Tastes Of Tasmania (7 Days)

Welcome to Australia’s island state, home to the Tassie Devil and the world’s cleanest air! This morning you’ll meet your Journey Director and fellow travellers before taking a walking tour of the historic Hobart docks, Salamanca Place. Connect with the local artists as you explore the many galleries and shops hidden in the old sandstone warehouses. Take in the sights, smells and sounds of the vibrant Salamanca Markets as you wander past hundreds of stalls overflowing with local produce, crafts, jewellery, freshly baked goods and artisanal cider. Working up a hunger, our next stop is lunch on the docks overlooking the majestic Derwent River. Enjoy a three-course dining experience which will give you a scrumptious taste of what’s to come and prepare you for your afternoon visit to Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), located within the grounds of stunning Moorilla Winery. Take a self-guided tour and immerse yourself in what is described by its owner as a “subversive adult Disneyland” before enjoying a relaxing ferry ride back to Hobart for a free evening at leisure.

Every Sunday morning Farm Gate Market transforms an inner-city street into a bustling farmers' market. Situated just a block from your hotel, you’ll have the chance to meet the makers and growers as you wander through an ever-changing array of fresh, local produce that Tasmania has become renowned for. Later, head up into the Derwent Valley, a major hop growing region where you’ll see Oast Houses used for drying hops for beer making, scattered throughout this picturesque valley. Here you’ll meet owners Rod and Severine who will show you around their veggie garden, housed in an old asylum’s exercise yard, before enjoying a delicious three-course paddock to plate dining experience at their restaurant, the Agrarian Kitchen. Bellies full, take a wander around the historic Salmon Ponds which also once housed the oldest trout hatchery in the Southern Hemisphere. Finish off your visit to the Derwent Valley with a cider tasting before returning to Hobart for a free evening to explore at leisure.

After breakfast, you’ll journey north to Triabunna where you’ll board a ferry across to Maria Island. Rich in indigenous and European history, abundant in wildlife, and boasting spectacular views and remarkable geological features, this entire island is a National Park. Once on shore, explore the convict-built Darlington township, take a walk to the Fossil Cliffs or Painted Cliffs, hire a bike, or simply relax and recharge by the waterside with your packed lunch full of local goodies. You’ll be in good company with an abundance of wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, possums and even Tasmanian devils who all call the island home. This evening, enjoy locally harvested scallops and oysters, or perhaps a succulent Cape Grim Scotch fillet from the state’s north west is more to your taste.