To celebrate our second wedding anniversary, Chris’ birthday, Chris finishing a hardcore exam, and to enjoy a baby moon (yes, all of those in one!), we enjoyed a week in beautiful Tasmania. Located right down the bottom of Australia and a three hour flight from Brisbane, Tasmania is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend a visit here. Our itinerary looked a bit like this:

Day 1: Arrive in Hobart, spent some time in Hobart, stayed two hours north-east in Dolphin Sands at our lovely Air BnB.

Our trip got off to an interesting start as a bushfire broke out right near where we were staying which was stressful. Our Air BnB host was so helpful, and it was safe to stay the night. However, the next day the wind direction changed so we had to move on and stay somewhere else. That’s ok, we had our things and were grateful to the firefighters for all their hard work. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

Day 2: An amazing, breathtaking cruise around Wineglass Bay (through Pennicott Wilderness Journeys)- this was absolutely spectacular and one of the highlights from the trip. We had a gorgeous sunny day which made the ocean sparkle. We saw whales, dolphins, seals, all sorts of birds, and enjoyed lunch onboard the boat at Wineglass Bay. We then hiked to the Wineglass Bay lookout (I was in third trimester and this was not too tricky) and enjoyed the gorgeous views. Our last minute accommodation find led us to then stay in Bicheno (which I’m so glad we did end up staying there). Not your average Monday.

Day 3: Full day in Bicheno. After a much needed sleep in at our accommodation in Bicheno, Diamond Island Resort, we had a slow yet beautiful day in Bicheno. The weather was perfect as we explored this gorgeous little town. Our food for the day included delectable goodies from the Blue Edge Bakery (recommend this for sure), and The Lobster Shack (a MUST in Bicheno). A highlight for us was definitely the nightly activity included in our accommodation at Diamond Island Resort of viewing the absolutely adorable Little Penguins. They are just so cute!

Day 4: Tasmania continues to deliver wherever you go, and this day was no exception. This was the day we explored the absolutely spectacular Maria Island, accessible by ferry by the town of Triabunna (about 75 minutes drive from Bicheno, and then a 30 minute ferry ride). Maria Island is uninhabited by people (it used to be a penal settlement island) and is now a spectacular national park that is inhabited by some rather cute and friendly animals. I was determined to not leave the island until we had come across some wombats, and come across them we certainly did. If I wasn’t 30-weeks pregnant, I would have been determined to walk and explore more of the island, however, we saw as much as we could in that time and loved every moment of it. After a wonderful time on Maria Island, our GPS took us down a weird wrong turn (that ended up being a lovely little beach relax for us both) before we eventually made our way to Port Arthur.

Day 5: This day was all about Port Arthur and some spectacular sights nearby. We stayed at the lovely Fox & Hounds Historic Hotel (very English, Tudor style building design with a great pub meal) and spent time exploring the Port Arthur Historic Site. Initially we thought we’d spend maybe an hour or two here, however ended up spending a solid 4-5 hours. They’ve done an incredible job preserving the site, educating the visitors, and the tour guides are so friendly and informative. Our ticket also included a 20-minute harbour cruise which had me so intrigued as to what it would have been like arriving there as a convict all those years ago. The rest of the day we spent hiking to two specular lookouts: Shipstern Bluff lookout and Cape Raoul looking. Chris was SO excited to see Shipstern Bluff, a well-known surf break that looked absolutely terrifying to surf (huge, thick waves and known to be home to great white sharks – no thank-you!). I loved seeing how excited Chris was to be there and you truly feel as though you’re at the end of the world in the conditions that are present there. Highly recommend walking to both lookouts as the view is awe-inspiring. We then drove to Hobart to stay at our last accommodation, The Rivulet.

Day 6 and 7: Our last two days were spent in Hobart (on day 7 we flew out at around midday so weren’t able to do heaps), but my goodness Hobart is such a lovely city. Our stay at The Rivulet was just so relaxing (I LOVE staying somewhere that has breakfast included, and the breakfast here was delicious!) and conveniently close to the main part of Hobart. Our time in Hobart included driving up to the top of Mount Wellington, lunch at Mures (a seafood lovers dream – in fact, all of Tasmania is loaded with incredible seafood, yum!), enjoying the Cascade Brewery (chai latte for the pregnant lady please), exploring nearby historical Richmond, and visiting the Salamanca Markets on Saturday morning.

So, would I recommend a trip to Tasmania anytime soon? Absolutely, 100%, of course I do! This spectacular little place is jam packed with beautiful people, animals, scenery, food, and fresh air! The tourism slogan for Tasmania is: “Tasmania, come down for air” which I didn’t quite understand initially. Now, I completely get it.

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Love, Gracie.