Tasmania – A long weekend on the Apple Isle
For many people, ‘Tassie’ is barely on their travel radar. Big mistake. Big. Huge. The most southern state of Australia – and the world’s 26th largest island – is a delight.
It sometimes feels like Tasmania is the forgotten state of Australia. Separated from the mainland by the narrow Bass Strait, the sleepy island will delight visitors with some of the best Australia can offer.
If you are headed down under, or are a local looking to get away from it all, Tasmania has something to offer everyone.
From outstanding local produce, to its great lakes and surprisingly stunning beaches – and vast rolling green pastures in between – it’s the type of place that lends itself to exploration, the perfect road trip.
It’s easy to design a trip around Tasmania hitting all of its best attractions – just decide how long you have and what you want to see. Highlights are the capital Hobart, Freycinet National Park, Cradle Mountain, and Port Arthur.
You could, and probably should, easily spend a week here regardless of what season you decide to take a Tasmanian sojourn.
People employed in the finance industry (riveting I know…) in NSW receive a random holiday in August and I always like to take advantage of this to have a long weekend somewhere interstate. I also love winter, so figured where better to go than as far south as I could.
On top of that, I had been longing to stay at Pumphouse Point at Lake St Clair ever since I first saw the pictures of its unique accommodation literally in the middle of the deepest lake in Australia.
So in my typical style, I planned an amazing race around Tasmania, ticking off some of the key attractions in Hobart before heading to the snowy central region (or so I hoped).
Our long weekend in Tasmania ended up looking like:
Day 1: Arrive in Hobart on the morning flight from Sydney, breakfast at Salamanca, afternoon at MONA, evening dinner at Templo
Day 2: Pick up a hire car and drive to Lake St Clair
Day 3: Leave Lake St Clare late morning, lunch at The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery, late afternoon flight back to Sydney
Hobart – Once a colonial outpost, it’s now a thriving hub for culture connoisseurs and culinary excellence
Like most of Australia’s capital cities, Hobart is situated on the coast with most of its attractions orientated around the waterfront.
Hobart has a number of accommodation options. These include The Islington Hotel (available through me with Virtuoso amenities), The Henry Jones Art Hotel (contact me for rates as a Tablet partner) and MACq 01 both housed in old wharf buildings on the waterfront, and the stunning MONA Pavilions (contact me for rates as a Mr & Mrs Smith partner) at the museum of the same name.
We opted to stay at The Henry Jones Art Hotel for our sole night in Hobart – the beautiful old building is a good price point, is well located for a fleeting visit and has a great bar to visit for a nightcap.
As our room wasn’t ready when we arrived around 10:00 a.m. (not a big deal), we headed for a walk across to Hobart’s famous Salamanca Market which comes to life every Saturday with over 300 stalls to browse.
After a delicious, country style late breakfast at one of the cafes adjacent to the market, we headed over to the wharf where the ferry to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) departs at roughly 60 minute intervals.
You have two options heading to MONA, by water (as intended by MONA’s founder David Walsh), or by land. Obviously we wanted to have the full MONA experience, so opted for their custom camouflaged catamarans.
We also decided to do the Posh Pit on board, which is $55 (vs $22 for standard) and includes complimentary drinks and canapes in an exclusive lounge and bar on board with access to private deck (freezing in winter…). The value prop of this for the 25 minute trip is up to you – I enjoyed it.
It’s quite amazing what David Walsh has built at MONA and you really can appreciate this as you approach the museum on your trip up the River Derwent.
The museum is built on – into? – land located on a peninsula that juts out into the river. The architecture is incredible with the majority of the gallery space cut deep into the sandstone to create a vast three-level subterranean cave to house its treasures.
MONA’s collection of treasures makes up the largest private museum in Australia, and covers a range of categories from antiquities to, at times, controversial contemporary art.
It’s an impressive gallery and experiencing the collection and taking some time to enjoy the various food and beverage outlets on site – Faro housed within a striking concrete and glass structure over the water is fabulous for lunch and a cocktail, as is finishing the day at the Wine Bar up on the hill.
I won’t go into detail regarding the actual collection on display, but there are a number of surprises in store for visitors – some left us a little grossed out, others a bit clueless as to what we were supposed to be looking at (or ‘feeling’), but ultimately we enjoyed the hours we spent wandering around.
We headed back to Hobart the same way we came late afternoon and freshened up at the hotel before heading out for dinner at Templo – a delightfully small neighbourhood restaurant.
