I’ve never shared a bath with a lobster before. Ten minutes ago I was soaking in a galvanised tub overlooking Killiecrankie Bay, submerged to my chin to avoid the salty chill of the westerly wind. Back in the charming kitchen of the three-bedroom Crayshack, I’m assembling a sandwich when owner Mick Grimshaw drives up to the deck, reaches into his ute and throws a live southern rock lobster into my bathwater. 

“The CSIRO did a study and the most humane way to kill ‘em is by drowning them in fresh water,” he says. I decide not to ask if that changes with the addition of bath salts. 

Flinders Island

Killiecrankie is on the north-west coast of Flinders Island, the largest island of the Furneaux Group in the Bass Strait north of Tasmania. It’s a nature lover’s haven, with hilly hikes, empty beaches and a healthy population of wombats. Beyond the wilderness there’s little to do besides forage, cook, eat, repeat – and you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Following a 35-minute flight from Launceston, the best thing to do after landing at Lady Barron Airport is to swing by The Flinders Wharf on the way to your accommodation. Despite being in the tiny town of Whitemark, the restaurant and distillery wouldn’t be out of place on a wealthy, mainland holiday peninsula. 

Chef Mikey Yeo hands over a wooden crate from Flinders Island Farm Gate. I can barely carry it due to the heft of heirloom produce, dinner and breakfast provisions, and a bottle of Furneaux Untamed Gin distilled with island botanicals. Over the next few days we stir local scallops and leftover crayfish through pappardelle, forage for saltbush and work our way through Yeo’s entire menu, including a whole roasted trevally with sambal butter and fish gravy that he cooks on an outdoor grill.

Related story: Lace up: here are Tasmania’s best hiking tracks

Launceston

Although Flinders is a short flight away, it doesn’t change my theory that Tasmania is Australia’s Road Trip State. Travellers plan journeys around stays bookmarked on Instagram and fill the bits in between with restaurant dining and farm gates. Every time I write about my Tassie travels or shame them to social media, I feel like I’m revealing a secret.

The state government has pegged agritourism as a priority for rebuilding visitation following COVID. Research from Tourism Tasmania suggests that a third of domestic travellers consider food provenance important when planning a trip. It makes sense than that Launceston Gastronomy (an organisation connecting Northern Tasmania through food) submitted a successful bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

We’ve timed our travel with Launceston Gastronomy’s inaugural agriCULTURED festival, four days of conversations and events that shine light on the local bounty.

Cataract Gorge

The breathtaking Cataract Gorge, just 1.5km from the centre and almost across the road from Stillwater Restaurant, is a fine way to work up an appetite. Inspired by southern fried chicken, Executive Chef Craig Will instead makes use of an abundant native protein with wallaby ‘wings’. His Cape Grim eye fillet has an umami kick from local miso and arrives beneath a mound of mixed mushrooms. 

I decide to track down the growers. Mr Brown & Towns Mushroom Garden and Meru Miso are in the same industrial complex, five minutes from the middle of town. At the latter, Chris and Meagan de Bono are delighted with new machinery that means they no longer have to jar their three varieties of Meru Miso by hand, while stepping into the urban mushroom farm feels like setting foot on another planet. Oyster mushrooms unfurl in shades of canary yellow and coral; the gelatinous coating of burnt-orange namekos glisten under fluorescent lights; and bulbous lion’s mane mushrooms bear an uncanny resemblance to Falkor from 1984 children’s fantasy film, The NeverEnding Story. Locals flock to the stall at the weekly Harvest Market. 

Tamar Valley & Derby

Later that night, both have pride of place on the menu at Timbre Kitchen in the Tamar Valley during an event celebrating fire and fermentation. Upon arrival, chef Matt Adams is hoisting Cape Grim striploin aged in Meru Miso koji across an outdoor fire pit, with nothing but a thin tea towel to protect his hands from scalding hot meat hooks.

Timbre’s dedication to seasonal, local produce is a philosophy that connects the entire state. That includes East Coast seafood, which we’re on our way to experience when we make a pit stop at Floating Sauna Lake Derby, 1.25 hours from Launceston.

Daytrippers book online and cross a suspension bridge to get there. I put on a brave face and dive from the hot sauna into the 12°C lake. The air leaves my body as I hit the water and I go from numb, to tingling, to exhilarated. The next stage hits me in the car: hungry. Really hungry. 

