Wild Tasmania

Legions of intrepid visitors are shunning the shopping-and-bus-tour circuit in favour of the Great Outdoors. Nature, Eco-tourism and Adventure - known in the business as NEAT — is booming. And some of the most interesting attractions for Asians are in Tasmania - the green isle just to mainland Australia's south - also known as the Under Down Under.

Some come for the thrills 'n' spills (this is, after all, the very much up-and-coming soft-adventure destination in the Asia-pacific region). Others come for the sheer delight of being surrounded by some of the most pristine, yet easily accessible nature around.

This little corner of heaven is packed with a breezy temperate climate, quiet white beaches, primal forests, a lively history, and, most of all, the promise of adventure.

No two ways about it: This place is both geographically interesting and extraordinarily beautiful. Yep, this is serious Salem Country.

In terms of soft-adventure tourism - you know, get close to nature without sacrificing the 'pamper factor' - Tasmania is a bit different from overdone New Zealand. New Zealand is a celebrity adventure destination, shiny and famous like Brad Pitt.

Down here, tourism doesn't take over, it blends in. It's funny, but within minutes of arriving here, you are walking around feeling like a local.

I came to Cradle Mountain - Tasmania's biggest and most famous national park - to check out the famed walks, and not-so-well-known alternative ways of exploring this nice slice of paradise, like 'quading'; all without sacrificing an ounce of comfort and pampering. But of course.

Cradle Mountain National Park stretches across a vast swath of north-western Tasmania and encompasses jagged, forbidding mountains, skirted with beautiful old-growth eucalyptus forests and bejewelled with dozens of lakes left behind by the last ice age.

The most stunning - and accessible of these lakes is Dove Lake. This amazing glacier lake lies cradled in a broad U-shaped valley that looks like it's been made by a giant ice-cream scoop.

The backdrop is Cradle Mountain herself, its glistening peaks whittled by ancient glaciers into craggy spires that spread like saw-teeth into the distance. Artists say that the clear light here is something special. In the late afternoons, it's as if the valley seems to cradle the glow of the sun.

A Lodge with Fire Place

Nestled on the wooded edge of the park lies Cradle Mountain Lodge; THE place to stay when you're up here. The main lodge is a huge log cabin with highly polished wood interior to match the whole rustic feel. The main dining room serves award-winning world-class cuisine as you sip a fine local wine while you cosy up to the lovely crackling fireplace. Ahh, life!

Accommodation is in surrounding chalets that are as fully appointed with luxuries as you could possibly imagine. Jacuzzis, thick fluffy down quilts, in-room CD player… But, alas, no TV - but that's a good thing. You won't miss it. Sit on the balcony of your own chalet with your pals or loved one and watch the wallabies and wombats come out to forage at sunset. That's your Discovery Channel.

For much of that distance, it is more than a km wide, and flows through the bossom of the stunning Tamar Valley - reputedly the home of some of the finest Pinot Noirs and Rieslings to be found anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

As I drive my rented Ford Falcon over the eucalyptus-clad hills and into the eden-like Tamar Valley in search of the humble Tassie vineyards, I smack my lips in anticipation of a good glass of unpretentious wine. Nothing is easier to befriend than this; make that a bottle.

I'm also reminded of a quote by Alan Richman the noted NY-based wine critic: "As I approach the collectors' Bordeaux, I do not know whether to bow or kneel or swoon. In New York, collectors speak of this St. Emilion in tones that men of more rational passions reserve for their mistresses: sommeliers possessing one of the near priceless bottles parade it past ogling customers enthralled by the sight of a wine they will most likely never taste.

“They are a new class of needful rich, whipped into a frenzy by wine writers who stress the importance of owning wine rather than the pleasure of drinking it."

So that's it then: wine appreciation has reached new heights of apoplexic hype. You can hardly pop a cork these days without attracting 'connoiseurs' like flies who will tell you exactly what they think about your choice of wine with a slew of pretentious adjectives, whose meanings are, frankly, unidentifiable.