As Summer approaches, the very specific combination of warmer weather, longer days and silly season make a strong case for holidaying at home. Here’s eight unique staycations that will manage to make you feel a world away from the everyday, without the pesky airport queues.
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Scamander Sanctuary (image: Facebook)
SCAMANDER SANCTUARY
Rough-its and luxe-its alike can choose their own adventure at Scamander Sanctuary on Tasmania’s beautiful east coast. Feeling fancy? Reserve a self-contained glamping tent - hot tub included. If pitching a tent or parking a caravan is more your style, both powered and unpowered campsites are also available. And don’t forget the Scamander Bathhouse, which hosts a wood-fired sauna and ice bath, and is conveniently located in the holiday park’s grounds.
SHIP INN STANLEY
Tucked beneath The Nut and facing the bay on Tassie’s far north west coast, Ship Inn Stanley is a former pub turned boutique inn, and it wears its 170 odd years well. Each of the seven suites and two apartments - styled by Belle Hemming and Lynda Gardener - has its own tale to tell from the building’s seafaring past. There’s a guest lounge in the original Billiard Hall, an acre of landscaped gardens, and a gym and yoga studio, plus a continental breakfast to enjoy in your suite at your leisure. It’s adults-only, so save this one for a long weekend sans kids. Stroll to the beach, climb The Nut for sunset, and you’ll be wondering why you didn’t make the drive sooner.
Luna Lodge (image: Facebook)
LUNA LODGE
Just 30 minutes east of Hobart in a quiet farming valley at Wattle Hill, Luna Lodge proves you don’t need to go far to feel properly away. The luxury farmstay sits on 40 acres of pasture and bushland, with each of two plush geodesic eco-domes boasting its own kitchen, bathroom and an outdoor bath carved from a single stone. Stargaze from bed, say hello to the resident Highland cows and pygmy goats, and use it as a base for the Coal River Valley wineries and the Tasman Peninsula. Or don’t leave at all. We won’t tell.
PALAZZO CAMPANIA
Proof that the Coal River Valley deserves more than a day trip, Palazzo Campania is a lovingly restored 1879 heritage home in the heart of the wine region. The exterior has been returned to its original form, while inside, traditional lime-washed walls sit alongside originals still showing traces of historic wallpaper. With four bedrooms (two with ensuites), a quiet reading room, an outdoor pool and a sunroom, it sleeps up to eight, making it a strong contender for a family or friends’ getaway. Well mannered pets are welcome by prior approval, too. Spend your days cellar door hopping through the valley, with Richmond just a short drive away.
CORINNA WILDERNESS VILLAGE
For a genuinely off-grid Summer, head west to Corinna Wilderness Village, a former gold-mining settlement on the banks of the Pieman River at the southern edge of Takayna/Tarkine. Its restored miners’ cottages and eco-retreat cabins are fully self-contained, and back straight onto the rainforest, while campsites and RV parking are up for grabs if you’d rather rough it. With no phone reception, Wi-Fi or television, your days are free for river cruises, kayaking, the Huon Pine Walk, or the climb up Mount Donaldson, before refuelling at the Tannin Restaurant. It’s a winner for families and groups, too.
THE PENITENTIARY, MARIA ISLAND
It’s not every day you get to sleep in a World Heritage-listed convict site. A short ferry ride from Triabunna, car-free Maria Island is home to the old Penitentiary at Darlington, where simple bunkhouse rooms sleep six, each with a table and seating. There’s no power or running water in the rooms, so pack your bedding, food, cooking gear and a torch, or pitch a tent at the Darlington campground behind the beach. Days are made for wombat spotting, bike-riding, the Painted Cliffs and swims in very clear (and very brisk) water. Rooms open for booking around six months ahead and get snapped up quickly, so lock in your ferry tickets with Encounter Maria early.
Pumphouse Point (image: Jarrad Seng)
PUMPHOUSE POINT
Sleeping 250 metres out on a lake might sound like a stretch, but at Pumphouse Point, that’s exactly the point. Built in the 1940s as part of Tasmania’s hydro electric scheme, the old pumphouse now sits on Lake St Clair as one of the state’s most distinctive stays. Choose a room in The Pumphouse itself or The Shorehouse on the water’s edge, then spend your days on the walking tracks through centuries-old myrtle forest, or out on the lake. There’s deliberately no Wi-Fi and it’s adults only, so consider it your official permission to switch off. Allow around two and a half hours’ drive from Hobart or Launceston, and pack a raincoat: Summer in the Central Highlands is famously changeable.
STILLWATER SEVEN
Fancy a city staycation up north? Set in Ritchies Mill, an 1830s flour mill on the banks of Kanamaluka/River Tamar by the mouth of Cataract Gorge, Stillwater Seven offers just seven rooms upstairs from the celebrated Stillwater restaurant. The old mill’s huge timber teams and two foot-thick stone walls are still very much part of the experience, and no two rooms are the same. Each is stocked with Tasmanian produce, books and a seriously good minibar, with fresh bread delivered in the afternoon to go with it. Book dinner downstairs, walk the Gorge in the morning, and know the city centre is only ten minutes away on foot.
