Like me are you sitting somewhere quietly listening to the Autumn rain wishing for it to be Friday with a flight itinerary in your hand and a good babysitter booked ready to rock & roll on an AO vacation? However in reality it’s Wednesday and the kids are finally in bed after kicking up a stink flopping themselves on the floor before you, biting their toothbrush in protest and kicking you in the guts while you’re trying to dress them appropriately for the miserable cold night that will soon fill the house. You’ve collapsed on the couch barely finding the strength to have a meaningful conversation with your partner when you realise now’s the time to pick up the phone to your grandparents, girlfriend, sister WHOEVER to beg, bribe or steal a weekend away to be ravenously human again!

For those who manage to swing it, here’s a travel tip for the weary parents who love fresh air, great food, beautiful Pinot and reconnecting with nature – Freycinet Lodge in Tasmania via Hobart serves the most amazing seafood I’ve laid my lips on (growing up in The Whitsundays, I know great seafood!) and lovely wine all alongside the most earthly of human needs: a 2 storey open fireplace! Ohhhhh I can still feel the warmth. Or that may have been the warm rush of the heady port… NO. Definitely the two storey fireplace. The wide decking embracing the restaurant reaches out across the majestic views of Great Oyster Bay where the sunsets will melt your worries away and the jetty takes you off into another land…little Johnny who?

Freycinet Lodge from the Jetty

For the affluent desiring a more contemporary abode, Saffire should easily satisfy your senses.

Suite at Saffire

For a splash of outdoor therapy, both are within easy reach of the famous Wineglass Bay bushwalk (voted one of 10 best remote beaches on Earth) you can walk along the most varied and amazing scenery I’ve ever encountered on a 3 hour walk. Be sure to pack a bottle of your favourite ‘something’ in your backpack for the finale at the lookout over Wineglass Bay, or if you don’t fancy carrying it that far and you hear desperate pleas of “drink me!” coming from your bag, at the beach of Wineglass Bay. (That’s taking the walk in reverse as suggested by a lovely local at one of the vineyards).

In short, Tasmania is certainly on my list of things to re-do before I die. It was the beautiful randomness of a blank postcard from Wineglass Bay blowing onto my beach towel in Bronte on a windy day 5 years ago that led me there. But my nose will take me back. Let this be your e-card blowing across your lap. Freycinet needs to be on your bucket list.

With warm licks from the fireplace and an earthy smile of satisfaction, I’ve just taken a “virtual” holiday AND I LIKE IT! More stories like this to come no doubt…..by the way…..I did find a good bottle of red.

Janet

PS: This article on Tasmania comes with a warning – You’ll never want to leave.