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Natural State News
Issue 9 2008
Tassie Hotels on Condé Nast Gold List
Three Tasmanian hotels, Freycinet Lodge, Bay of Fires Lodge and the Henry Jones Art Hotel, have been chosen by Condé Nast Traveller as the best hotels in the world as a part of the magazine’s 2008 Gold List awards.
Condé Nast Traveller is the United Kingdom’s premier travel magazine. The annual Gold List is a selection of the best hotels from around the world, voted by readers and the magazine’s editors to have the best service, rooms, food, ambiance and design, location and leisure facilities.
Freycinet Lodge was selected for the excellent food served at its two restaurants; the Bay of Fires Lodge for its spectacular coastal location; and the Henry Jones Art Hotel for its superbly appointed rooms.
Victoria Langford: 6230 8173
Trail of Tin Dragon Set to Open
The Trail of the Tin Dragon snakes its way from Launceston to St Helens via Scottsdale, Derby and Weldborough. The first stage of it, an interpretive centre, opens in Derby in March.
In 1874 George Renison Bell discovered alluvial tin at Boobyalla, the precursor to the tin-mining industry around Derby, Gladstone and Weldborough. Bells’s discovery attracted thousands of fortune seekers. Some 900 miners from China joined in the tin rush and archaeologists have identified nearly 40 sites throughout the north-east where remains of Chinese mines can be found. The trail is the story of tin mining in the north-east as well as the redoubtable human spirit. The $2 million interpretative centre at Derby explores themes of life, universe and tin.
Victoria Langford: 6230 8173
Craggy Peaks is east of Rossarden and will officially open in March. Carved into forest near the craggy peak of Ben Lomond, the resort includes stylish accommodation, a licensed café and a golf course that has been refurbished under the watch of former Australian professional golfer Bob Shearer. The golf course here was originally built as recreation for miners.
The luxury course-side accommodation comes with spectacular views. The cafe by the first tee highlights Tassie food and wine.
A new exhibition space for the Tasmanian Aboriginal community presents visitors with a rich, enlightening and inspiring experience.
Ningenneh Tunapry at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery explores the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and is a celebration of all Tasmanian Aboriginal generations – past, present and future. Ningenneh Tunapry means to give knowledge and understanding. A feature of the exhibition will be the first bark canoe built by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community in more than 170 years.
The major themes of the new gallery are the bark canoe project, traditional life, invasion, the development of community and the fight for recognition, mutton birding, and contemporary cultural activities, including shell necklace making, basket weaving, kelp water carriers and dance. The new gallery makes use of interactive multi-media, with a number of touch screens and tactile experiences for visitors, and audio commentaries on contemporary Tasmanian Aboriginal culture.
Hobart Chamber Orchestra and Bach
The Hobart Chamber Orchestra is organising a major performance in Hobart for Easter 2008.
Under the direction of virtuoso violinist, Peter Tanfield (recently a State finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards) Hobart Chamber Orchestra is putting on a performance of J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion at St David's Cathedral on Good Friday 21 March. This is a mammoth undertaking that doesn't occur in Australia very often.
St Matthew Passion is one of the great works in the choral repertoire. It requires two orchestras, two choirs, and a large number of principal soloists. It is also costly but the HCO has been very fortunate to secure the sponsorship of an anonymous donor to underwrite it. Federal Hotels is providing accommodation for guest artists. By happy coincidence, 21 March also commemorates J.S. Bach's birthday (1685).
Den Robin: 6233 6596
www.heritage.tas.gov.au
On Salamanca Place overlooking Hobart’s waterfront Lenna’s new rooftop penthouses are as stunning as the views. Sliding doors open from every bedroom and all living areas on to the sweeping private balcony. Breathtaking outlooks across Hobart’s harbour, Princes Park, historic Salamanca Place and the majestic Mount Wellington showcase Hobart.
Individual penthouses offer state-of-the-art furnishings, comforts and technology. Each living area features broadband, large plasma screens and the DVD/CD/Stereo System. There are also ‘smart system’ touch controls, including the blinds and lighting. Kitchen areas are fully equipped with the latest European appliances and equipment.
