Ever wondered what all the fuss is about when it comes to Tasmania? People always come back raving about the food, the scenery, the people… so we decided to ask David Scott what the deal is for our “You’ve Been Where?” series. It sounds pretty idyllic if you ask us… If you haven’t been – you really should go!
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
My name is David Scott and I work in public relations for the University of Melbourne.
Where is home?
I currently live in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but if home is where the heart is (and where many of my family and friends still live!) then I’d have to say probably Gippsland.
Where have you been? When did you go?
We recently went to Tasmania for almost two weeks at the end of February.
Who did you travel with?
I went with my wife Theresa, who was making her third trip to the island, and our 18 month old son Lachlan. We were joined by two good friends of ours and their one year old daughter.
What were the highlights of your trip?
Tasmania is as picturesque as I was lead to believe; the landscape is truly stunning and it’s hard not to feel in awe of the nature you’re surrounded by. Beyond this, I felt like we managed to do one awesome thing every single day – from a day trip to Bruny Island to an afternoon at Mona, from a hike around Cataract Gorge through to a lazy lunch at Josef Chromy Winery. We covered a lot and loved every minute!
What did you least like about your trip?
I have nothing negative to report though if I was to be picky, the Spirit of Tasmania trip there and back was lonnnnng, especially with a kid under 2. Not sure I’d do that again!
Do you have any funny stories from your travels?
So my son Lachlan is currently going through a bit of a phase where we is absolutely in thrall of (a) water and (b) birds, which he calls “ducks.” As Tasmania is surrounded by water, and full of birds, we had many moments of trying to prevent Lachlan from diving head first into a lake or off the pier. Funny? On reflection, absolutely!
What were the locals like?
Amazing. We had incredible customer service every place we went – be it the Airbnb spots we used for accommodation or tourist locales we visited – the locals went out of their way to be friendly, insightful and helpful. A special mention to the folks from Redlands Distillery; we left a jacket behind there on our way through to Hobart and they hunted us down on Facebook to let us know, then sent it with their crew the following Saturday so we could pick it up from the Salamanca Markets, thus saving us another hour on our return trip!
What was the food like?
When we ate out the quality was excellent – Aloft and The Glass House in Hobart’s Brook Street Pier get top honours. We were also fortunate that we had a local providore right around the corner from our Airbnb in Hobart which made adding some local produce to the nightly meal a breeze. The cheese from Grandvewe just out of Hobart was a highlight, while the oysters we had on Bruny Island were among the plumpest and creamiest we’ve ever had.
The wine (and gin!) was also top notch; we could recommend McHenry’s and Forty Spotted on the gin front, while the red’s we had from Josef Chromy’s and Sharman’s in the Tamar Valley were very special.
Did you learn anything about yourself or the world on this trip?
As the first major family trip with our little boy, I learned a lot about patience (!) but also planning and logistics to ensure a suitable balance between maximising kid-friendly activities but also having the adults tick things off the wish list! It was a smoother process than I thought, again aided by the friendly nature of the fine folk in Tassie.
Would you recommend others travel here? Why/Why not
Absolutely. There’s something for everybody, be they the outdoors adventuring type, wine buffs, foodies or fans of history and art. The fact it is so close and accessible to those of us based in Melbourne or Sydney, and there’s really no excuse not to give it a try at least once.
Do you have any tips for people thinking of travelling here?
Plan to spend more time than you think you need, as there’s genuinely so much to do in Tasmania. We crammed in a stack of activities and really only begun to scratch the surface of what you can see and do. We’ll be back, for sure.
Been somewhere interesting? We’d love to hear about it, drop us a line below or via email allabroadau(@)gmail.com
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