5 Things I Love About Visiting
Tasmania
By Karen
Back in New South Wales in the sweltering heat -
with a nearly empty water tank and dry paddocks - I don’t need much prompting
to remind me why I have just completed my third visit to Tasmania, despite
being in Strahan for their hottest day on record. The hardest part is narrowing
it down to only five reasons why I keep coming back, and why my latest trip
won’t be my last.
1. Real food.
From isolated farm gate to hipster Hobart cafe,
Tasmania groans under the weight of top quality local produce presented in
creative and delicious ways. We visited in the height of stone fruit season and
feasted on fruit with real flavour. Such a short trip only allowed us to sample
a few of Hobart’s eateries, but with recommendations from one of the Girls we
didn’t go wrong.
Seared yellow fin tuna with heirloom tomato coulis at Pilgrim,
raspberry and rhubarb icecream from Sweet Envy, smoked trout and labneh at
Peppermint Bay, Bruny Island bratwurst, spelt sourdough and truffled brie from
a city farmers’ market and pastries galore at Salamanca Markets. Over in
Strahan we ate silverside with white sauce just like my mum used to make
(that’s a good thing!) and had burgers as big as my head in Zeehan.
2. The locals genuinely love their state.
In the midst of the holiday season we experienced
friendly and open conversation with locals who were demonstratively proud of
where they came from. Those in the tourist trade knew their job, fulfilled their
role with professionalism and made a genuine effort to make our experience as
positive as possible. My overriding impression was of people overflowing with deep
affection for and connection with their place, and a strong belief in its
future.
3. Outstanding natural beauty, both the pristine and the manicured.
I have adored the Tasmanian Botanic Gardens since I
first set foot there almost twenty years ago. It has the perfect location,
beautiful layout and there is so much to learn from the wide collection. This
is my third season, so I only have spring to see now.
On this trip I visited the West Coast for the first
time. We did several walks and thoroughly enjoyed the cool moist air of the
forests, open beaches where you can almost see to Argentina and the reflective
tannic water that is darker than any Scottish loch I’ve seen.
4. Rain.
I believe Tasmania gets some occasionally. Nothing
remains to be said by someone who has been relying on water tanker deliveries
for five months.
5. Lifelong friendship.
Even if Tasmania was a concrete jungle with foul
air, rife with crime and where a KFC family-sized bucket was the best choice for
a good meal I have the best reason to keep coming back. Thankfully though,
that’s not the case!
Karen has spent most of her life in New South Wales
and her only connection to Hobart is a long-standing friendship with One Girl.
She lives in the Hunter Valley with a temperamental cat, four naughty chooks
and the other half of K squared. Karen divides her time between wrangling high
school Chemistry students on weekdays and desperately trying to be a hippie (in
between schoolwork) on weekends. She loves gardening, food and wine with
friends, reading good books with happy endings and watching the sun go down
with her feet up. In a perfect world Karen would be more organised, have more
water tanks and own a tractor.