The two spacious apartments of 170 square metres feature two king bedrooms and two bathrooms with the added flexibility of a third bedroom/living area of 35 square metres if required. They occupy the top floor of Lenna and can be offered together to form a spacious five-bedroom four-bathroom residence with an expansive and luxurious indoor and outdoor living space of 430 square metres.
Planning and booking a holiday to Tasmania has taken a technological leap forward with the release of the revamped www.discovertasmania.com website.
The redeveloped website is a vital resource for potential visitors to Tasmania. Consumers now have an enriched source of destination information at their fingertips, making it easy to search, plan and book their Tasmanian holiday.
The website is a part of Tourism Tasmania’s growing online presence that will see discovertasmania.com become a key portal for all things Tasmanian. The website already attracts an average of 85,000 unique visitors each month, with 29,000 (or 25 per cent) of those from overseas. Last year, 46 per cent of international visitors who used the internet to gather information before coming to Australia also made an online booking.
This website redevelopment is just the start of a comprehensive strategic approach by Tourism Tasmania to continuously improve its use of digital media to meet the needs of today’s consumers. The interactive site also features regular weather reports, visitor itineraries based on Tasmania’s touring routes, and improved search facilities. Further significant initiatives are currently under way and will become available in 2008.
A $2.5 million state-of-the-art winery opened in December 2007, at Relbia, at the southern end of the Tamar Valley Wine route.
Owner Josef Chromy is one of Tasmania’s business success stories. The founder and chief developer of Blue Ribbon Meat Products for over four decades Czech-born Chromy has also established himself as a property developer and distinguished wine-maker, associated at different times with labels such as Heemskirk and Jansz.
The Josef Chromy vineyard covers 61 hectares (150 acres) and produces grapes for pinot noir, chardonnay and gewurtztraminer among others. The facility features equipment and processes that are designed to respect the delicate varietal flavours of the high-quality, cool-climate Tasmanian fruit.
This is the first part of a much larger development, with a proposed restaurant, accommodation and equestrian complex to be added to the site.
Hollybank Treetops Adventure Launched
The Hollybank Treetops Adventure opened in January. It takes visitors on a 730-metre elevated tour in the longest continuous treetop cable ride in Australia.
Visitors are strapped into a harnesses clipped to cables, and flit between seven special platforms known as ‘cloud stations’. They are accompanied by specially trained guides as they travel at around 40 kilometres per hour up to 50 metres above the ground at some points.
The Treetops Adventure is expected to carry 17,500 people by the end of the current financial year. The project is a joint venture between Forestry Tasmania and a private consortium, Australian Tree Top Canopy Tours.
The three-hour experience costs $99 for adults and $66 for children.
Walking Tour Book Celebrates Launceston’s History
Colonial enterprise, convict labour, Victorian grandeur and the spirit of enterprise are all covered in a new walking guidebook which celebrates the history of Launceston.
Written by Tasmanians Mike Tatlow and Charles Wooley, A Walk in Old Launceston is a sister-book to the successful A Walk in Old Hobart, launched earlier this year. The Launceston book encourages readers to pound the city’s streets and offers revelations about extraordinary events in the third oldest city in Australia.
The walk starts and ends at the Old Launceston Seaport – the spot where the first European settlers established a camp just over 200 years ago.
The guide also introduces some of the characters who helped make Launceston what it is today. It includes the story of former Examiner editor John West, widely believed to have designed the Australian flag, and Morton House, a hospital where progressive surgeon and scientist Dr William Pugh successfully administered ether in 1847 – it was the first use of a general anaesthetic for surgery in the southern hemisphere.
The guided tour covers six kilometres and is designed to be wheelchair friendly. It includes a guide to the Tamar Valley Wine Route, the colonial villages of Evandale and Longford and the Cataract Gorge Reserve and First Basin.
Victoria Langford: 6230 8173
Check the Events Tasmania website for upcoming events
For further information:
travelmedia.tourismtasmania.com.au
www.discovertasmania.com
www.eventstasmania.com