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Thrilled to write about what's hot in Tasmania for 2016 as featured in Escape lift-out around Australia. Of course, this piece could have spanned many more pages....   Sometimes words just are not enough. So for this Cape Pillar experience, it will be pictures telling the story. Some 37 kilometres in one day, weaving along beside some of Australia's highest sea cliffs is best reserved as a multi-day walk...but reward with the best views I have ever met in over three decades of Tasmanian walking. Standing on The Blade, heading up a staircase that appeared to lead to heaven and having lunch with whales below....there aren't words worthy of describing that moment. So, enjoy the photo essay.         There were wildflowers....many, many wildflowers. Some even sat in their own wild posies. And there were cliffs, awfully high and breathtakingly beautiful edges of Tasmania. And pathways of world-class calibre....that led to nature's finest....with stylish rest stops. It was a day with temptation to raise the camera around every bend. Despite this, the best part was simply stopping and taking it in through both eyes. A quick note re. walking the access to Cape Pillar will be only via the inland Cape Pillar track or as part of the Three Capes Track, not the new track up over Mt Fortescue. The reasoning for this is to limit the spread of phytophthora which is known to be in the Cape Hauy area. People are welcome to do the Cape Hauy and Cape Pillar tracks without doing the Three Capes Track, but they can’t walk west along up over Mt Fortescue to get to Cape Pillar. It might also be worth noting that for safety reasons, construction sites will need to be avoided up until they are finished early December. Words and images: Alice Hansen
 When’s the last time you kicked your heels up in a shed? If it hasn’t been of late, Saturday October 24 is your night at Bangor Wine & Oyster Shed. Tunes from the Chuck Norris Orchestra will be familiar and the toe tapping….involuntary. But the best part? It’s rural Tasmania. No whispers about your dance style, just old-fashioned fun served up with smokey fish pies, Bangor bubbles, laughter and the finest Pacific oysters in the land.  Tickets are moving fast and include cocktail food ranging from Bangor lamb rolls, salad boxes and oysters, through to a decadent ice-cream sundae to top off the night. You’ll hear all your faves – those songs usually reserved for late in the night at weddings when a handful of fun-goers are still holding the floor. Music from The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, The Beatles, Queen and more. Make Bangor your dance floor. Pop your arms in the air in the cover of country darkness, on a hill in Dunalley. In these parts, you can perch yourself on a stool with a cider, but don’t be surprised if someone grabs you by the arm.
Tickets available through Bangor Wine & Oyster Shed or call 0408 292 559 and mention the Tailored Tasmania deal. Only five available at 2 for the price of 1. See you there! Bangor Wine & Oyster Shed 20 Blackman Bay Road, Dunalley 7177 www.bangorshed.com.au    There’s limited spots left with good reason. Imagine getting cosy by the bonfire glow with a former Michelin-star London chef as your foodie guide. Join Ross O’Meara of Gourmet Farmer notoriety who now calls Bruny Island home. Over a one-off weekend and cooking class you’ll forage for ingredients with Ross, spend a day on his farm, and cook up a whole spit-roast pig back at your luxury camp.  This Bruny Island Long Weekend on November 28 and 29, 2015 is an exclusive. For just 8 people there’ll be plenty of good Tasmanian wine, conversation under Bruny Island’s clear night sky and a cracking big fire where strangers will become friends.
You’ll be whisked from your Hobart accommodation, across the d’Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island, where Ross will be waiting at his 25-acre farm. This petite farm is modelled on the European way of small holding. Ross makes his acclaimed pork products from the free range, rare breeds he raises here. After foraging and lunch with Ross comes the main spectacular - a crackling evening fire back at camp. As dusk falls, it’s spit roast time. Ask Ross about his desire to know the source of his food, and learn a few of his secrets. From London to Bruny, he’ll share with you why this is home.
Although ‘off the grid’ there’s plenty of luxury on this private 100 acre camp, tucked away in the towering Eucalypts. Think king-sized beds with crisp white linen and a hot outdoor shower with the odd wallaby your only spectator.
On Sunday, further foraging includes some of Bruny Island’s finest. Enjoy oysters freshly shucked by the farmer’s hands, wine from Australia’s southern-most vineyard and the likes of ‘Tom’ from the Bruny Island Cheese Company. Distant lighthouses and beaches without footprints are complimentary, along with lunch prepared by a local chef at Bruny’s most northerly point. A private boat will later arrive, delivering you back to the Hobart waterfront. DETAILS DATE: Saturday November 28 – Sunday November 29 PRICE: $1250 per person all inclusive (includes all transfers, meals, expert guiding, private cooking tuition + more. Words: Alice Hansen Images: courtesy of Bruny Island Long Weekend website  Some midnight ugg boot missions are worthwhile. Wrapped in a blanket, it is time to view our first Aurora Australis (or southern lights). Huddled up at Mt. Nelson with a host of whispering strangers, we all became familiar through one uniting glow.  The natural light display dances below the stars on our southern horizon like a distant party we missed the invite to. For many avid aurora chasers, last night is one of the most spectacular they’ve seen with the naked eye. For us, it is the first glimpse of these mysterious luminous sheets that are best seen in Antarctica.  Unplanned ugg boot missions unfortunately don’t include tripods, so your best captures of last night’s natural light show will be found online. Start here and see why this early hours’ rave had us all standing still. Aurora Australis Tasmania Facebook Group If you have little ones and lunch boxes to fill, it’s Eloise Emmett you need to know. That’s if you haven’t come across her already or eaten her delicious offerings at farmers markets or her former restaurant, Mussel Boys. Ellie will have you spreading flour across your kitchen table in a white puff of laughter and filling those tummies with wholesome goodness. Head to www.eloiseemmett.com and you’ll find recipes for big people too- like Slow Roasted Goat Shanks and White Chocolate and Apricot Torte along with high-action oyster shuck offs. But it’s not just Ellie’s online presence that makes this Chef and country Mum so inspiring, but her commitment to ensuring all the little tots eat well. The most exciting news of all? Ellie is about to launch her first children’s cook book: The Read Food for Kids Cookbook.  This gorgeously crafted hard-cover book is packed full of wholesome recipes, using fresh Tassie goodness that Ellie cooks with daily for her three children. The pages are splashed with grins and little arms up to their elbows ‘helping out.’ These recipes are made with food ‘that your gran would recognise’ and the smiles prove the taste results. Recipes range from easy through to more challenging, but all are home-grown, unpretentious, real food creations where the children find out where food comes from and how it grows. This country Mum is all about making sure kids get their wholesome fill, volunteering with other mums at Dunalley Primary School to provide a home cooked non-processed lunch one day a week in between raising three little cuties with fisherman husband Brendan and whipping up a children’s cook book. The book is available on Ellie’s website and pre-launch books are mailed anywhere in Australia for free with a complimentary pack of 4 gift cards. For $29, you won’t find better country value before October 16.
Enjoy and make as much mess as you can! To Order: www.eloiseemmett.com Find Ellie on Facebook and Instagram as well. Gorgeous shots from Ellie's blog: |
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