Featured Image: Welcome to The Big Sing Bonfire at Tassie’s Festival of Voices. Photo: Lusy Productions
What’s so great about winter in Tasmania? Just about everything. Not only do things get a little wilder and woollier than usual, but Tassie turns up the heat with a snow-dusted smorgasbord of experiences and events.
To fire up our travel plans, Tourism Tasmania has launched a new Off Season campaign that calls on mainlanders to embrace their wild side with an exhilarating winter holiday. Think slow-cooked feasts, fireside whiskey and wine, blazing bonfires, and snow play. Cosy accommodation? Yep, there’s plenty of that too.
“Winter is when we thrive,” said Tourism Tasmania CEO John Fitzgerald. “Tasmanians revel in the season and get out and about seeking to be enriched, alive, and connected.” Amen to that.
Off Season highlights include Dark Sky stargazing at McHenry Distillery’s new observatory (built from an old barley silo) and celebrating truffle season at Tamar Valley dining institution, Stillwater. Or follow the blazing torches to Hobart’s legendary Dark Mofo festival (16-22 June) before bunkering down with a mug of hot cider in the Huon Valley. The Huon Valley Mid-Winter Fest (16-17 July) is a winter staple, culminating in a rousing pagan chorus of ‘wassailing’ to bless the apple trees.
Want to go darker? Take the Sarah Island lantern tour by night on the rugged west coast. Centred around a dimly lit, blustery island with a grim convict history, the tour promises lashings of local whisky, mulled wine, and other warm morsels to help keep the shivers at bay.
If wildlife is more your holiday vibe, try the Wine & Wombats Experience on the east-coast’s Maria Island. Days are spent meeting adorable wombats and exploring the island national park while nights are for fireside toasts with a glass of local red. Chasing snowflakes? Cradle Mountain Lake-St Clair National Park is pure enchantment over winter, with Pumphouse Point putting on a Saturday ‘Fire Feast’ cooked on the Argentinean-style Asado grills.
Oh, and did we mention Tasmania’s oysters are at their best over winter? Sold!
Where: All over Tasmania
Couples will love: Rugging up, cosying up, and vibing on the winter wild spirit that grips the state when the temperature drops.
See more here
Planning a wild & wonderful Tasmanian honeymoon? We have itinerary ideas right here