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| Saffire Freycinet - the view from our room |
I'm rather tired of Covid-19 updates...but it seemed like a necessity for every trip! In brief, the Eastern states of Australia are seemingly past the peak of the Omicron wave, and the states have finally sensibly dropped all testing for interstate travel. After Malcolm getting Covid 2 weeks ago, we safely navigated through the multitudes of rapid antigen testing for school and work and thankfully were able to actually fly to Tasmania!
This trip was in lieu of going to an all-inclusive resort on the Chilean Lakes with another couple for our 20th wedding anniversary. Everyone knows the cancellation story well by now! Saffire Freycinet seemed like a great substitute. It was one of the few truly all-inclusive high end resorts in Australia. We initially had our doubts, as it was very expensive. Although we know food would be excellent (we are in Tassie!), we were worried about the level of service in Australia compared to properties in Africa, Asia and South America.
To our delight, we are able to report that so far we have been thoroughly impressed. The staff have been friendly, and attentive without being snobby or in your face. There was a touch of personalisation which even we appreciated (we usually like doing our own thing...) including being contacted pre-trip to discuss what we hoped to get out of our trip, organising an itinerary for our time here, and the staff remembering our names. This started at the Saffire Airport lounge, and everything was seemless from there. For once, everyone at the resort was on the same page.
We won't bore you too much with too many words. We are not ashamed to admit that we wanted to get maximum value for the money for our 3 night stay...so we have signed up for as many complimentary guided excursions as we could! Even then, there are some that we just couldn't fit in. We will post updates with comments on photos from here on!
One last thing...you definitely will never be hungry here!!
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| We really didn't need a lounge after only a 2 hour flight from Sydney to Hobart but it was a nice option. And yes we really did bring that much for a 3 night trip... |
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| The lounge included showers if you really wanted one! |
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| A good array of drinks and snacks that we could help ourselves to including for the road! |
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| We were given a goodie pack to go for our 2.5 hour drive to the resort |
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| Included driving instructions as well as suggestions for stops along the way |
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| The view upon entering the resort lobby. There must have been cameras at the gate or the driveway, as Hamish, the staff who had been corresponding with us over email, was waiting for us right at the entrance. Our car was parked for us, and our luggage taken to our room. |
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| The reception lounge with the most comfy seats and impressive book collection! |
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| The self serve all-inclusive drinks counter at the guest lounge. |
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| Cocktails included too during pre-meal drinks when a bartender would be at the bar |
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| The comfortable guest lounge |
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| By the time we arrived at Saffire, it was 1:15pm. Hamish knew that we planned to have lunch at the resort (passed on from Donna at the airport) so the welcome was brief. He gave us a brief tour and rundown (including our itinerary) and directed us to lunch so we could make our first excursion at 2:30pm! This was my appetiser size seafood mezze plate! |
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| Every table has 180 degree views of the beautiful Freycinet national Park. Armed with our welcome sparkling rose, we sat down for lunch |
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| Green apple sorbet with toffee. Yum... |
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| Just after lunch, Hamish informed us that our room was ready and took us to our room. Just in time to check it out before our excursion! Our entry zen garden |
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| If they really did their homework they would've used Disney font. 91/2 out of 10. |
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What a spot to read a book and watch the colours change. Glad someone else cleans the windows!
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| Not enough pillows |
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| These places always make us want to upgrade our outdoor furniture...when Moose is older. |
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| Can you carry champagne on a plane? No, seriously we want to know. Please comment! |
The bathroom has a corridor!
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| Double shower looking out to the zen garden, complete with Mal's favourite rain shower head |
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| Bath with a view too |
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| The amazing minibar - of course included in the price |
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| Everything is Tassie, except the chips |
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| Just in case wine and spirits isn't your thing |
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| In room Nespresso |
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| How's this for the tea lovers?! |
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| Magazine anyone?!? |
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| LOVE this book collection! |
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| We all know an apple a day is a must |
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| Oh the pressure...the need to play chess is suddenly very real! |
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| Our "itinerary" for our stay |
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| Our winetasting excursion was with only 4 guests, with Patrick our guide/driver from the resort. Started with a chardonnay as we walked around the vineyard with the owner |
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| Alex, one of the owners, teaching us about the runnings of the vineyard |
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| The wine tasting/pairing was so relaxed and enjoyable, even for a low alcohol consumer like myself! It was nice to chat to the owner about his family, his home, and life in general |
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| The desserts are home made by his wife! |
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| One of 3 very happy, friendly dogs on property |
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| The original homestead built in 1835 where the family live |
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| Back at the resort, dressed and ready for pre-dinner drinks and canapes. Still full from wine tasting... |
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| Yuzu margarita in the lounge |
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| I can't even remember what these things are but there were moorish! And I don't usually love olives or anchovies! |
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| My drink of choice was Ice Ice Baby! Cocktail of the day! |
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| Dinner was a choice from either a 5 course degustation which changed daily or the "standard" a la carte which remain constant. The degustation came with wine pairing, which can be upgraded with a fee to a "premium" wine pairing. Pictured above is the amuse bouche of kingfish with figs. It really was good... |
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| Degustation with wine pairing for this evening |
