tasmania
PIERMONT RETREAT SWANSEA
Almost bang-on halfway between Hobart and Launceston sits Piermont Retreat, a collective of 15 sustainably built cottages that boast views across Great Oyster Bay to the picturesque Freycinet National Park. The property’s original 180-year-old farmhouse has been turned into a restaurant, where the focus is on locally farmed produce and organic fare (think Tasmanian Pacific oysters and abalone and veggies grown in Launceston). It’s an impressive family-run operation: couple Marie and Juan live on-site with their brood, giving the property a relaxed, familial feel. You can also loan bikes and kayaks to explore the bush and two private beaches. piermont.com.au
MOSS HOBART
The first thing to note about the Moss hotel is that there are actually two of them. One opened last year at 39 Salamanca Place (keep an eye out for the emerald-green door right next to The Whaler pub), and the newer addition, which opened this year, is further down the street at number 25. Ganche Chua of Circa Morris-nunn Chua Architects – a firm that specialises in conserving and adapting historic buildings – turned these Georgian-era properties that were once whalers’ warehouses and brothels (and in the case of number 39, one of Hobart’s best nightclubs) into spacious yet cosy stays that are absolutely teeming with greenery originally grown in the foothills of Mount Wellington. They’re the perfect base for exploring both Hobart and the rest of the island state. mosshotel.com.au >