Sundowner: Autumn/Winter 2019

FEED THE Soul
WITH EVERYTHING AUSTRALIA HAS ON OFFER, IT’S EASY TO FORGET ABOUT TASMANIA’S ISOLATED
AND RUGGED CHARM. YET OUT IN THE BASS STRAIT SITS AN AUSSIE STATE WITH A FOOD AND
DRINK SCENE TO RIVAL THE MAINLAND, WILDLY BEAUTIFUL FORESTS, LAKES, AND RIVERS,
PLUS ENOUGH CULTURAL EXPERIENCES TO SHADE EVEN THE MOST METROPOLITAN OF CITIES
Tasmania, or Tassie to the locals, is having a moment.
Over the last few years this former Antipodean outlier
has become a must-visit cultural hot spot and epicurean
destination all rolled into one. It’s taken a while, but finally the
student has become the master.
For many years it seemed as if Tasmania would always be the
butt of the joke. Part of Australia yet not physically attached to
the Lucky Country, Tassie brought with it a bruised history of
Aboriginal hardship, the country’s worst mass shooting, and an
economy that could never quite catch up with the prosperity of
its mainland cousin. Then something happened.
Ask a local and they will tell you that that something was
Hobart’s 2011 opening of the Museum of Old and New Art
(MONA). The launch of MONA brought with it an influx of
visitors, morphing the state into a destination rather than simply
an afterthought. The reverberations of MONA continue to be
felt not just in the capital city Hobart, but in regional Tassie, too.
It’s now a place where you can feed all aspects of the soul. Here’s
just a taster.
CULTURAL MUST-SEES
MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART (MONA)
Built by David Walsh with the proceeds of his much-discussed
life as a wildly successful gambler, the Museum of Old and
New Art (MONA) is an architectural masterpiece situated
in the suburb of Berriedale and accessible by land or, more
impressively, by water. Home to Australia’s largest privately
owned gallery, Walsh’s “subversive Disneyland” houses an art
collection ranging from ancient Egyptian funerary objects and
modernist masterpieces, to a word waterfall and a machine that
mimics the human digestive system. Complete with poo.
Perched on the banks of the River Derwent, MONA is also
home to the Moorilla winery and vineyard, as well as luxury
accommodation, bars, and restaurants, and, it also plays host
and curator to the cultural winter festival – Dark Mofo.
You can choose to spend the whole day there, taking
Moorilla’s tour of MONA, which, along with a trip around the
gallery, includes lunch in The Source restaurant and is followed
by a Moorilla winery tour and tasting. Choose to finish with
a cocktail in Faro, MONA’s newest bar and restaurant, and then
head back to Hobart.
HISTORIC PORT ARTHUR
Port Arthur’s evolution from convict settlement to World
Heritage recognition and tourist destination can be experienced
with a trip to the Port Arthur Historic Site. Spend time
wandering the grounds, explore the still intact buildings, and,
if you’re feeling brave, stick around for the after-dark ghost tour.
TASMANIAN MUSEUM & ART GALLERY (TMAG)
MONA’S not the only arty player in town – there’s also
the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery. A combination of
art gallery, museum, and herbarium, TMAG is Australia’s
second-oldest museum and cares for almost 800,000 objects
ranging from fossils to fine art. The herbarium accepts small
groups of visitors, by appointment only, but is well worth a
visit. It’s responsible for the development, maintenance, and
management of Tassie’s botanical collections. If you’ve got
green fingers, take them here.
FEED THE SOUL. AND THE BELLY
THE AGRARIAN KITCHEN
Much like the rest of Australia, Tasmania isn’t short of a great
dining experience or three. Or four. Case in point being The
Agrarian Kitchen. Based in Lachlan, roughly 45 minutes from
Hobart, this is a spot known for offering so much more than
good grub. It’s an epicurean experience. Set on a two-hectare
plot, The Agrarian Kitchen is a working farm complete with its
own vegetable garden, orchard, berry patch, and herb garden
– all organic. In its kitchen, Rodney Dunn, ex-food editor of
Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine, together with his wife
Séverine Demanet, offers paddock-to-plate cooking experiences.
And if that wasn’t enough, they also opened The Eatery, which is
about seven minutes down the road and has been awarded two
hats in the Good Food Guide.
FAT PIG FARM
Need a bigger farm? Well, just south of Hobart is Fat Pig Farm,
where travellers are invited to spend a leisurely afternoon on
a 28-hectare property in the gorgeous Huon Valley. Here the
cookery school is a hands-on affair, taking place over one or two
days. You’ll get to visit the pigs, chooks, beef herd, and market
garden before bringing your bounty back to the kitchen to
cook up a storm. The farm is famous for its Friday Feasts, when
they take the farm’s produce and turn it into a long, lazy meal
shared around an extended farmhouse table. Owner Matthew
Evans is a chef by trade and also the host of Gourmet Farmer on
Australian TV channel SBS.
TEMPLO
If you prefer someone else to do the cooking for you and fancy
a Tassie experience to boot, then a visit to Templo is a must.
Tucked away in the backstreets of Hobart, this small 20-seater
restaurant is a favourite with locals and visitors alike. However,
if you want somewhere with a bit more space, try The Glass
House – a literal house of glass suspended over Hobart’s
Sullivan’s Cove.
WORDS: NIKKI STEFANOFF
58 | AUTUMN/WINTER 2019