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Natural State News
February 2010
Saffire to Open in April
When Saffire, a $32 million resort, near Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula opens in April (2010) its 20 suites will have water views, refined bathrooms and private decks.
At 140m² some of the suites will be larger than a mid-size home. A confection of classic and contemporary furnishings, including Ray Eames chairs and plunge pools in some suites, will give Saffire some of its sparkle. So will the views over Great Oyster Bay to the Hazards, a granite range that rises sharply from the peninsula.
Despite the individuality of Saffire’s infrastructure, general manager Matt Casey believes his team’s creative level of service will ultimately define the place.
Casey has been in hospitality for 20 years – he was GM of Hobart’s acclaimed Henry Jones Art Hotel before taking on the Saffire captaincy – and knows that Saffire has to offer more if it wants to stand in the company of great sanctuaries.
"For me Saffire will be what my colleagues in hospitality and I used to dream of, then talk about,” says Casey. “We will build an experience for our guests based not on what we have available at Saffire. It will be more about what we do to create the perfect memory for them,” he says.
According to Casey the experience will start the moment a guest first makes contact with the hotel. “We will engage with the guest(s) to find out the sorts of things they like to do. When they arrive we will deliver them,” says Casey.
Saffire’s 20 suites come in three configurations: six deluxe suites (80m²), 10 luxury suites (96m²) and four premium suites (140m²). Prices for the deluxe suites start at $1250 per suite per night. Pay an extra $150 per person per night and the tariff includes a degustation dinner with beverages.
The luxury suite cost from $1400 per night (+$150 per person for dinner and dinner beverages). The premium suites have their own plunge pool and cost $2250 per night or $2550 including the dinner for two.
All rates include a day spa treatment, beverages throughout the day, some activities, breakfast and lunch. Saffire is open for bookings from mid April 2010.
World Champs in Tassie
In an Australian first, Tasmania will host the 2011 Adventure Racing World Championships after beating competitive bids from France and Poland.
The World Championships is the annual finale of a series of nine qualifying adventure events held around the world, culminating in a multi-discipline, competitive endurance event. Teams of four people will test mountain-biking, navigation, kayaking, abseiling, walking and running skills to traverse a course of some 700km.
It is anticipated that the 2011 championships will draw over 60 teams to Tasmania. If the event doesn’t confirm Tassie’s place as Australia’s premier adventure sport destination, the television documentary that will be shot around the Final should.
The race is scheduled for late 2011. www.arwc2011.com will be launched soon.
Port Arthur Tales
There is a book’s worth of untold stories still to be discovered at Port Arthur.
The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) has launched a new promotional campaign ‘Amazing stories, epic history’, which highlights a number of historical figures from Port Arthur’s past.
"We’re trying to give people more of an insight into the breadth and variety of experiences available before they arrive,” says PAHSMA’s Andrew Ross.
The website, currently in the final stages of re-development (it is expected to be online in March), will feature a link to the characters and their stories on its home page. Visitors can click through and read more or download profiles giving more details of their history and the visitor experiences available at the Port Arthur Historic Sites.
The first figure to feature will be 20 year old Robert Young, a soldier who served at Port Arthur
with the King’s Own Light Infantry in 1840.
New for Bicheno
Windows on Bicheno will open at the end of March.
The property’s owner, interior designer Doria Loigom, moved from Melbourne to Bicheno to build and operate a luxe accommodation venture just 15 months ago.
Windows on Bicheno has two modern, stream-lined suites each with a private balcony. There are king-size beds and the spacious bathrooms have spas. The bespoke furniture was made by a Launceston craftsman. The sepia photographs (on canvas) featuring scenes from sea-side Bicheno are from a local photographer.
The smallest details, aside from the plantation shutters and wide-screen TVs, will not go unnoticed here. The organic products in the stylish dispensers in the shower and bathroom are made for Doria in nearby Dennison Beach.
Doria hopes people might come to enjoy all the things to do around sea side Bicheno. But it’s also fine if guests come to do nothing but relax and take in the beauty of Bicheno. “I’m up high. I’ve got sweeping views over the sea and the town. This is a place for people to stop, relax and enjoy.”
Windows on Bicheno’s suites (one is called Sunset, the other Sunrise) cost $450 per couple a night. A gourmet breakfast is included along with a welcoming glass of wine and cheese plate on arrival, handmade chocolates from the nearby Kate’s Berry Farm, robes and slippers.
There is a minimum two night stay.
www.windowsonbicheno.com.au (the site will be live closer to the opening on Saturday 27 March [2010] and (03) 6375 2010
Adventure Hub
The Maydena Adventure Hub officially began business on Boxing Day.
It costs $22 return ($14 for children) for a bus ride from the Adventure Hub up to Eagles Eyrie, a lookout on top of the Maydena Range, way, way above the Tyenna Valley. There are views to Mt Wellington and Federation Peak from this rooftop of Tasmania. The sub-alpine scrub surrounding the lookout is hard up against the building and is a credit to its design and those involved in its construction.
There are all sorts of adventure pursuits (including guided mountain biking and fishing expeditions) available from the hub. Right in Maydena, the Rail Track Rider ($18 for adults, $10 for children) is a fun pedal-powered ride along 2.5km of decommissioned rail line. The 5km return trip takes a leisurely hour or so to complete. Riders have to sound the air horn when they pedal across the road crossing. The neighbours probably aren’t thrilled but the kids’ll love it.
Glover Walk
The John Glover landscape prize will be announced on 5 March. The $35,000 prize is the richest landscape award in Australia. On Saturday 6 March an exhibition including the 43 finalists’ works will be held within the colonial elegance of Falls Park pavilion in Evandale near Launceston.
Celebrated colonial painter John Glover was inspired by the Tasmanian landscapes. Visitors can walk from the centre of Hobart to the spot recognised as the place where Glover painted one of his best known works, Hobart Town and Derwent River. There are interpretation panels on the site where Glover is said to have sat (there is a seat here also but I don’t think it is Glover’s).Visitors can do the walk, take in more views, then shuffle to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and see the painting where it is on permanent display.
The walk begins in West Hobart and takes about 30 minutes.
www.johnglover.com.au
A Hobart Walks brochure is available from the Hobart Visitor Information Centre: 03 6238 4222
More Events
BENCHMARKING BIRCH’S BAY (2 April – 13 June)
Benchmarking Birch’s Bay is Fleurty Café’s annual outdoor sculpture exhibition and trail. Each year, Tasmanian artists produce a series of sculptures for display in a sculpture trail which wends through part of the property’s 160 hectares of farm and native bush.
www.fleurtys.com.au
THREE PEAKS RACE (2 April – 5 April)
Hydro Tasmania’s Three Peaks Race is held over four-days. Teams sail 335 nautical miles from Beauty Point to Hobart via Flinders Island and Tasmania’s East Coast. Two members of each team must go ashore to run up (then down) three of Tasmania’s rugged mountain peaks – Mt Strzelecki, Mt Freycinet and Mt Wellington. The marathon-like run legs cover 133km.
Media Contact:
Sonia Rendigs at Media Moguls: (03) 9836 2167
sonia@mediamoguls.com.au
Download: High-resolution images from Tourism Tasmania's Visual Library.
Check the Events Tasmania website for upcoming events:
www.eventstasmania.com
For further information:
travelmedia.tourismtasmania.com.au
www.discovertasmania.com