Templo was a recommendation from some people we know in Sydney and it did not disappoint. The restaurant is small with just 20 covers in two sittings and I’d highly recommend the chef’s menu at just $70 per person.
The food is served share style and you may be seated on a communal table. We opted for seating at the bar which we prefer. They have an excellent wine list and options can be paired with your menu.
Definitely book early - the restaurant is well deserving of it’s Good Food Guide ‘One Hat’ award (status?) with GFG kind of (but not really) being Australia’s attempt at some kind of Michelin-like grading.
The next morning we had a nice breakfast (included in our rate) at the The Henry Jones Art Hotel and the set off to collect our 4x4 SUV rental (apparently essential if there is a chance of snow in the national parks).
We made a quick detour up Mount Wellington for some impressive views across the Hobart region from its 1,271 m summit. I loved that there was snow (more like ice) in places on the mountain - rug up in winter though as the winds this far south definitely cut all the way through!
Pumphouse Point at Lake St Clair - There are magically located places to stay, and there are magically located places to stay…
It’s impossible not to be impressed by Pumphouse Point. Even just getting here is impressive. The three(ish) hour drive from Hobart takes you past some of the most beautiful countryside in Australia as you approach the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, one of the jewels of Australia’s wilderness.
Whilst it’s easy to be impressed by the industrial buildings turned chic modern accommodation, it’s the location which is undoubtedly the king hit here.
There are not many places where you can sleep in the middle of a 160 m deep lake in relative luxury, surrounded by snow capped peaks and all the peaceful serenity that comes with being in one of the relatively untouched areas of Australia.
The main story of Pumphouse Point begins in the 1930s - or the ice age if you want to go back to the creation of the actual lake - when Tasmania's Hydro Electricity Scheme constructed the pumphouse to pump water into nearby hydro power stations as required.
As it turns out, it was actually barely ever (if ever, some say) required and the pumphouse went unused, but thankfully maintained, until it was decommissioned in the 1990s and subsequently put out to tender for tourism purposes with Simon Currant stepping in and successfully secured leases for development in the mid-2000s.
After over a decade of work, today’s Pumphouse Point was reborn as boutique accommodation with just 19 rooms spread across the Pumphouse, it’s support Shorehouse building on shore, and The Retreat.
Of course, we opted to stay in the Pumphouse for the full experience. Friendly staff greet you with a welcome drink, then you are escorted by buggy along the causeway to the Pumphouse.
We had a stunning Pumphouse Middle Floor Room (rates start at around AU$530 per night) which are beautiful finished in greys with wooden elements for added warmth. The view is, of course, stunning - the warehouse-style windows perfectly framing the lake and surrounds.
The room also takes the concept of a ‘mini bar’ to another level. What you’re actually provided with is a larder which is charged on consumption, and consists of plentiful gourmet ingredients for snacking by the communal fireplace whittling away hours over board games, or even a dinner if the communal family-style option onshore at the Shorehouse doesn’t sound like your thing - we had a good table on our night thankfully and the food was delicious.
Oh, the fresh warm cob loaf which is brought to your room on request is to die for. Who doesn’t love warm buttery carbs?
There’s a lot you can do around the area. As we were only here for one night, we choose to do not a lot outside of a few short walks around the immediate vicinity of the buildings. You can cycle, you can hike, you can fish, and in the warmer months, on lake water activities are available.
We had a really amazing stay here - in essence, we were there purely to stay in the Pumphouse, but I would love to go back for a few more nights some time and enjoy the outdoor experiences on offer in this serene part of the world.
After a lazy morning, we enjoyed a late breakfast before checking out and making our way back to Hobart for our flight home.
On the way, we stopped for a late lunch at The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery - one of Australia’s most well regarded regional dining spots (with Two Hats). You dine here in what was once the infirmary for the women’s wing of Tasmania’s largest mental hospital.
Whilst an old asylum (which earned an infamous reputation over the years) might be an unlikely spot for a top restaurant, the food here is exceptional, refined and very worthy of a visit whilst in the Hobart region.
Sojourn Summary
We really loved our taste of Tasmania and have been raving about it to anyone who will listen since our visit whenever the topic of domestic tourism in Australia comes up.
I’d love to spend some more time there, perhaps extended over a week or so and in summertime so I can really enjoy the outdoor activities on offer in every region around the little island state that could.