January 01, 2022

Maria Island Getaway

January 01, 2022/ Ken Hardaker

Maria Island, off Tasmania’s east coast, is a National Park popular for camping, bushwalking, cycling, snorkelling and wildlife viewing. Pronounced Mariah (as in Mariah Carey), it has a rich history dating back millennia starting with its interesting geology, through the long Aboriginal presence on the island, a significant convict period, attempts at industrialisation and commercial ventures, to today. We recently had three days and nights there. Here’s how we spent our time.

September 24, 2021

Tasmanian Bushland Garden

September 24, 2021/ Ken Hardaker

As the name indicates the Tasmanian Bushland Garden (TBG) is a garden dedicated to native Tasmanian plants, particularly from the southeast of the island. It was established in 2010. It is a 20 hectare reserve of natural bushland 4 kms south of Buckland, close to Tassie’s east coast. It has 1.5 hectares of display gardens linked by well-maintained tracks and featuring a sculpture trail. We saw an item on it in the popular TV program Gardening Australia so decided to check it out.

April 23, 2020

Marjorie Bligh - Domestic Goddess, QVMAG Exhibition

April 23, 2020/ Ken Hardaker

In early March 2020, just prior to strict coronavirus lockdown measures being implemented in Tasmania, we were able to visit an exhibition at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in Launceston entitled “Majorie Bligh – Domestic Goddess”.

The QVMAG website description of the exhibition says: “Marjorie Bligh is a Tasmanian icon, well-known for her advice on household management, craft, cooking, gardening, and even relationships….The exhibition showcases many of Marjorie's handmade items, collections, mementos from travel, scrapbooks, personal photographs, signed editions of her books, and numerous awards. In particular the exhibition focusses on her thrift and use of recycled material.” As big fans of Marjorie’s work for many years we were keen to learn more about her fascinating life.

March 13, 2020

The Tarkine Loop Drive

March 13, 2020/ Ken Hardaker

The Tarkine Loop is a drive on a sealed road through a part of the Tarkine south of Smithton in NW Tasmania. The drive goes through a range of diverse landscapes, and includes a dramatic lookout over the wild Arthur River, a beautiful, short rainforest river walk, an unusual sinkhole lake, broad button grass plains, and the other worldly Trowutta Arch. As a day trip it’s an easy way to get a taste of the Tarkine. Here is a report on the loop we did on a wet February day.

April 26, 2019

West Coast Wilderness Railway (with Six Bonus Mini-Walks)

April 26, 2019/ Ken Hardaker

The West Coast Wilderness Railway (WCWR) is a premier tourist attraction in the west of Tasmania. The railway was originally built in the 1890’s to move copper from Queenstown to the port of Strahan, a distance of 34.5kms. It was considered a major engineering feat in its day as it used an innovative approach, known as the ABT rack and pinion system, to propel the train up and down previously unimaginably steep terrain. It ran from 1899 to 1963. It was restored and commenced as a tourist train in 2002. We spent a few days on the west coast n order to do the train trip as well as a number of short walks which we’ve included to this post.

January 28, 2019

A Week in Hobart - A Program for Visitors

January 28, 2019/ Ken Hardaker

In December 2018 we had friends from Europe visit our home town of Hobart, Tasmania. We wanted to make sure that they had a good range of experiences so we planned a varied “program”. We think that the week we had put together represents a pretty good recipe for how to spend a week in and around Hobart. So, if you too find that you are hosting visitors to Hobart who are looking to you for inspiration, or you are visiting and want some ideas of how to organise your time, then this post might be for you.

June 16, 2018

Hobart's Eastern Shore - A Three Day Program

June 16, 2018/ Ken Hardaker

Often neglected by visitors, Hobart’s Eastern Shore has a lot to offer. It has the city’s best beaches, the Coal River Valley wine region, some great restaurants and cafes, Hobart’s best views (looking back at the city and the mountain), and a long list of activities to experience. With growing tourist numbers coming to Hobart, and the expansion of the shared economy opening up accommodation options all over the city, including the Eastern Shore, increasingly visitors are finding themselves staying in this part of town. Well, here’s how you can spend three excellent days on the Eastern side of the river and not have to cross the Tasman Bridge.