oysters steamed in Tasmanian sparkling. Photo: Adam Liaw The conditions that produce an abundance of truly great seafood aren’t a mystery, but bringing them together in one place at the right time is anything but ordinary. You need the right geography; cold water conditions for slow, patient growth, light to keep the land and water […]
Fossils on display inside Evolve bar at the MAcq01 Hotel. Photo: Supplied Once upon a time, drinking holes in Hobart pretty much served only Cascade beer and cool climate wines. Tasmania is now a haven for distillers. There are 37 registered distilleries producing gin, whisky and even apple-based spirits. To meet the demands of a […]
A cheese platter at Grandvewe Cheese in Birch’s Bay, Tasmania. Photo: Adam Liaw Tasmania’s on a streak. Recently it’s been hard to keep up with the number of headlines drawing our attention to some new giant-killer emerging from the Apple Isle’s gourmet scene. A century ago news of the happenings in Tasmania might have taken […]
Eight delicious things to do in Tasmania One perfect weekend: Where to eat and drink in Hobart The Apple Isle’s capital certainly doesn’t need talking up. A combination of David Walsh’s gallery of kook, Mona and its winter festival Dark Mofo, plus the might of restaurants like Franklin captained by Analiese Gregory, Fico by Francesca […]
There’s a mild-mannered woman sitting opposite me in a honey shop in northern Tasmania, and she’s having a Harry Met Sally moment. Jessica Russ is a truffle grader. During the winter harvest, she can be found in a shed at Tamar Valley Truffles, whose farm occupies a sweeping valley outside Launceston. Here, Perigord black truffles […]
Tasmania’s apple-growing heritage dates back to colonial days, and hand in hand with that came cider. Taking cues from that history, people like Dr Tim Jones, head cider maker from organic cider producer Willie Smith’s, are bringing a new and uniquely Tasmanian cider culture to a tipping point. One of the main historical hurdles for […]
Want to discover more about the cool climate wines that are generating such a buzz? Photo: Liza Jane Sowden, Tourism Tasmania SPONSORED CONTENT There is something special about spring in Tasmania. The mild weather makes this the perfect time to explore the island’s lush landscapes, while food fans will rejoice in the roadside stalls laden […]
From your hot tub, enjoy a cool-climate wine against a backdrop of serious natural beauty. Photo: Emilie Ristevski The Apple Isle serves up a crisp offering of mountain lodges, coastal treasures and splendid isolation, primed for any kind of explorer to sink their teeth into. Cradle Mountain Lodge Cradle Mountain Road, Cradle Mountain; (03) 6492 […]
Housed in a Victorian terrace, Bryher cafe’s locally sourced offerings reflect the seasons of Northern Tasmania. Photo: Lusy Productions Natalie Fryar raises a glass of her freshly poured vintage Bellebonne sparkling rosé and studies, with a quietly satisfied air, the fine bead rising to a light foam. Formerly chief winemaker at Jansz, Fryer now makes […]
Despite being pretty much the only structure for miles around, the Bay of Fires Lodge isn’t easy to see. It’s made of Tasmanian hardwood, plantation pine and lots of plate glass and has been sensitively tucked into the wilderness of the National Park as if it grew there. The spa’s coup de grace is the […]
Thousand Lakes Lodge, Tasmania. On the rough road ahead is the dark shape of an animal, running away at full pace. In the dim dawn light, it looks a little like one of the wallabies that bound about the scrubby plains of Tasmania’s Central Highlands. But no, it’s far too short and shabby, moving more […]
Guide Peter Marmion (L) with tourists from the Odalisque on top of Balmoral Hill, Port Davey. Photo: Supplied Our three-day adventure begins at Hobart’s Cambridge Aerodrome, where we board a 10-seater twin-engine plane for one-hour flight to Melaleuca. “We” are a group of six journos (including two bird-watching experts) and Zac the chef, from Hobart’s […]
All you could wish for: Whitehaven Beach’s powder-soft silica sand and clear blue sea. Photo: Supplied I step ashore at Whitehaven Beach, drinking in the magnificent sweep of one of the world’s best beaches. It’s a cloudless day with an onshore breeze. Dressed smartly in black, barefoot staff stand to attention, offering me a glass […]
Adam Liaw discovers a boutique distillery making its mark on whisky. This is sponsored content for Tasmania. On the outskirts of Launceston, overlooking the picturesque and mist-covered valley of the North Esk River, Adam Liaw rugs up and sets out on a crisp winter morning to discover a boutique whisky distillery and it’s proud owner and maker, […]
Snorkel the Abrolhos Islands: Even getting to the Abrolhos is an adventure: this group of 122 islands, about 60km off the coast of Geraldton in WA, can either be reached by air, with joy flights landing on East Wallabi Island, or by charter boat, which involves usually a three- or five-day tour on a live-aboard […]
Tasmania’s stunning coastlines allows visitors to connect with the natural beauty. Photo: Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. This is sponsored content for Tasmania – Come Down For Air Tasmania offers amazing ways to shorten the distance between farm and fork. On an island where seasonality and hospitality go hand in hand, find intense new flavours […]
