Out of your comfort zone

Challenge your mind and body this winter to go further with exhilarating new experiences.

The Off Season is a time for sensory stimulation and outdoor exhilaration. From meltwater swims to slipping underground into wet winter caves, here’s how to infuse your Tassie trip with added adrenaline.

Embrace the winter dark

Sometimes, you find surprising things in the island’s cool, shady pockets.

For those seeking wild – or mild – adventures, join Wild Cave Tours at Mole Creek to go deeper into the dark on a half- or full-day guided tour with a speleologist, exploring the caves of the Great Western Tiers. Just south of coastal town Ulverstone are Gunns Plains Caves, formed by an underground stream that still flows. Keep your eyes open and you might spot giant freshwater lobster, fish and eel.

Above ground, paddle the tannin-hued waters of Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. On a guided tour with Cradle Mountain Canyons, climb into a hand-built King Billy pine kayak and glide across the alpine landscape, before clambering ashore to wander through moody tracts of rainforest.

Plunge into discomfort

Will Tasmania give you shivers? Almost certainly. Outdoor swimming in cooler waters is not to be feared.

On the east coast, take a short walk through eucalypt forest to find the aqua-blue Apsley waterhole, then continue to smaller plunge pools in Douglas-Apsley National Park. Further north in the larapuna / Bay of Fires area, take a salty dip in this perfectly blue water, framed by kilometres of white sand. 

Want the camaraderie of a group? Swim naked as part of Dark Mofo’s Nude Solstice Swim with a few thousand new friends in Hobart at Long Beach. Rock up at sunrise on Saturday 21 June, the morning after the longest night of the year, and grab tickets early to secure your spot.

Breathe through the cold

Sharp inhale. Long exhale. There are many ways to take your air in Tasmania.

For a personal reset join Wild Wellness @ the Cove with the Pros. The alcohol-free retreat gives you space to explore personal change with world-leading addiction specialist Dr Chris Davis and breathwork expert Piet Blokker, as well as yoga, ocean swims and massage.

Fancy something a little steamier? Kuuma Nature Sauna offers sauna cruise sessions, ideal for warming up tired muscles on cold winter days. Housed in a pontoon boat, the floating sauna offers absolute water views and serenity. In Hobart, Walk on kunanyi takes small groups on premium guided day walks on kunanyi / Mount Wellington. Their Wild Wellness Fire and Ice Walk includes a cold-water plunge and breathwork session followed with journalling by the fire.

Spook yourself silly

Believe it or not, you’ll feel the spirit of the past in Tasmania.

Test your nerves on a Port Arthur Ghost Tour – it’s a very different place after dark, especially when these stories are shared via lantern-light in the ruins and heritage buildings of Port Arthur. Explore the paranormal on a Willow Court Asylum Ghost Tour in New Norfolk with Tasmania’s Most Haunted. Chilling stories are sensitively brought to life on these after-dark tours.

Walk through the ruins of Sarah Island, Tasmania’s first penal settlement, established in 1822. The island, which sits in Macquarie Harbour, was battered by the elements and notoriously difficult. Explore some great escapes and prisoner stories on a guided tour from Strahan.

Hoon at high speed

Gather pace as you slide down the 30m-high Henty Dunes near Strahan.

A dune system formed by the Roaring Forties and flanked by rainforest, they’re the ideal spot for a riveting sand-board ride. Hire a toboggan in Strahan to really get flying.

On the east coast, take a four-wheel drive or dune buggy journey at the Peron Dunes near St Helens. Or hire a bike and explore the extensive St Helens Mountain Bike Trails, where you can ride from the mountains to the sea. Tasmania is threaded with world-renowned trails – head to the Wild Mersey Mountain Bike Trails for 100km of riding with trailheads in Latrobe, Railton, and Sheffield, or opt for the George Town MTB trails outside Launceston, with 70km of trails and counting.