Wet winter warmer

By Melissa Meehan
AS A child, I often saw the massive red and white ship docked in Port Melbourne.
Now , the Spirit of Tasmania would be my mode of transport across Bass Strait.
A guest of Tourism Tasmania, on a press junket, this tour was to have two immediate themes.
The angel on my shoulder would be the endless array of food that crowded my nostrils and threatened my waistline.
And the devil would be the biting cold … so cold.
And so, my puffy thermal jacket making me look like an antipodean Michelin Man, I waddled up the gangway onto the Spirit.
She is not just a ship; she’s a hotel, bar, restaurant, casino, theatre and one of the most iconic landmarks in Port Melbourne.
As we ambled aboard, colleagues poked fun at my layered clothing. At least my teeth weren’t chattering too much to laugh along.
We were soon given our room cards and made our way to the twin bed cabins. They were neat, tidy and uncomplicated.
Dinner in the Leatherwood restaurant started my love affair with Tasmanian food and wine, and in my three days away from the mainland the affair turned into addiction.
It wasn’t until after downing our second glass of wine and finishing dessert that we hit some rough water.
I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror – and was surprised to see a paler version of myself, looking decidedly green around the gills (that’s a nautical term).
It’s safe to say I hadn’t found my sea legs and was feeling quite queasy.
Once I’d settled in it was fine and I was able to drift off to sleep, finding the swaying motion quite calming.
Confronted by the cold, I devised an eating plan aimed at boosting my thermal efficiency.
Food, with the combination of beautiful landscapes and rich histories, makes Tasmania wonderful place to be in the cooler months.
Did I mention the food? How Tasmanians avoid obesity astounds me.
Seriously, I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t someone offering me yet another piece of cheese or topping up my wine glass. And as delicious as it was, I just couldn’t say no. Although I’m sure my long-suffering hips wished I had.
A highlight of the first day would have to be the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm and their dark chocolate coated raspberries – they literally explode in your mouth, that and the amazing views of Cradle Mountain.
I have to admit the option of eating chocolate coated fruit before breakfast struck me as a little odd, but as they say ‘when in Rome…’
The mist that covers Cradle Mountain, along with the crisp cool air is something you need to experience for yourself, it’s almost magical – if by “magical” you mean “freezing”.
No-one was making fun of my puffy jacket then.
Our base for the week was the quaint coastal town of Strahan. In the past it was one of the biggest ports in the country, now it’s a sleepy hollow primarily set up for tourism.
From here we went on a number of tours including a boat ride to Bonnet Island where we had the opportunity to go ashore and learn histories of the lighthouse watchmen and see the thriving colony of the island’s own penguins.
They are reputed to flock in their hundreds – we saw five. The tour was followed by yet another delicious meal at Hamers Hotel in Strahan – fresh prawns tossed in rice noodles – just thinking about it gets the tastebuds salivating.
While every part of Tasmania I visited had something special about it, the Gordon River Cruise would have to be the most amazing thing I have seen.
No wonder it is listed as a World Heritage Area. The water is so still, the landscape reflects a perfect mirror image into the water. Wow.
Of all the tourist sightseeing tours we went on, I have to say I wasn’t ready for the Petuna Sea Farm tour.
Here, in the middle of Macquarie Harbour, Petuna grows and feeds ocean trout and Atlantic salmon. Having floated by the farms at a distance in days prior, I thought the tour would mean getting in a smaller boat and making our way closer to the cylinder things poking up from the sea and that would be it. How wrong I was.
We got up close and personal, all right. That’s if you call a tour of a barge, and literally climbing up a ladder onto a fishing vessel to see trout scooped up and gutted in all their glory getting close to the action. It was unexpected, wet and freezing. But I loved it.
For someone who had never been to Tasmania, and really had no plans to, I cannot speak more fondly of the Apple Isle. The boat (sorry, ship) ride to and from, was wonderful and enjoyable (travel sickness tablets for the win) and the views and history of Tasmania were a winner.
Who would have thought you could escape Victoria’s miserable winter for somewhere as magical and cold as Tasmania. But its something everyone must do – at least once in their lives.
As for global warming, I remain a skeptic.