25 Jan 2019
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 – New York
Tasmania, Australia's island state is renowned for its remote natural beauty, adventure and walks, where you can see animals and landscapes, like nowhere else in the world. Food and wine lovers will also find plenty to do. Tassie, as it is known to locals has a plethora of news to share for 2019, including new walks, biking experiences and adventures through rugged western Tasmania, to the Derwent Valley, Tassie's newest culinary destination.
On the southeastern coast, the Remarkable Lodge, a luxury wilderness retreat, by hotelier James Baillie, is set to open in 2020. MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) by founder David Walsh, has exhibits, and festivals gaining world attention. Walsh is building his own hotel on the site of this extraordinary museum.
Freycinet Lodge in Freycinet National Park just opened stunning new coastal pavilions. Visitors to Tassie are on the uptick - 1.3 million visitors in the year ended June 30, including a 22 per cent increase in Americans to Tasmania.
WUKALINA WALK
The wukalina walk, in North East Tasmania is the first of its kind in Australia, designed, owned and operated by the Aboriginal community. The walk is a three night/four day, fully inclusive guided walk in the famed Bay of Fires region, the cultural homeland of the palawa (Tasmanian aboriginal) culture and community. It aims to deliver a cultural experience that deepens understanding of palawa, walking in the footsteps of their traditional people. palawa guides and elders will relate first hand, palawa creation stories and guests participate in cultural practices including traditional food sources, medicines and native animals, that have been passed down for hundreds of generations. www.wukalinawalk.com.au
THREE CAPES LODGE WALK
The new Three Capes Lodge Walk gives visitors up-close encounters with all kinds of wildlife including Tasmanian Devils, wombats, wallabies, kangaroos and sea birds, all in their natural habitats. The Three Capes Lodge Walk along Tasmania's dramatic Tasman Peninsula is operated by the award-winning Tasmanian Walking Company, and is the only official guided walk operator appointed to the Three Capes Track. The Track is one of Australia's best bushwalks that edges along the tops of cliffs, more than 300m above the Southern Ocean. www.taswalkingco.com.au/three-capes-lodge-walk
BLUE DERBY PODS RIDE
Imagine days of mountain biking through lush forest in the day and at night, gourmet Tasmanian dinners. Riders retire to a hub, each in a futuristic elevated pod that blends seamlessly into the landscape. Tasmania's North East is especially intriguing as its myrtle forest mixes with the remnants of one the world's largest tin mining operations, and a plethora of trails. www.bluederbypodsride.com.au
MAYDENA BIKE PARK
A brand-new mountain bike park, 75 minutes from the capital Hobart is the latest addition to Tassie's world-class mountain biking offerings. The Maydena Bike Park in Derwent Valley, has 31 trails, covering 21 miles. The park will offer 60 miles of trails by the end of 2018. Maydena Bike Park on the edge of the South West World Heritage Wilderness area is a year-round, all weather bike park with an unrivaled 2600ft vertical elevation each run, and plenty of long distance, descending trails. The owners say that the vertical drop is more than any commercial bike trail in Australia (Mt Buller, Thredbo, Baw Baw) and in New Zealand (Skyline Rotorua, Skyline Queenstown). Mountain bike enthusiasts say the trails, that wind through rainforest, with pristine streams and granite boulders are among the best in the world, offering big turns, big jumps and natural hand built trails. www.maydenabikepark.com
NEW FREYCINET LODGE COASTAL PAVILIONS
Freycinet Lodge has nine beautiful new Coastal Pavilions set between the main lodge and Honeymoon Bay, with stunning views of Freycinet's sparkling sapphire sea, and pink granite
boulders. The coastal pavilions feature Tasmanian oak and blackwood, and netted hammocks on the deck for stargazing, along with an outdoor bath tub, so guests are immersed in nature.
