Tassie Top 5

I have to be honest. I didn’t totally love Tasmania as much as I thought I would and it’s for one simple reason. We chased the sun around the country and timed Tasmania for the peak of their summer and it’s still cold! Their beaches are stunningly beautiful… so incredibly inviting... but absolutely freezing! After a huge hike you can tolerate a refreshing dip but those Antarctic waters and cool winds lets Tassie's pole position down a level. That’s not so say don’t go, there's incredible sights to see and amazing adventures to be had, just rug up!

Wild wild west

The west is wild. I don’t think I’ve even used the word wilderness before so didn’t really know what it meant. We saw more roadkill on our west coast drive than we have the whole way around Oz. It is like the final frontier: still clean air and water, thick forest, wild animals, natural beauty, undeveloped and all because of the unfavourable weather – W-I-N-D-Y!

Country folk

The centre is all farm-land, think English country side with old, colonial cottage houses, cows and sheep. 

The people too have that country-town, homely welcome. 

The friendly policeman let our speeding off with a warning (unlike the emotionless NSW coppa), painters were hugging after a good day’s work was done, we had our petrol pumped for us, we fished for trout on some lovely old ladies' property and when were stopped on the side of the road to let the cows pass, a friendly farmer handed over a box of his farm fresh produce and a jar of just-made pickles. So nostalgic and reminiscent of visiting my uncles and coming home with the in-season pickings. 

So homely and the quaint little towns are super cute, but for me, who gets excited at the sight of a Kmart, or KHub as they’re called in smaller towns, found it all a bit too sleepy until we hit Happening Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport - not that they were even our favourite bits. These were:

Number One: Cradle Mountain

Topping the list is the magnificent Cradle Mountain. There are lookouts at the car parks for those that don’t want to walk and then there’s those that cart 20kgs on their back to hike the Overland track for 6 days and sleep in a tiny freezing cold tent and take on the challenge to do it all.

For us, hiking a return 4 hours to experience Tassie beauty at it’s best was a great snapshot. Rio is a mountain goat galloping up those rocks like it’s a parkour course. Massimo, always competitive, always at his heel or showing off and taking the lead. Johnny and I, slow and steady holding up the rear, taking it all in: a section of rainforest, a lake with the mountain reflection, the wildlife in abundance. Magnificent.

Number One and a half: Canyoning

Technically, this is equal number one as I canyoned at Cradle Mountain, but I didn’t want to scare off anyone by putting it up top. And I’d like you to know, safe exhilaration is my game. I’d like to know who went first and decided to go down sides of cliffs and through caves to see where they came out, if they came out? Insane! I, like my adventures well-trodden and tested to know that if I shoot through that shute, I’m going to end up in a clear, deep pool.  

Abseiling, rock jumps, rockslides, water shutes – what a taste and location for my first time canyoning.

Number Two: Mountain Biking

The kids and I got the flow thrill on the green tracks whilst Johnny hit the black track from Derby to St Helens. 

Amazing scenery, exciting courses and now our favourite way to descend a mountain. We couldn’t get enough of it and Tasmania has so much of it!

Number Three: Bay of Fires and Wineglass Bay

Beaut-ti-ful. The Bay of Fires so named for the orange (lynchen on) rocks and mountains hitting the sea, is really a different sight to see. 

It was welcomingly hot on the east side of the giant island so we quickly popped into that icy sea. 

I’m going to wrap Wineglass Bay into this mix too so I can squeeze a few extra things into my top five. 

It used to be a whaling station so the water turned the colour of wine – hence the name. That story is as bad as the hard hike back up from the (again freezing) beach. 

Number Four: MONA – Museum of New and Old Art

Neither Johnny or I are really art people. In Paris we skipped the galleries and museums to go to the sport stadiums, but MONA is an accumulation of so much.

With it's funky architecture, impressive picnic grounds, bars, playgrounds, music, entertainment and such varied forms of art, it’s uber cool to take it all in.

Number 5: Port Arthur

Like art, Johnny and I aren’t really history lovers either, but maybe because Port Arthur was about our own country’s history and the origin stories of our nation's civilisation, we were all, kids very much included, blown away by this historic prison settlement. 

The reasons why some were sent here, so menial, the hard labour they endured, so intense, their servitude for our country – we truly appreciated every part of it.

Life lessons

As with the history lesson, like many kids I assume right now, our boys are so drawn to learning more (the why) about the Russian/Ukraine situation. They are definitely more worldly, aware, and have so many more life experiences than Johnny and I had at their age. Their maturity astounds me. 

They are so privileged compared to many others, but understanding history, war, different cultures, people, the way others live, themselves living a nomadic and minimalist lifestyle, being amongst nature and learning the way of the land keeps them grounded and truly appreciative. Children are told to always say thank you, but appreciation is not something I thought they’d truly emotionally understand and express - yet another amazing quality that has grown and I am proud they hold. Preach over, now, go get cold, and discover Tasmania!