Tasmania is one of my favourite parts of Australia. It has some stunning scenery, historic sites, and amazing food and wine. This was our second attempt to get to Tasmania having had to postpone once due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the border to Tasmania being closed. It was meant to be a trip in December 2021 for my significant number birthday – prior to booking Tasmania it was meant to be New Your City, it ended up being Melbourne CBD. We were still wary of going when we did as everything was still very uncertain with border closures and lockdowns possible at any given moment, but we couldn’t postpone again so booked everything and just hoped it would be OK.
We flew from Melbourne into Launceston as the Bay of Fires walk we were doing left from just outside of Launceston. We arrived in the afternoon of 14 January and caught a taxi to our hotel The Sebel Hotel, which was the tour company pick-up point in Launceston. For dinner I had booked a restaurant Geronimo, which was along a lovely little strip of cafes, restaurants and bars across from Princes Square, and about a 15 minutes or so walk from the hotel. The menu was based on sharing dishes and you ordered for a set price a number of starters, mains and desserts, but could substitute another starter or main if you didn’t want dessert – which was the option we chose. The food was very nice and it was lovely to sit outside on a mild Tasmanian early evening with a glass of Tasmanian wine. The food highlight was a lobster and saffron broth ravioli – delicious!
We got a few provisions for breakfast from a nearby supermarket, so we could get up a bit later and eat in our room, and then walked back to the hotel and had an early night as we had an early start the next day.
The main reason for coming to Tasmania was to do the Bay of Fires walk, something I had wanted to do for a long time. We were doing the 3 day long weekend walk which spent two nights at the Bay of Fires Lodge, an exclusive location with the Tasmanian Walking Company – I had seen much written about the location of the lodge and was somewhere I particularly wanted to stay. Having been in lockdown in Melbourne for most of 2020 and 2021, being able to be in a location which was vastly different to the 5 or 10 kilometre radius from your home was very appealing!
We were picked up early from The Sebel Hotel with a number of our fellow travellers at around 7.30am and were driven to the base for walking company Entally Lodge. Once there we were given our packs to carry with just what we needed for the two nights and three days along with our plate, cutlery, keep cup and lunch for that day. The packs were very easy to carry and comfortable. It was about a 2 hour or so drive to the starting point for the walk Eddystone Point in Mount William National Park.
The Bay of Fires was named by Captain Tobias Furneaux who saw the fires along the beach of Aboriginal people, as it was a meeting place for the First Peoples in the area.
We ate lunch on the beach by Eddyson Point and went to see the lighthouse before setting off on the walk. The walk today was totally along the beach a part of the Bay of Fires coastline, with some walking over rocks and hills towards the end to reach the lodge, but most of the walk was over very even terrain. The total walk time was around 3 hours and a distance of 6 kilometres. It is classified as an easy walk and people with average fitness would be able to do the walk, but it is still quite a decent active walk carrying a pack. The scenery was simply stunning! The blue of the ocean set-off by the long stretches of white beaches with red algae growing on the rocks along the beach was spectacular.
It was on this very part of the walk that I encountered what I call active tour snobbery – I have written about this in a separate blog post. It was an interesting insight into what we all consider to be adventurous and the principle of enjoying and respecting diverse interests!
We arrived at the very lovely Bay of Fires Lodge early afternoon. It is a truly spectacular location, looking at the long stretches of beach and the ocean and the bush surrounds.
When we arrived at the Lodge we went and sat on the back deck with a foot-spa with peppermint oil and drinking a glass of wine. We then went to our rooms which were very comfortable with a king bed and of course stunning outlook. The Lodge runs on solar, tank water and compostable toilets and aims to minimise the impact on the surrounds.
The afternoon was spent on the front deck with a wine and canapes and then diner at a shared table with our travel group. It was an early night – at about 8.30pm we were done. The other thing about the Lodge is that it was designed on the body’s bio-rhythms so there are no blinds or curtains, so once the sun is up it’s not easy to sleep in. I think I needed more than two nights for by body to get used to that. The sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore was also quite loud and mainly it was marvelling at the power of those waves.
We elected on our full day at the Lodge not to go on the kayaking. Having been through almost two years of COVID-19 lock-downs in Melbourne , all we really wanted to do was relax and appreciate the amazing location we were in. Again, see here my blog on adventure tour snobbery!
We spent the day reading, walked along the beach and went for a safe swim about up to the waste – I say safe as the waves were powerful as was the rip – having treatments at the spa (divine!) and at the end of the day the glass of wine on the deck looking at the stunning scenery. Dinner was again tonight at the shared table with our group. We also saw a wallaby that afternoon as the sun was going down – very special.
