The Perch

Furneaux Distillery was born from a love of whisky and a fascination with the art of distilling. We are a new Tasmanian producer of small batch craft spirits – single malt whisky and gin being our main products. Our location, on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait, off the northeast coast of Tasmania, is wild, remote and breathtakingly beautiful. We've been distilling on the Island since 2019, focussing on our maritime climate and the local peat we have here. Currently operating from The Flinders Wharf, with plans to relocate to our beachfront pasture in Sawyers Bay in early 2024.

This is a destination where photos can never do it justice. How do you translate visually the splendid isolation of an island that’s almost the size of Luxembourg with only 900 inhabitants (Luxembourg’s population is 600,000). As a result, the pace of life is definitely a lot slower here, the locals friendlier, the air is cleaner and as you walk you won’t see a soul. Visualise the Bay of Fires on steroids; the Flinders Island walks are so impressive and so breathtakingly gorgeous it’s a wonder that this place remains so unknown. The coastline is punctuated by the red lichen-covered boulders that have made the Bay of Fires famous, the difference is that on Flinders Island there is just way more of it. The pristine sandy beaches seemingly are for your own private use. Climb the tallest peak on the island, Mt Strzelecki as well as several smaller peaks. Wildlife abounds too; huge numbers of wallabies (far too many for the locals!), Cape Barren geese, wild peacocks, pheasants, birds of prey and large numbers of seabirds roam unfettered all over the island.

This is literally a walker’s paradise, with mountains, forests, and incredible beaches at every turn. To put it simply, the diversity of walking here is astonishing. A visit to the remote and mostly uninhabited Flinders Island is like stepping back in time. The pace of life here is slower, the locals friendlier, and the air, perhaps the cleanest in the world. The walking here is so impressive and so breathtakingly gorgeous it’s a wonder that this place remains so unknown. Imagine the Bay of Fires meets Wilsons Promontory on steroids, and it’s no wonder this was all part of the same mountain range when Tasmania was still joined to the mainland. Mt Strzelecki is the tallest mountain in this mountain range and definitely the most striking. Wildlife abounds with wallabies, Cape Barren geese, wild peacocks, pheasants, various birds of prey and large numbers of seabirds all calling this place home. One evening we will cruise over to the Short Tailed Shearwater birds feeding grounds, which are three small island off Flinders Island, and watch the clouds of birds swoop in to feed their young.