WE HAD A DEVIL OF A TIME IN TASSIE

If good food and wine are pleasure drivers in your life, then hop on over from mainland Australia to Tassie, otherwise known as Tasmania (TAS). It was a highlight of our 4-week adventure in the Land Down Under. We left the sparkle of the city of Melbourne behind and jetted on Qantas Airways, a quick and easy 1-hour flight, to Tassie’s capital city, Hobart. Tassie, also called the Apple Isle because of the island’s abundant apple tree population, also holds the title of Holiday Isle since many Aussies come here seeking sanctuary among Tassie’s stunning beaches, hiking, flora and fauna and delectable culinary and wine experiences, all of which will knock your tube socks off (I didn’t think these were still in style, but apparently they are back).

When Mother Nature created this abstract heart-shaped archipelago, she spared nothing. Once thought to be a distant cousin of mainland Australia, broken off due to the shifting of the tectonic plates, in recent years it has been discovered that Tassie actually is geologically related to Arizona. It’s an old rock held buoyant by the deep blue Tasman Sea covered with microclimates galore including marshland, pristine deep water lakes, old growth forests, parks, rain forests, agriculture such as apples, cherries and grapes, caves, bushland, 5000’ craggy mountains, out islands including the magnificent Bruny Isle and Diamond Island, Tasmanian Devils, Wallabies, Platypus, Fairy Penguins, sheep, hundreds of species of birds, many of which are endemic, and much more. Many go to hike, many go to fish, others to camp, but we went to taste. Our tasting and culinary adventure focused on the areas northeast and south-southwest of Hobart.

Wine, wine, wine and more wine…

TOP PICKS:

1. Gala

2. Kate Hill Winery

3. Bruny Island Premium Wines (liked the wines, but loved the lunch!)

Distilleries

1. Lark

2. Old Kempton

3. Sullivan’s Cove

Oyster Shacks

1. Melshell Oyster Shed

2. Get Shucked on Bruny Island

3. Freycinet Marine Oyster Farm

Lunch

Note:nobody smart drives at night due to the high number of wallabies that jump out at night. The roadkill is crazy!

1. Bar Wa Izakaya in Hobart

2. The Kiln

3. Bruny Island Premium Wines

Sites

1. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

2. South Bruny Island

3. Freycinet Peninsula