The staff for Tasmanian Walking Company and at the Lodge were amazing and worked very hard! Not only did they do the walk with us but also assisted the manager of the Lodge with cooking all the meals and then cleaning the rooms and showers when we left. It was greatly, greatly appreciated.
On our last day of the walk, we left the Lodge for a walk through the forests and coastal flora in the area to meet up with our bus to take us back to Entally Lodge and then Launceston. It was a 2 hour or so drive back to Entally where we got our bags, had another glass of wine and some nibbles and then headed back to Launceston.
This time back in Launceston I had booked the boutique accommodation at the award winning restaurant Stillwater called Seven Rooms. It was seriously one of the nicest places we have stayed anywhere in the world. The rooms were so beautifully set-out, a huge, amazing shower and once again a stunning view. You were also greeted with afternoon tea – help yourself type arrangement – and a drink of choice. It was just really excellent service.
Unfortunately, Stillwater was closed on Monday nights, so we had a lovely seafood dinner at a restaurant called Alida just across the road. It was in a place called Penny Royal Adventures which was like a mini-colonial theme park – an unusual little place and theme for a fun park.
The next day we had an amazing breakfast at Stillwater – fortunately we got to eat there at least once. One of the best breakfasts ever husband declared! We were literally a few minutes’ walk to Cataract Gorge, so after breakfast we went for a walk along the trails – a pretty amazing place to have almost in the middle of a city. We were hiring a car to drive to Hobart so picked up the car, said farewell to the gorgeous Seven Rooms and headed off to Hobart. We took a leisurely drive as it’s only about a two and half hour trip by car with lots of places to stop at along the way. We stopped at Richmond – an historic town with the oldest built, still in use bridge in Australia.
We arrived in Hobart early afternoon and checked into our hotel The Henry Jones Art Hotel, which is a great location down by the waterfront and wharves and not far from Salamanca Place and the city centre. The hotel is in a converted sandstone building. Our room was one of the standard harbour view rooms – it was very roomy, nice, big bathroom and a great view out onto the waterfront.
We went for a walk up to Salamanca Place and had afternoon tea. Tonight we met friends for an early dinner at Fish Frenzy, a place their kids approved of as did we – great fish and chips and chowder. We had been here before when in Hobart. After dinner we walked up to The Still on Argyle Street which is a whiskey and cocktail bar run by Lark Distillery. We had to of course have a whisky and then walked back to the hotel.
On our last full day in Tasmania, we went to Bruny Island. It was about a 40 minute to an hour drive to Kettering where the ferry for Bruny Island leaves and is about a 15 minute ferry ride across. We had a hire car so it was easy to get there. There isn’t any public transport on the island, so if you wanted to visit you would need a hire car, book a tour or of course stay a few nights on the island. It’s easy to get around the island and see quite a bit in a day, so a really great day trip from Hobart.
We drove down to The Neck which is the location of a penguin colony – this time of the day obviously wasn’t the time to see them as they were all out from their burrows fishing. We walked up to The Neck look out which has a small memorial to Truganini and the Neunonne people – the country of the First Nations people of the island. Like much of Tasmania, Bruny Island saw violence and the decimation of the First Nations population on Bruny Island and Truganini was one of the few First Nations people to survive in Tasmania. Monument Australia has some information on the memorial.
We made a couple of other short stops and then drove back in the direction towards the ferry departure. We went to the famous Bruny Island Cheese which was very busy and popular and had a cheese tasting board. I have ordered packs from Bruny island Cheese on a number of occasions for family and friends and along with having their cheese delivered across Australia, you can also buy other produce made on the island.
Our next stop was at Get Shucked where you could have the fresh, delicious oysters literally being farmed right in front of your eyes. Possibly the best oysters we have eaten anywhere. The oysters natural were amazing but make sure you try the Asian fusion oysters with panko crumbs, rice noodles and dressing – superb.
We then stopped in at the Bruny Island House of Whiskey which also had a great selection of gins including the fantastically named Seclusion Gin and of course we had to take a bottle home.
We caught the ferry back over to Kettering and the easy drive back to Hobart. We met some other friends that night for a drink at Hobart Brewing – just around the corner from the hotel – and a lovely dinner at a restaurant we had been to before in Hobart on the waterfront Blue Eye Seafood Restaurant.
The next day we were flying back to Melbourne but went for a walk into the Hobart city CBD before checking out from our hotel and heading out to the airport for our flight home.
Tasmania is beautiful and a place where you can see quite a lot in a short time. We didn’t go this time, but it has the fantastic Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). It’s also becoming an increasingly popular place to live as well and you can absolutely see why. A great, great place to travel to and you can technically say you are going overseas while staying in Australia.