High res images are available:
www.dropbox.com/sh/md9ks8940b5c1sj/AAAnhsEXhrNTRLu_udHtJeHHa?dl=0
360° view of the Coastal Pavilions and Mountain Terrace King Rooms are available: www.tourview.com.au/freycinetlodge.html?html5=prefer www.freycinetlodge.com.au/en/accommodation/coastal-pavilion-bay-view.html www.freycinetlodge.com.au/accommodation/mountain-terrace-king.html
FLY FISHING
Tasmania is gearing up to host the World Fly Fishing Championships in 2019. Tassie is one of the last great wild fisheries, and a great place to fish for wild brown and rainbow trout. There are more than 3,000 lakes, rivers and streams in Tassie. RiverFly Wilderness Huts offer direct access to the Western Lakes fishery and Walls of Jerusalem National Park. At Driftwater step into a drift boat specially designed for its stability and ability to drift quietly in shallow water. Pair fishing with luxury boutique highland accommodation at 28 Gates in the Derwent Valley, or Thousand Lakes Lodge near Liawenee, a World Heritage Area.
www.rivery.com.au www.28gatesfarmstay.com.au www.driftwater.com.au www.thousandlakeslodge.com.au
TASSIE DEVIL TRACKER TOUR
Join the effort to save the endangered Tasmanian devils on a Devil Tracker Adventure experience where guests go behind the scenes and become part of the vital research effort to save the last isolated, natural population of disease-free wild Tasmanian devils on the planet. The fully guided four-wheel drive Devil Tracker Adventure takes place on the Tasman Peninsula. www.tasmaniandevilunzoo.com.au/devil-tracker-tours/
MONA
Australia's largest private museum with ancient, modern and contemporary art, founded by philanthropist, collector and professional gambler, David Walsh. The subterranean museum connects two heritage houses at either end – the Courtyard House and the Round House, and has a new wing (December 2017) named Pharos. Pharos has four specially commissioned installations by James Turrell and other individual works by artists including Richard Wilson. Mona's Pharos explores light as a medium in art, as well as being a contrast to some of the darker ponderings of the rest of the museum. Pharos is also home to Mona's newest restaurant, Faro. Mona has its own pavilions for guests to stay at, as well as its own vineyard, Moorilla. Next up – David is building a hotel at Mona. www.mona.net.au
GLAMPING
In Tasmania, glamor and camping go hand in hand. Add wombats, wallabies, wine, cheese and luxury canvas tents to bring glamping Tasmanian style to the world. Glamp Sandridge, an eco-village of luxury tents in native forest and The East Coast's Bay of Fires Bush Retreat, a bush camp close to the Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay are among offerings. Truffle Lodge, a glamping hotel in furnished safari tents with cozy beds and freestanding timber bathtubs is worth exploring.
www.sandridgeestate.com.au/accomodation www.bayofresbushretreat.com.au
THE WESTERN WILDS
The Western Wilds is a new touring journey through rugged western Tasmania, where travelers can experience lush rainforests, mountains and deep glacial valleys and wild rivers.
The Western Wilds is home to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, which covers 20 per cent of the state, and is the world's last great wilderness area.
Visitors can bushwalk at Cradle Mountain, mountain bike at Maydena and tackle the world's highest abseil at Strathgordon, navigate the rapids at Franklin River or quad bike across the massive sand dunes at Ocean Beach in Strahan.
DERWENT VALLEY
Travel half an hour from Hobart's central business district, to reach the Derwent Valley, home to hooch, hops and heritage.
The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School and Eatery, by esteemed former food editor of Australian Gourmet Traveller, Rodney Dunn and his wife Séverine Demanet, offers farm-based classes and The Eatery restaurant. Nearby Stefano Lubiana Wines scored Gourmet's 2018 award for the Cellar Door with the Best Food award. The Osteria features an ever-changing menu matched with winemaker Stefano Lubiana's outstanding wines.
The Derwent Valley produces international award winning cool-climate wines, including Meadowbank, Moorilla Estate and Derwent Estate, as well as highly sought beer, cider and spirits. The area is one of Australia's most prolific hop-farming areas, with 60% of Australia's hops being grown there. Bill Lark of Lark Distillery has been attributed with reigniting Tassie's whisky industry back in the early 1990's and even though his cellar door is in town, the peat bog in the River Derwent Highlands is here. Lawrenny Distillery in nearby Ouse offers tasting.
Stay at Woodbridge on Derwent, an historic home converted into a five-star hotel on the banks of the Derwent river or at Truffle Lodge, which offers luxury glamping. Glen Derwent Estate has colonial cottages and b+b style rooms.
CONTACT
Julie Earle-Levine, PR Manager, North America, Tourism Tasmania
Email: julie@julieearle.net
(1)917 673 3095
