Elle_Australia_December_2016

202 ELLE AUSTRALIA

Tasmania

COLES BAY: About two-and-a-half hours’ drive up

the east coast from Hobart lies Coles Bay. The last

port of call before you hit picturesque Freycinet

National Park, where the world-famous Wineglass

Bay stays hidden from the masses, this seaside spot is

great for people who aren’t satisfied doing nothing

• kayaking, fishing, boating and hiking are all
  popular, and it’d
  be tough to find
  a prettier place
  to do them. At
  Saffire Freycinet –
  one of Australia’s
  most luxurious
  hotels – book
  a room with a view
  out onto the crystalline
  waters and pink granite
  mountains of Great
  Oyster Bay.
  saffire-freycinet.com.au

STRAHAN: Taking a trip with the ’rents in tow? This

pretty west-coast spot has a convict past – which will

appeal to Dad’s keen interest in Australiana – and is

surrounded by wilderness and waterways – so

Mum can rally the troops for a family cruise down

Gordon River. It’s a quick 10-minute drive to the

unimaginatively named Ocean Beach, Tasmania’s

longest stretch of sand (fun fact: it’s on the same

latitude as South America’s Patagonia). Stay at

Wheelhouse Luxury Apartments, an easy walk from

Strahan’s main hub, where Bushman’s Bar & Cafe

provides essential post-beach sustenance. ]

wheelhouseapartments.com.au

Victoria

LORNE: Avoid it around

New Year’s, when multi-day

music bash Falls Festival hits

town. At any other time,

you’ll find a decent number

of holiday-makers setting up umbrellas on Lorne Beach

or angling for an outside table at Lorne Hotel. Spend

a day exploring Great Otway National Park, practise

your surfing or cruise back up the Great Ocean Road

towards Torquay and Bells Beach – there are no bad

decisions. Our pick for where to stay? Bough Haus on

Airbnb – it’s nestled among the trees, with floor-to-

ceiling windows and chic mid-century furnishings.

JOHANNA: Stock up on charcuterie in Apollo Bay,

then head along the Great Ocean Road for another

45 minutes. You’ll hit Johanna, a town which was

named after the 1843 shipwreck of schooner Joanna.

Spend a night, or a whole week, at Rotten Point House.

The architecturally designed property, which looks out

over Moonlight Head, sleeps up to eight guests, and

considering it’s on 100 acres of bushland, you won’t

need to worry about the neighbours.

holidaygor.com.au

WINEGLASS BAY

LORNE

ROTTEN POINT HOUSE STRAHAN

OCEAN BEACH

COLES BAY BEACH

SAFFIRE FREYCINET

TRAVEL