Southerncomfort
Tasmania’s widescreen wilderness, thriving food scene and cultural significance provide sensory nourishment and a chance to untether from mainland concerns.
By Dan F Stapleton Photographed by Jeremy Simons
The island state of Tasmania sprawls across an area roughly the size of Scotland yet is home to just one tenth of that country’s population. In Hobart, the increasingly cosmopolitan capital, it is possible to dose on A-grade coffee and culture before bedding down in an eminently comfortable hotel. But venture beyond city limits and the untamed landscape rushes up to greet you, all brooding greys and greens.
Before you tackle the island’s wilder reaches, spend a day or two exploring buzzy Hobart and its surrounds. The city’s blockbuster attraction, The Museum of Old and New Art (mona. net.au) is as provocative as ever, although it’s the less controversial works — including Sidney Nolan’s Snake (Rainbow Serpent) mural and several contributions by James Turrell — that truly stand out.
The Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery (tmag.tas.gov.au) is worth a visit, too: alongside temporary exhibitions by Australian artists, you’ll find permanent displays that shed light on the island’s Aboriginal heritage and demystify its native fauna including the elusive thylacine, otherwise known as the Tasmanian tiger.
In recent years, a distinctive Tasmanian food culture has emerged, defined by a reverence for the locally sourced and a preference for clean, uncomplicated flavours. The restaurants in Hobart have a hint of mainland polish, while in the outlying towns, the vibe is more rustic: some country spots, such as The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery (see right) and Fat Pig Farm ( fatpig.farm), grow and rear almost everything themselves. To sample more of the island’s best produce, book a tour of the capital’s markets and providores with Gourmania Food (gourmaniafoodtours.com.au).
There are several new hotels to choose from in Hobart, including a sleek Crowne Plaza (ihg.com), the five-star MACq 01 Hotel (macq1.com.au) and the luxurious The Tasman (marriott.com) opening in June. Our pick, though, is the atmospheric Moss Hotel (mosshotel. com.au), which occupies several 19th-century warehouses in busy Salamanca Place. Exposed sandstone, beamed ceilings and forest-green bathrooms set the tone, and the largest suites have balconies overlooking the market square.
To truly appreciate Tasmania’s scale, it’s worth setting aside at least a few days to explore the interior by foot or by air. For the time-poor, however, there are other options. Tasmanian aviation outfit Par Avion (paravion.com.au) operates day trips from Hobart to the Southwest Wilderness, a little-visited area of national parkland covering over 600,000 hectares. After landing at the tiny Melaleuca airstrip, guests board a boat and cruise along the region’s pristine waterways, which thread through dark mountains and quiet valleys. The return flight, at sunset, cuts inland across the handsome Arthur Range.
Par Avion can also help you reach what many consider to be Tasmania’s most captivating destination: the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, deep within the island’s Wilderness World Heritage Area in the Central Highlands. It’s here that visitors can join the famed Overland Track, which traverses temperate rainforest and alpine moorlands on its way to icy Lake St Clair.
All but the keenest walkers will need six days to complete the 65-kilometre trek. You can set up camp at certain spots along the way, but for hot showers and cooked meals, consider joining a private tour with the Tasmanian Walking Company (taswalkingco.com.au), which is the sole operator of private huts on the track. Upon reaching Lake St Clair, stay overnight at Pumphouse Point (pumphousepoint.com.au), the converted hydroelectric pumphouse, and watch the weather roll in.
If a week-long hike sounds too arduous, book a room at Cradle Mountain Lodge (cradlemountainlodge.com.au) and use it as a base from which to explore the park’s more accessible corners. Cradle Mountain itself overlooks another moody body of water, Dove Lake, which can easily be circumnavigated; the six-kilometre track takes in stunning vistas of the park’s peaks and includes a detour through thick rainforest.
Even gentler is the King Billy Track, a one-hour circuit that begins beside Cradle Mountain Lodge and leads deep into the woods. The trail passes some magnificent examples of King Billy pine trees, which can grow upwards of 30 metres and are found nowhere else in the world. Fair warning: standing beside these 1,000-year-old trees, in the midst of such a verdant and mysterious landscape, may induce awe.