St Helens

We hit St Helens to stock up on food. It’s the northernmost town of Tassie’s Great Eastern Drive, the gateway to the Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay. I fall into a hunger-induced shopping frenzy at The Tasmania Shop, unable to decide what to buy as gifts versus groceries. I’m particularly drawn to royal purple pepper berry salt and Meander Valley butter studded with the native spice. A five-minute drive away is Lease 65, an oyster farm that supplies some of Australia’s best restaurants. They’re a dollar each unopened or $20 for a shucked dozen. My stomach is driving as I order a dozen shucked, two dozen closed and an oyster knife before driving 45 minutes to luxury wilderness stay, The Keep.

Related story: Make the most of every minute spent in the heart of Tasmania

Gould’s Country & Bicheno

Located in Gould’s Country, The Keep is based on medieval fortresses and perches on a 650-metre rocky pinnacle. Not only does it have 360-degree views, but it’s home to Tasmania’s most impressive outdoor bathtub, carved from granite and wedged between giant boulders (which I’d admittedly bookmarked on Instagram). The well-equipped kitchen, fire engine-red Falcon Classic cooker and Weber barbecue make self-catering a delight. 

Back at sea level, holiday town Bicheno is the best lunch stop on the way to Freycinet Peninsula. At The Lobster Shack on the esplanade we swat away audacious seagulls ravenous for seafood chowder and crayfish burgers. Nearby, The Farm Shed Collective East Coast Wine Centre is a communal cellar door where visitors can try before they buy and pick up East Coast bottles.

Freycinet

Continuing the outdoor bathing theme, the tubs in Freycinet Lodge’s Mountain Terrace rooms come with views of the Hazards mountain range, while the Coastal Pavilions’ peer through native flora at water lapping at the shore. It’s at Freycinet Lodge that I meet Professor Gretta Pecl, a marine ecologist from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. She’s here for the annual Beaker Street Festival, a not-for-profit event where science, art and food intersect. We join her for a Wineglass Bay Cruise, escorted by dolphins that surf the boat’s wake. 

“The east coast of Tasmania gets a double whammy in terms of temperature change, so we have the underlying warming that the rest of the ocean has, and the East Australian current is pushing further down our coast,” explains Professor Pecl. “It means that the east coast of Australia is warming at four times the global average… and that can affect the oyster industry, the rock lobsters, abalone and other species that we like to eat.”

Her words replay as I consider everything we’ve consumed over the trip. In Tasmania, understanding provenance is already a bare minimum; the challenge is using food as a catalyst for conversations about the environment and sustainability. What better way to join the discussion than by eating your way around the state?

Related story: 30 epic Australian road trips that will get you out into the wild blue yonder

The writer was not subject to any COVID-related travel restrictions. At the time of writing, anyone visiting from a high-risk area in Australia must complete 14 days of home or hotel quarantine. At the 90 per cent vaccination mark, expected on December 15, anyone who is fully vaccinated and returns a negative test result within 72 hours of travel will be allowed to enter the state. See coronavirus.tas.gov.au for updates and more information.

EAT

The Flinders Wharf, 16 Esplanade, Whitemark, onislandtime.com.au
Stillwater Restaurant, 2 Bridge Road, Launceston, stillwater.com.au
Timbre Kitchen, Velo Wines, 755 West Tamar Highway, Legana, timbrekitchen.com
The Lobster Shack, 40 Esplanade, Bicheno, lobstershacktasmania.com.au 

SHOP

Harvest Market, 71 Cimitiere Street, Launceston, harvestmarket.org.au
The Farm Shed Collective, 53a Burgess Street, Bicheno, thefarmshedtas.com.au
The Tasmania Shop, shop 3/29-33 Cecilia Street, St Helens, facebook.com/thetasmaniashop
Lease 65 444 Binalong Bay Rd, St Helens 

STAY

The Crayshack, 6 Armstrong Avenue, Killiecrankie, onislandtime.com.au
Stillwater Seven, 2 Bridge Road, Launceston, stillwater.com.au
The Keep, 535 New England Road, Goulds Country, thekeeptasmania.com.au
Freycinet Lodge, Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay, freycinetlodge.com.au 

EXPERIENCE

Lake Derby Floating Sauna, Lake Derby, floatingsauna.com.au
agriCULTURED, Launceston, agricultured.com.au
Beaker Street Festival, around Tasmania, beakerstreet.com.au
Wineglass Bay Cruise, 61 Jetty Road, Coles Bay, wineglassbaycruises.com.au