You're spending Christmas in Tasmania
Happy birthday, Mum and Dad. This year, your joint present doesn't fit in a box — it's a week on Tasmania's east coast. Two nights in Hobart, then four nights in a beautiful Airbnb in Swansea, right on the doorstep of Freycinet National Park, with Christmas Day by Great Oyster Bay. The stays are booked, the car is covered — and best of all, we're all coming with you.
Seven days, two postcards-worth of coastline
Here's the shape of the week — a couple of days soaking up Hobart, then a lazy drive up the east coast to your home base in Swansea for Christmas.
Touch down in Hobart
Arrive, breathe in that cool southern air, and settle into your Hobart stay — an award-winning architectural hideaway in a peaceful bush valley at Lindisfarne, booked by Lucinda. Flights are your only homework; everything after the airport is handled. The evening is yours — the city is ten minutes away, and the waterfront and Battery Point are perfect for a first wander.
Hobart · Nights 1–2Hobart, properly
A full day to do Hobart your way — ride up kunanyi / Mount Wellington for the view, get lost in MONA, or graze your way along Salamanca Place.
HobartThe Great Eastern Drive
Check out and cruise about 90 minutes up one of Australia's most beautiful coastal drives to Swansea. Stop wherever looks good — trust us, plenty will. Check in to your Airbnb and crack something cold on arrival.
Swansea · Nights 3–6Christmas in Freycinet country
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with Great Oyster Bay out the front and the pink granite peaks of the Hazards across the water. Walks, wineries, beaches, oysters straight from the farm — or absolutely nothing at all.
Swansea & FreycinetOne last long breakfast
Soak up the final morning, then it's homeward — sun-drunk, oyster-full, and one year older than when you were booked in.
FarewellThe White House, Swansea
Four nights at "The White House ~ Your ultimate escape" — a contemporary, recently built home rated ★4.93, perched opposite Kennedia Beach on the north-west shore of Great Oyster Bay, looking straight across the water to the Freycinet Peninsula, Coles Bay and The Hazards.
Room for all of us
Four spacious bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and five beds — leather lounges, a sunken living room and multiple spots to escape each other after lunch.
Views from the pillow (and the tub)
The top-floor main suite is yours: ensuite with a bath and water views from both. Keep an eye out for dolphins and sea eagles from the patio.
The beach is a footpath away
Stroll straight down to the sand. Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park are a scenic 45 minutes up the road.
Christmas HQ
A serious kitchen, a big dining table and an alfresco deck with a barbecue. The feast happens here — and you two aren't allowed to cook it.
Freycinet & the east coast
Everything below is an easy day (or half-day) from the Swansea house. Pick your favourites — or do the lot.
Wineglass Bay
One of the world's most photographed beaches. The lookout walk is about 1.5 hours return and worth every step — keep going down to the sand if the legs are willing.
Honeymoon Bay & Coles Bay
Tiny pink-granite coves made for a swim and a sunset. Bring a picnic and watch the Hazards glow orange as the sun drops.
Cape Tourville Lighthouse
A 20-minute boardwalk loop with enormous ocean views and barely any effort — the best value walk in the park.
Freycinet Marine Farm
Oysters and mussels pulled straight out of the bay, eaten at a picnic table in the sun. Dad, this one's non-negotiable.
Devil's Corner
Pinot and sparkling with one of the best lookout views on the coast, plus wood-fired pizza and fresh seafood at the door.
Kate's Berry Farm
Just up the hill from Swansea — berries, homemade ice cream and jam, with water views. Dangerous levels of "we'll just pop in".
Spiky Bridge & Spiky Beach
A convict-built bridge from the 1840s that looks exactly like its name, with a quiet swimming beach just below it.
Friendly Beaches
Kilometres of white sand and rolling surf, usually with almost nobody on it. The Boxing Day walk-off-the-pudding spot.
Two nights in Hobart
Before the coast, a couple of days in Australia's prettiest little capital. Lucinda found you a place literally called "Luxurious, Tranquil and Private" — and the 79 reviews rating it 9.4 "Superb" agree. It's the 1998 Australian Design of the Year Award-winning house, tucked into a quiet bush valley at Lindisfarne with nature-reserve views from every window (kangaroo sightings included), a huge bath, and the city just ten minutes away.
kunanyi / Mount Wellington
Drive to the summit, 1,271 metres above the city, for a view that stretches over Hobart, the Derwent and half the island.
MONA
Catch the camo-painted ferry up the river to the museum built into a cliff. Strange, funny, unforgettable — allow half a day.
Salamanca & Battery Point
Sandstone warehouses full of galleries and food, then up Kelly's Steps into Hobart's oldest, most charming streets.
Postcards from your future
A few greatest hits from Christmases past — and a preview of the postcards you haven't taken yet, starring two birthday legends on location.
Happy birthday, Mum & Dad.
You've given us a lifetime of holidays, lifts, lunches and everything else. This one's on us. All you need to do is book the flights, pack your walking shoes, and be ready for the best Christmas yet.
Aidan, Lucinda & Laura xx
…and Tilly, who insisted on signing too 🐾