Tasmania - from farmhouses to lighthouses

Australia's favourite food blogger, Not Quite Nigella, aka Lorraine Elliott, ventures to Tasmania to sample some delightful local delicacies.

I take eating quite seriously. What I mean by that is that should you ever try and skip a meal past me there will be howls of protestation and anxious pawing. There will be a severe loss of concentration and my mind will wander. I may even look at you like you might be a tasty morsel to eat.

Wine tasting is all very fine but for me, wine is infinitely more enjoyable when it is combined with food. And today when we're in the climatically chilly area of Strahan in Tasmania, we settle down to partake in a little wine and cheese matching.

There are two cheeses from King Island cheese and the rest are the Ashmore cheeses which are produced in Tasmania. Some of the matches were absolutely sublime, particularly the King Island Cape Wickam double brie and the Tamar Ridge Chardonnay and the dessert wine and cheese combination of Frogmore Creek Iced Riesling with the King Island Roaring 40s blue, whilst some of them matched less so.

A little while later we help ourselves to the Strahan Village buffet. I'm not a huge buffet gal but a seafood buffet, well that's an entirely different creature... There are fresh Tasmanian oysters, ocean trout, smoked salmon as well as a crumbed fish. There is even a scallop waldorf salad! Sadly every time I tried to get a shot of the display it looked a bit depleted despite the fact that they were refilling it in a timely manner. A half eaten buffet makes for some not so pretty pics.

But dinner is consumed quickly as we have other plans later tonight. I have a bit of a thing for lighthouses. I always think that they look so magnificent and, unlike a half eaten buffet display, are very photogenic. And tonight we are headed to Bonnet Island for some little penguin watching. We board the boat and head towards Hell's Gate which conjures up all sorts of images.

Our well informed guide Kath takes us through the history of the area and imparts on us the legends of the lighthouse keepers. I don't want to ruin the surprise should you want to take the tour yourselves but the story of the longest serving lighthouse keeper is an interesting one. OK I'll tell you because saying something like that is like saying that you know a secret but won't tell, it's annoying!

The lighthouse has a series of lamps that need to be lit manually and they burn 600ml of oil every hour so frequent refilling is required. Failure to light these on time would result in instant dismissal for the lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse inspector lived across the water on the main island and would watch the lighthouse keeper with keen interest ensuring that he did his job.

One lighthouse keeper lived there by himself for a number of years and had quite a few provisions sent to him. He grew increasingly bored on this small island by himself (amusingly they sent him a dining table that seated six people) and, tired with the same sort of food to eat, he sought to go fishing one evening. He rowed out a little too far and when a passing ship's captain reported that there was no light the inspector was alerted. The lighthouse keeper rowed back quickly hoping that he wasn't spotted but the next morning the inspector rowed up to the island and dismissed the lighthouse keeper after his service of many years. There were no second chances afforded to lighthouse keepers as the possibilities for failing to do their job could be catastrophic.

We make our way around the island while the sun is setting and then climb back onto the boat for drinks and cheese, dips and crackers. Once darkness falls, we take our red coloured torches which are gentler on the little penguin's eyes and do our best penguin spotting. They're tame and curious and not scared of humans at all and come right up to us. They also have sharp beaks so beware!

The next morning we rise to the sight of…ducks on the main road? Yes apparently this happens every morning in the quaint village of Strahan. I don't often partake of hotel breakfasts. I'm usually still digesting the meal from the evening before but you know what was calling me don't you? Scallop pies!

Tim from Petuna buys us each a pie from Banjo's bakery of our choice – I mean what better way to wake up than with a Tasmanian Spring Bay scallop pie.

Inside there are three scallops, roe on, with a mix of carrots and peas and other vegetables in a creamy, curry sauce. The base and top are both made of puff pastry. Not bad for a breakfast!

Fast forwarding til lunch (and yes this was a furiously packed itinerary which went from 7am til midnight every day) and we're at a farm in Devonport. There is a gorgeous spread of local fare with a particular emphasis on vegetables as we're here to visit Tasmania's vegetable producers. There is 41degrees south hot smoked salmon, broad bean and pea puree, Yorktown baby carrot and artichoke salad (so good!), a bean, feta and pine nut salad, marinated "hothouse red peppers”, baby beetroot, parsley & parmesan salad, zucchini picnic pie, Rannoch farm hot smoked quail (lovely!), Woodbridge cold smoked ocean trout and an Alps & Amici farmhouse terrine which is lovely and nubbly and coarse in texture with carrots throughout it and a divine Elgaar smoothie. I ate myself silly but knew that this was a healthy lunch with lots of vegetables and lean meat.

About half an hour's drive from Devonport is the cute little town of Penguin....

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