It starts just after I land in Hobart. I am whisked into the airport’s private Saffire Lodge lounge. Quick refresh, an espresso and pick up my snack pack and drink, then fold into a private car to take me to the magical Freycinet Peninsula of Tasmania.

Just two and a half hours away, along Tasmania’s scenic east coast from Hobart (it’s two hours’ drive from Launceston), you turn off the road and cruise towards heaven on earth. (Purely subjective – but hey, I was there.)

Tasmania has to be one of the most beautiful natural islands on the planet, and Freycinet one of the most stunning locations. Set back from the shores of Great Oyster Bay is the silhouette of a curving roof, like a stingray in motion. Coming under the ‘stingray’s’ eaves from the road side, Saffire Freycinet in all its glory – is an architecturally splendid building that sweeps through the bush, and as you walk into the foyer – the bay and a mountain range, the Hazards, is framed by the building’s roofline. The rooms and suites below, ripple like waves to the shore.

This is an Australian luxury lodge, no doubt about it. The lodge, the mountains, the bush, the water – all connected in a seamless and natural co-habitation.  

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