Family stargazing
safari with the
Wild Road Wanderers

Inducting your family into the ways of Tassie winter? Take a leaf out of Jess and Jed Batheram’s travel diary.

The Off Season is a place for off-beat adventures. From travelling with little ones to teens or those who’ve flown the coop, a wild winter with the fam is sure to spark wonder and curiosity. Creating new memories might bring your clan closer – and not just when you’re huddling around the fire.

Jess and Jed Batheram and their young sons Banjo and Axel – who you might recognise from Instagram as the Wild Road Wanderers – are soaking up cosy accommodation in nature, surprise animal encounters and star-filled skies with Port Arthur Holiday Park’s Stargazing safari-style Off Season offer. This winter-only experience combines woodfired pizza making with a safari family glamping stay, cosy electric fireplace and indulgent outdoor bath – the perfect ingredients for a family winter holiday.

How the wanderers went wild

Jess and Jed first met in the snowy depths of winter. This encounter kindled a life of adventure, 14 years and counting.

“We were little snowboarding bunnies,” Jess reminisces, “we love winter and we love the cold.”

They’ve amassed quite the online audience (56.5K followers so far) on a road trip around Australia in their refurbished fire truck.

“It’s been awesome,” Jed says.

We basically wanted to have something that we could jump in and pull up anywhere and have a camp.

Arriving in Tasmania five years ago, Jess recounts their profound first impression: “this feels like home”.

Along with their two cheeky sons and playful pet dogs, they’ve roamed everywhere: from Cockle Creek in Tasmania’s far-south to Strahan way out west and, Jess’s favourite, Falmouth, “a beautiful little seaside town in the north east”. They’ve even taken little Banjo hiking up famous Mount Amos, basking in the beauty of Wineglass Bay below.

For Jess, the Off Season is the best time for “natural beauty, crisp mornings and cold water”, diving into cosy family activities and winter offers and events. Plus, the benefits of seasonal travel on Tasmania’s pristine environment are a nice bonus.

“We like to travel in seasons and we love to travel slow,” Jess says.

“Yeah,” Jed agrees, “we try and spend more time in one place and slow it down a bit. I think that helps.”

Following the family itinerary

The Batheram family’s Off Season trip to Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula begins at Tasman National Park Lookout, a jaw-dropping introduction to the peninsula’s natural beauty – only an hour’s drive south-east of Hobart. The clan soaks up spellbinding views towards pristine Teralina / Eaglehawk Neck, Pirates Bay and rugged Cape Hauy rising wildly from the sea.

It’s a special experience for a captivated Banjo, scanning the coastline through binoculars for whales and eagles – some of his favourite animals. Jess says every new adventure on their road trip around Tasmania sparks a reaction of pure awe from Banjo.

From the lookout, it’s then a 25min drive southward in the trusty truck to Port Arthur Historic Site – an extensive collection of more than 30 World Heritage convict buildings and ruins, preserving its past as an 1800s colonial prison settlement. It’s a top spot for families to take their older kids on a spine-chilling winter ghost tour. For three-year-old Banjo, a less-frightening adventure from the old church to the massive penitentiary inspires him to ponder the past. And for 18-month-old Axel, the spacious lawns provide a perfect toddling patch.

A 5min drive north of the convict site, the day ends with an overnight stay at NRMA Port Arthur Holiday Park. This winter offer gives guests access to an onsite pizza oven – pick up your preferred toppings on the drive and buy your pizza bases at reception. You can also snag a bag of wallaby feed at check in.

After taking his bike for a spin on the holiday park’s pump track, Banjo loads up on cheese, tomato sauce and salami in his first pizza-making experience. Then it’s a short stroll to the spacious stargazing safari tent for a family snuggle by the electric fireplace and a calming soak in the elegant clawfoot bath, overlooking Stewarts Bay from their private deck. Just beyond the deck, Banjo feeds a curious mob of wallabies while colourful parrots fly overhead and the soothing sounds of dusk descend.

That’s when the stars come out to play.

Cosying up under a warm blanket on a clear winter’s night is what the Off Season is all about. Banjo snuggles beside his brother, counts stars and shouts with glee in what might be his highlight of the trip: he’s spotted a Martian.

A family of winter people

Introducing your offspring to the Off Season? Take it from Jess: the lifestyle is a hit with the youngsters.

“Tasmania offers so much to do outdoors like swimming, hiking, fishing, mountain biking, good surf.”

Jed says the Wild Road Wanderers are winter people through and through.

Our winter ritual would be to go down to the beach and watch the sun come up with a cup of tea, then take a swim in the ocean and have a natural ice bath.

At the opposite end of the state in northern Tasmania, a favourite winter memory for the family is riding toboggans and savouring hot chocolates up at snowy Ben Lomond National Park. Jed vividly recalls the cinematic moment driving up Jacob’s Ladder when a “waterfall of mist” cascaded off the top of precipitous Ben Lomond into the valley below.

Jess’s most important piece of advice for Off Season family travel? Don’t fear the cold.

“It just makes you feel alive,” Jess says. “Rug up all the kids, get outdoors and run around. You’ll soon warm up.”