SWANSEA

A jewel set on the western shore of Great Oyster Bay is by definition a pearl, any imperfection in which is an inclusion to its beauty.

Swansea

2 hour drive east from Launceston or 3 hour drive north-east from Hobart

On any holiday trip to anywhere, it’s a good idea to have at least one Total Chill Out destination. A place where once you’ve checked-in and unloaded your bags from the car to the accommodation, you can just roam on foot.

Swansea is such a place.

We’ve stayed in Swansea three times, in different Bed’n’Breakfasts, one in farmland just north of the pub, another on the hillside above town, and another down towards the beach, east of the Bowls Club. Each in its own ways made for a relaxing stay; and each in a beautiful location. Only the farmstay place was a bit too far to get to town on foot, but the drive wasn’t onerous.

This year we’ll be adding to our seasonal experience of visiting in Autumn and Springtime, by staying there in Winter; so we’ve never been to Swansea during the Summer Holidays when it’s pace is more like what we go there to escape; though the range of takeaway and dining-in opportunities would be greater in Summer.

There’s a café by the bayside where we’ve enjoyed an evening meal on two occasions, as we’ve also done in the bistro of the pub, both of which are easily accessible on foot if you don’t mind walking a couple of hundred metres on a cool evening.

And the bayside itself is a lovely place to sit by the water, or out on the pier, and watch the afternoon grow into the evening, as sunset paints the distant Hazards of Freycinet with hints of rose and orange.