Highland Coos

This local business is onto an absolute Instagram winner. Highland Getaway in Tasmania's beautiful Huon Valley has a 40-strong herd of extremely photogenic and fluffy highland cattle. Guests come to stay, take gorgeous photos and post them to Instagram, which is where I first learned about this local business.

This week I joined a networking evening with our local business enterprise centre and had a tour. Julie, with help from her parents who have relocated from Queensland, has created peaceful luxury accommodation surrounded by the rolling green hills of Ranelagh and Glen Huon. You can stay in the cinema suite or the spa suite, both beautifully appointed. Julie also runs farm tours and you can even brush the cows. You can get close to many of them and they are seriously cute! This would be a wonderful place to relax for a few days or spend a week as a base to explore the local area. And their future plans for the property will be worth keeping an eye on.

A night on the town

Oh my goodness, how young we were! I truly can't believe we've been married 25 years.

Yesterday, we celebrated our silver wedding anniversary with a lovely night out bar-hopping in Hobart - on a Tuesday night - what party animals! We popped in on our favourite Rude Boy, Etties, The Glass House... and stayed the night in a beautiful room at the MACq01 on the Hobart waterfront. That hotel just reeks of Tasmania. One night was not enough.

We're looking forward to the next 25 years of love and laughter and all that it brings.

Pumphouse Point

 In January last year, I thought I might book a night or two at Pumphouse Point as a special splurge for our wedding anniversary in May, but it was not to be - already booked out. This time I booked in October and have been looking forward to it ever since. It lived up to the hype. After a weekend of walks in the beautiful Lake St Clair National Park and surrounds (more on that later), gazing at the stillness of the lake, wildlife spotting (not one, but two close-up wombat encounters), eating good food and drinking lovely Tasmanian wines, my shoulders have dropped and I am relaxed and refreshed.

Freycinet

I'm in beautiful Freycinet National Park for a few days for the Tasmanian Leaders Program mid-year residential. I can't believe it's July and we're halfway through the program. It's been a great journey so far. And how lucky we are to be staying in a place like this.

On the first morning I got up at 6.00 to walk up to the Wineglass Bay lookout. Too early, it turns out, as it was still dark when I got to the viewing platform and had to wait for dawn so I could take the photo below to prove I was there! Afterwards I drove to Cape Tourville lighthouse and walked around the point while the sun rose.

Last time I was in Freycinet was with David on our 'driving round Tassie looking for somewhere to live tour', a couple of years before we moved here. I don't think I have ever seen David look quite as relaxed as in a photo I took of him sitting on the back deck of Freycinet Lodge, slight stubble, beer on the table, aqua blue water in the background. It's so peaceful here, I can't help but let go of stress and worries.

Hobart mini-break

Last night David and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in Hobart, only a 40 minute drive from home. It was the first time we've stayed there since holidaying in Tasmania more than five years ago. Many Huon locals we know stay in Hobart quite regularly, when they go to see a show, get a cheap hotel deal or want to enjoy a few drinks over the new year period when the town is in festival mode. We had a prize voucher for a night at the Hotel Grand Chancellor and stayed in a newly refurbished suite overlooking Constitution Dock.

For dinner we walked up the road to Garagistes for a five course dining extravaganza, including several things I hadn't tried before: abalone, chickweed, parsnip ice cream and an absolutely delicious bottle of 'orange wine' from Dario Princic. This morning we strolled over to Salamanca for breakfast before heading back home to the Huon. I don't think that will be our last Hobart mini-break.