Villa Howden is rated #30 and Bruny Island is rated #48 in the 100 Incredible Travel Secrets of Australia, a prestigious ranking by Australian Traveller in Apr 2013. After dark drivers play dodgems with the wildlife – and wonder why the roos, quolls, wallabies, potoroos and possums play dare on the road like suicidal lemmings. Hardly anyone seems to drive anywhere from dusk to dawn – when the recommended speed limit is 40km. And the light goes early – and every marsupial in all those forests seems to come out and try to cross the road as you pass. One thing you learn pretty quickly about travelling in Tasmania – a country the size of Ireland – is that on those mountainous windy-windy roads it takes longer to get to places than you’d think. Tasmanian chef Adrian Mathews is renowned for his menu and wine list which showcases local island produce, seafood, meats and cheeses in contemporary cuisine. Villa Howden, a Tuscan styled guesthouse is set in amazing landscaped gardens with dreamy, wild coastal views. Huon Valley is the heart of the apple isle – renowned for its farm gate cherries, apricots, mushrooms, cheeses, timber towns and day trails in ancient Huon pine forests. It’s an ideal spot for families or couples wanting a hideaway from which to explore Hobart and the Huon Valley. I stayed at Villa Howden, a luxury boutique villa located fifteen minutes south of Hobart on the bay. Now I’d go all the way back to Bruny Island to experience that! Rob will take tourists out in one of his custom-built fishing boats into the waters around Bruny Island to catch abalone (Tasmania produces 25% of the world’s perlemoen catch), crayfish, oysters, scallops, mussels, sea urchins and local fish – and cook and serve it all with fine Tasmanian wines, beers and cheeses. Over this summer season Pennicott Wilderness Journeys are introducing a new tour called “Tasmanian seafood seduction” – believed to be the first gastronomic tourist activity of its kind in the world. Bruny Island is one of those real best-kept secret destinations you discover on your travels that you want to go back to one day. Established in 2001, Mutiny Bay is best known for it’s enormous pirate’s ship that can be seen along Highway 17 in North Myrtle Beach. We’d missed the annual Bruny grape harvest by a week when 60 island volunteers (out of total population of 600) help harvest and press eight tons of grapes in two hours! And we spotted several of the rare white wallabies in Adventure Bay. Mutiny Bay Miniature Golf Course is our 36 hole, all outdoor adventure that features a battle every 30 minutes of the pirates of the Caribbean. I enjoyed delicious Bruny oysters from Get Shucked, oak-smoked salmon, nibbled on the possum and wallaby sausage, and dived into the pinot noir jam with the awesome cheeses from the Bruny Island Cheese Co. Captain William Blight (of Mutiny on the Bounty) planted the first vines on Bruny in 1778 – along with plums, peaches and corn – so Bernice, a descendent of one of Bruny’s first settlers in 1878, is carrying on a good winemaking tradition. We enjoyed a wonderful tasting platter at Bruny Island Wines – where Bernice Woolley makes her award-winning, cool-climate chardonnay and pinot noir. One of the oldest lighthouses in Australia
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