Boutique hotels in Central Highlands
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The Priory Country Lodge
- Style
- Glamorous gothic
- Setting
- Heather-flecked Highlands
Central Highlands Overview
Australia
- Countryside
- Snowy peaks and icy creeks
- Country life
- Trout fishing, whisky swilling
An hour north of Tasmania’s capital Hobart, the Central Highlands are a long-lost but lovely alpine region of trout-filled lakes and jaggedy mountaintops.
Leave the verdant valleys, gorgeous orchards and roaring rivers of Tasmania’s coast behind and ascend to the heather-flecked moors and trout-filled lakes of this landlocked region high in the middle of the Apple Isle. Wrap up in winter woollies or escape the heat in summer and embrace your inner frontiersman – this is fishin’ and huntin’ territory, with wild bushwalking and the odd adventure sport thrown in for good measure. Vistas may be long and mountains bare but the welcome is warm and intimate; whisky distilleries replace vineyards and charmingly lonesome towns still offer cupcakes and cappucinos if you know where to look. You can even ruin a good walk on the oldest golf course in Australia and kit up in kilts at annual Highland balls that celebrate the area’s always on-show Scottish heritage.
Completely Central Highlands
This craggy, sometimes desolate and always photogenic country is home to a hardy breed of Tasmanians, fond of their fishing, their whisky and their quiet country ways. No one seems to say very much here, and conversations, although genial, never seem to evolve into expansive discourse. Perhaps the Highlanders are distracted by the weather, listening for the rumble of an approaching storm, or sniffing the air for the next dump of snow... Regardless, it pays to take note and keep mum – motormouths and trout fishing are mutually exclusive.
Local knowledge
- Taxis
- This is pretty much a taxi-free zone – it’s unlikely any city taxis will be willing to make the trip, but you could try Taxi Combined Services in Hobart and Launceston (13 22 27). Closer to the region, Derwent Valley Cabs (+61 (0)3 6261 2257) operate out of New Norfolk.
- Tipping culture
- Like elsewhere in Australia, tipping here isn’t mandatory, but offer 10 per cent in restaurants and cafés if your service came with a smile. If a taxi was up to bringing you here from Hobart, the driver will have earned a substantial tip, if only for the long drive home.
- Siesta and Fiesta
- Local shops and banks (the few that can be found in the region) open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday; some shops also open on Saturday mornings. Cafés usually open for breakfast around 8am and close around 4pm, and restaurants serve lunch from noon to 2.30pm and dinner from 6pm to 9pm.
- Packing tips
- Rug up! We’re serious - woolly hats, scarves, gloves, Barbours, the works. Even in summer the weather can turn fresh alarmingly quickly.
- Recommended reads
- Thylacine by David Owen tells the story of the ill-fated Tasmanian Tiger, now near extinct but once common throughout the island’s Central Highlands. In Season Tasmania by writer Daniel Hackett and photographer Brad Harris is an inspirational guide to the Zen-like sport of fly-fishing.
- Cuisine
- The Central Highlands is a rugged, down-to-earth and isolated region, so don’t expect a great deal of global va-va-voom on your plate, although the culinary conquistadors are making inroads even here. On the whole, it’s practical food to warm both body and soul: hearty hotpots, hefty steaks, crumbed schnitzels and fry-up breakfasts as good as mum's. Many meals come with a make-or-break choice of chips-and-salad or vegetables. Then of course there’s trout. If you catch it (under the local licensing arrangements, naturally), you can eat it. Local beer is the drink of choice – either southern Tasmanian Cascade, or northern Boags, but whisky is also a highland fave – the Nant Distillery (www.nantdistillery.com.au; +61 (0)3 6259 5790) in Bothwell makes our most-loved malt.
- Currency
- Australian dollar (AU$).
- Time zone
- GMT + 10.
- Dialling codes
- Country code: +61; Tasmania: 03 (drop the 0 if dialling from outside Australia).
- Do go/don't go
- If you’re here to fly-fish, time your Central Highlands visit with the Tasmanian summer when the bugs are thick across the streams and the trout are biting. The fish get a breeding break from May to July, when the rods retreat. In fact, unless you’re here to write a brooding romance novel or enjoy shovelling snow, Highlands winters are best avoided (cold, dark and melancholy). Autumn here (March to May) is also lovely, with drawn-out dusks and luscious leafery.
Don't go home without
... spotting a platypus, the 'who'd-have-thunk it', duck-billed marsupial fond of frolicking in waterfalls. They are shy critters at the best of times, so tread lightly nearby.
