Why go international when you can go to Tasmania
We have a lot more chance of going to Tasmania soon than to Europe but looks like there’s no need to cross the international dateline because Tassie is offering everything from their own brand of bubbles through to the southern lights and even whisky distilleries.
Tasmania is producing its own whisky
A good whisky is made better by the water it uses and Tasmania’s pure water makes it the perfect place to open a distillery or two. Explore Tasmania’s whisky trail which tales in Australia’s best single malt whisky (Hellyers Road Distillery’s slightly peated 10 year old), and the world’s best single cask single malt whisky (Sullivans Cove Distillery’s French Oak TD0217) as well as Tasmania’s Redlands Estate Distillery in the Derwent Valley is one of the world’s few “paddock-to-bottle” single malt whisky distilleries.
Discover the Finnish Hygge with a Tassie twist
Find that hygge feeling in Australia’s only floating wood-fired sauna, Floating Sauna Lake Derby. This traditional sauna offers a cold plunge directly off a pontoon into Lake Derby. Located the mountain biking town of Derby and designed by Tasmanian architect Jason Licht, the sauna seats up to 10 people in either public or private sessions.
Tasmanian sparkling wine better than Champagne
Forty one degrees away from the Equator is an excellent place to grapes if you wish to turn them into bubbles. The region of Champagne in France sits at 41 degrees north of the equator and Tasmania sits at 41 degrees south. It has stamped its mark on sparkling wine with techniques pioneered in Champagne. There are a number of pioneer producers whichinclude Pirie Tasmania, House of Arras and Jansz, and other long-standing labels include Josef Chromy, Clover Hill, Nocton Vineyard (Coal River Valley) and Stefano Lubiano (Derwent Valley).
Vinotherapy indulgence
Lost Farm Lodge provides an elegant accommodation option for golfers as well as a spa which features single and couples treatment rooms, a steam room, magnesium salt vitality pool and relaxation room for a pre-treatment wind-down.
While we are on the subject of alcohol, not only can you relish the taste in Tasmania but you can also soak in it. Barnbougle in Tasmania’s north east offers a day spa which offers Vinotherapy The spa is inspired by vinotherapy spa treatments from the Bordeaux region in France, using by-products of wine. The treatment begins with a tranquil soak in an antioxidant-rich Tasmanian vinotherapy-infused bath, and is followed by a hydrating body polish and thermal face lift.
Chasing Aurora Australis (The Northern Lights)
The Northern Lights is on many a bucket list but just as special are the Southern lights. Tasmania is one of the few places in the world that witnesses the majestic Southern Lights – when the conditions are right. Though the lights can be spotted year-round, you’re most likely to witness the spectacle in winter, from a remote southern location with low light pollution and cloud, and with a broad, uninterrupted view south.
Forest Bathing in Tasmania
The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku (forest bath) is a popular wellness practice that uses the healing properties of nature to restore one’s mood, energy, vitality and rejuvenation. Find peace among the fresh air, and wilderness of Tasmania. Access your deeper green in Mount Field National Park, a short hour and a half drive from Hobart through the idyllic Derwent Valley. The park offers an array of natural wonders and incredible plant diversity that increases with altitude. Encounter some of the park’s unique alpine species. Cushion plants are interspersed with pineapple grass, sphagnum and string bogs on the wet plateau. Longer walks take in the tallest flowering trees, Tasmanian conifers, spectacular waterfalls, wilderness views and the small glacial lakes of the Tarn Shelf. During autumn, the slopes of the mountains fill with brilliant colour as the fagus (deciduous beech) turns from red to gold.