Barnbougle Dunes has 22 two-bedroom cottages, three four-bedroom villas, and a two-bedroom ocean villa. Photo: Gary Lisbon Our rating 4 out of 5 THE LOCATION Barnbougle Dunes arrived on Australia’s golf scene in December 2004 and its little sister, Lost Farm, opened in 2010. The two courses sit side-by-side on Tasmania’s wild north-east coast, five […]
Rock formations on the beach, Bruny Island. Photo: Tourism Tasmania It’s the sunset end of a late autumn day and I’m standing naked in a forest, surrounded by the tallest trees I’ve seen in years. Not exactly where I’d expected to find myself on my first evening on Bruny Island, just south of Hobart. But […]
Bruny Island Cruises – sailing around The Friars off the coast of South Bruny. A few minutes out from the pier, our skipper Huw Griffiths slows the boat and sets our sights up to Grassy Point to acknowledge the Nuenonne, the first inhabitants of Bruny Island. Back in the day, Griffiths says, it was the […]
The penthouse at Change Overnight It’s the dark end of winter in Tasmania, and it feels suitably as though I’ve stepped into a Dark Mofo installation. The long corridor is as black as the night sky, and urban sounds – car horns, traffic noise, city chatter – play through hidden speakers. But this bunker-like corridor, […]
The Helmsman’s House at Frenchman’s River has jaw-dropping views from the terrace. Photo: Supplied So you really want to get away from it all in Tasmania, but still be within 45 minutes of Hobart and its myriad attractions? Head for the Huon Valley, Gourmet Farmer territory, and two newly opened luxury cottages at Frenchman’s River, […]
Hikers enjoy the view from the summit of Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island. Photo: Andrew Bain The pace has quickened. It’s 4.10pm and word has gone out that the end of civilisation is near. The brewery that marks the end of our cycling day is closing in 50 minutes and we still have 10 […]
The Blue Derby Trail Network draws more than 30,000 mountain biking enthusiasts each year. Photo: stu gibson THE ONE RIDE Tucked in the hills of the state’s north-east and revived thanks to the establishment of the Blue Derby Trail Network in 2015, more than 30,000 mountain biking enthusiasts now come each year to what was […]
Fern-lined trails. It’s mountain biking, but probably not as you know it. A warming fire crackles in a wood stove inside a spacious hut, beanbags lie strewn about, and the kitchen emits the intoxicating scent of roasting pork belly and new potatoes. A few steps away, the most inviting of beds awaits me inside a […]
Unusual hexagonal-like natural wonder: Dip Falls. Photo: Jess Bonde It turns out you can live in South East Tasmania for well over a decade and have little to no idea about everyday life in the island’s diagonally opposite corner. Up in the North West, people snack on something called savoury toast, refer to their ute […]
Lesser-known but equally as stunning: Douglas-Apsley National Park. Photo: Simon Sturzaker Draw a line 45 kilometres north from Wineglass Bay and Freycinet National Park, and you come to another Tasmanian national park. It has none of Freycinet’s fame and a fraction of its visitors, but Douglas-Apsley National Park has features that are no less fantastic. […]
Such are the difficulties – physically and mentally – of scaling Federation Peak, that more people are said to reach the summit of Mt Everest than this 1225-metre-high mountain. Photo: Tourism Tasmania/Glen Turvey In Tasmania, it’s spoken of in almost religious awe. Federation Peak, or simply Fedder, is the most striking and terrifying mountain in […]
Castle Rock, Flinders Island. Photo: Tourism Tasmania The bar has been set high. “I reckon this is the best bit of coastal walking I’ve seen anywhere in the world,” says guide Ben as he outlines the day ahead on a map. It’s a day that will see us rounding rocky, ocean-beaten shores on the west […]
Ideally-suited to Tasmania’s fresh weather, a sauna master will guide guests through the experience. Photo: Anj Blair While Australians will need to wait a while longer to enter any Nordic-Baltic travel bubble, a new experience in Tasmania is set to bring the best of its culture to our shores with the country’s first floating sauna […]
Chef Ben Milbourne of CharlotteJack restaurant Photo: Tourism Tasmania This is sponsored content for Tasmania. The foodie movement in Tasmania is in full swing and there is no better time to treat your taste buds to the incredible produce shaping menus on the southerly isle than during winter. On a visit to Tassie during the […]
Freycinet Lodge spreads discretely over a few hectares inside the Freycinet National Park. Photo: Alastair Bett The mountain terraces, which face the Hazards mountain range, are the newest additions and include two family suites that each accommodate a family of four. Photo: Mel Ferris Photography Inside, an open fire, lounge chairs and couches fill the […]
Wineglass Bay and The Hazards: Mt Mayson, Mt Amos and Mt Dove. I became an RV convert in the car park of Tasmania’s Wineglass Bay. I had taken the two-hour trek up over the saddle of the Hazard mountain ranges with my wife and two boys, aged 10 and 7. The kids were positive enough […]
New luxury bungalows at Freycinet Lodge. Photo: Dianna Snape and design by Liminal Studio Take a bite of the Apple Isle for hidden hotel gems, historic farmstays and remote eco lodges. FREYCINET LODGE Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay; (03) 6256 7222; freycinetlodge.com.au THE LOCATION This lodge is in the spectacular Freycinet National Park, where the […]