During a road-trip back in January of this year, my husband and I stumbled upon a truly enchanting place nestled in the Huon Valley: the lovely town of Cygnet. Due to its peaceful atmosphere and friendly community, Cygnet quickly became our favourite town. From the moment we arrived in Cygnet, we were mesmerized by its natural beauty. The town offers stunning views and it is a great spot for a picnic, stroll or even if you just want to take your dog to the playground. We found joy in leisurely walks along the streets of Cygnet, where we could soak up the calmness and appreciate the understated beauty of this Southern Tasmanian town.

I’ve been fortunate to be living in Tasmania for about 5 years. During this time, I’ve become so much more aware of the environment. I moved to the East Coast and more specifically to beautiful Freycinet on arrival in Tassie and started chasing auroras being an avid amateur photographer. One evening when the stars aligned for a beautiful aurora, I noticed some waves hitting the rocks and saw the most outstanding colours in the water. This neon blue was splashing about and then it all made sense to me when people posted things about bioluminescence on social media. Whilst it looks amazing, there are many bioluminescent algae species that are toxic and harmful to ocean life and certainly to humans too. The next day I walked about the Coles Bay jetty and noticed all this ‘pink stuff’ floating around near the rocks and that was the algae I had seen the previous day.

Grey skies lashed by the crowns of a wind-whipped corpse of dreary green eucalypts. Silver sun bleached giants stark, standing sentinel above the plateaus rolling grasslands. A circle of stones, the cold touch of bronze embraced in the green velvet of antiquity; place of power.

Near Saltwater River on the Tasman Peninsula, in the south-east of Tasmania, lies the Coal Mines Historic Site. It is only a 1-hour 40-minute drive from Hobart or 30 minutes from the infamous Port Arthur Historic Site, but its existence and history is much less well-known.

We get a lot of visitors here in Hobart who ask if they can visit Launceston in a day from Hobart. While it is definitely doable in a day from Hobart there are so many things to see and do in and around Launceston that it deserves a few days.

Despite the unparalleled beauty of the Three Capes Track, with the highest dolerite cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere, their dramatic yet breathtaking views over a great variety of landscapes and striking sections of coastlines, my personal favourite day walk on the Tasman Peninsula is the track to Crescent Bay Beach.