Flavours of Tasmania
Sip wine at one of Tassie’s oldest vineyards and discover restaurants that impress. Here’s the best way to see – and taste – Australia’s most delicious state.
Dine in one of Tassie’s best venues
History meets seasonality at The Agrarian Kitchen, a local paddock-to-plate lunchtime eatery in New Norfolk, a charming town 40 minutes north of Hobart along the River Derwent. “It’s such a unique dining experience,” says Delma Coulson, journey director at Inspiring Journeys. “The converted space is in New Norfolk’s Willow Court, the town’s old mental asylum!” Expect unassuming but artful house-made dishes like smoked pork loin with guanciale and green garlic and sourdough with kefir butter, burrata and dried tomato.
Visit the East Coast’s oldest vineyard
John Austwick, a Hobart-based dentist-turned winemaker, planted Craigie Knowe’s first grapes in 1979, making it the oldest vineyard on Tasmania’s East Coast. Meet the family behind the winery and learn about its signature drops, like full-bodied cabernet sauvignon and bright French oak-fermented chardonnay. “Take a stroll through the vineyard and indulge in a lunch of cured meats and cheeses, all paired with wines from the cellar,” says Carolyn Tipper, journey director at Inspiring Journeys.
Discover the coolest new distillery
Western Tiers Distillery is built around a room of gleaming copper pot stills and is the newcomer on Tasmania’s happening spirits scene. The distillery uses pristine water from the Great Western Tiers highland lakes to produce spirits such as vodka, poitín (aka Irish moonshine) and a range of gins, including a berry-hued variety. On the Inspiring Journeys seven-day Tastes of Tasmania tour, you’ll meet producers of some of Australia’s finest food and wine. Hear secrets from local experts as you travel along the east coast from Hobart to Launceston, staying in scenic hotels like Peppers Silo Launceston, located on the banks of the Tamar River.
As we emerge from years of lockdowns, “revenge travel” is in – not only are people prepared to increase the money they spend on exploring the world, they also want to get bang for their buck and their time. Got a weekend? Do something iconic. A week? Strike two things off your bucket list.
Journey Beyond is one travel company tapping into this demand, with a six-night Sail & Snorkel Ningaloo experience (salsalis.com.au). The tour covers Cape Range National Park as well as the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, which lies off the coast of Western Australia. Extending about 300 kilometres north from Carnarvon, this biodiversity hotspot is home to more than 700 fish species – including hundreds of migratory whale sharks – and is also rich in whales, turtles, dugongs and kaleidoscopic corals. Guests take in these wonders with three nights in the luxury Indian Ocean tented camp Sal Salis, followed by a scenic flight along the reef to Coral Bay. There, they board the Shore Thing, a 15.5-metre, 10-berth catamaran, for three nights and days, calling in at dive and snorkel sites, deserted beaches, kayaking reef lagoons and communing with the marine life. The epic sunsets come at no extra charge.
But what can you tick off in just two days? Turns out AAT Kings (aatkings.com) can help you dip your toe into two of our most remote regions, Kakadu and Arnhem Land. Departing from Darwin, the tour heads to Kakadu, Australia’s largest national park and homeland of the Bininj/Mungguy people for more than 60,000 years. Rock art galleries at Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) and Ubirr record their timeless existence via panels depicting Dreaming stories and natural history. Kakadu is home to one-fifth of Australia’s mammal species and a third of its birds – and a cruise around the Yellow Water billabong takes guests close to some of them, as well as massive salties. Day two is a 4WD expedition into Arnhem Land and the Country of the Yolngu people with its dramatic escarpments, lilyrich wetlands and more immortal stories in the rock art of Mikinj Valley. “It packs a lot into just two days,” says Ben Hall, CEO of AAT Kings.