As a regular long-haul customer of Reho North Sydney, I rarely make use of travel agent support for local journeys.  However, when my wife Maggi and I took an 8-day touring holiday to Tasmania in November, the office turned up trumps, as usual.
Maria and Marilyn were assigned to help; soon making me well aware that to do our own thing from home on the Internet was not worth the candle. How else would we have found out it was cheaper to cover the insurance excess on car-hire with a pre-booked all-in policy than to take it from the car-hire company? Or monitored the airfare alternatives hour-by-hour to get the best deal? Or learned that flying into Hobart and out via Launceston not only saved mileage but involved no extra charges whatsoever?
Here's a summary of our 8-day break that may help others plan their own visit this summer:

Flights:
Virgin Blue. At ten days notice, Maria got us there and back for just over $200 each.  This was at a busy time of day, ie. 9am out to Hobart and 10am back from Launceston. We could have saved money by travelling with more notice or at less convenient times, or spent more for some flexibility or at a busier period.
Minimal fuss with electronic ticketing (remember to take a photo-ID) and minimal, but efficient service. Experienced travellers can cut airport arrival time down to 30 minutes, but would lose seat choice to those who, like us, kept an hour in hand.

Car-hire:
Europcar. Marilyn fixed that at a travel-trade rate that was less than I could get with cards various. She also knows the difference between an Astina and a Barina; all-important according to how many are travelling, or how much luggage etc. We had a Mazda Protégé automatic (manual requested) which did its job well, but it's advisable to read the small print about insurance and dirt roads - and relate it to your separate policy, assuming you take that through Reho.
When we returned the car, there were no papers to fill out and no questions asked except 'Is the tank full and is it undamaged?' (Yes, to both). Then Maggi said: 'It's a bit dirty, though!'.  'What a pity' said the Europcar man; 'If it was clean, we'd have sent you out again free for a week to get it dirty, so that we know you've had a proper holiday'!

Hotels/B & B's: [All from the 'Tasmania's Temptations' brochure].
Hobart: Lenna of Hobart . Well-located hotel at Battery Point, close to swish Salamanca shops and Saturday market.  Spacious room looking towards the harbour. Plenty of towels and comfortable king-size bed with electric blankets. Kettle, tea, coffee etc. in room. Good room service (ie. available after the scheduled hours) and inexpensive breakfasts. Own restaurant, with others and cafes nearby; historic area. 
Coles Bay: Freycinet Lodge.  Superb modern main building, overlooking the sea within the National Park. Great cabins with electric heaters and a kettle, but no electric blankets. Fine restaurant and a bistro; with many activities such as wine tasting and walks. Best for 2 nights at least; more for botanists, walkers, and starry-sky watchers - or to laze with a book.

St. Helens: Warrawee B & B. Beautiful historic home in its centenary year. Rooms overlook the sea, through tall sash-windows. While not very large, ours was well appointed with matching wallpaper and curtains, good bed linen, kettle etc. and electric blankets. Full breakfasts are individually prepared and taken in an impressive dining room; when I asked for mushrooms (not shown on the menu) a choice from 3 kinds was offered!. 
Excellent local restaurant (Fidlers Brasserie), but although it's a nice coast, with good fishing and good beaches, St. Helens itself is struggling to find an identity thanks to new residential development. Inland, the forests are interspersed with dairy farms, making for attractive countryside and pleasant views.
Launceston: Hatherley House. A recent, highly publicised, art-house B & B conversion of a significant historic mansion with just 9 letting rooms, situated high above the city. However, in our opinion, it falls short of its claims. Most rooms are large, with expensive modern furnishings and vast, comfortable beds. En-suite wet-rooms are all chrome, white tiles and frosted glass; ours was like a large glass shed to one side of the bedroom, so brilliantly lit that any night-time visit is guaranteed to wake one's partner. A decent shower soaks everything; so subsequent users have to be barefoot - even to clean their teeth. Our room had no electric blankets, though there was a wall-heater. Tea-making facilities, local wines and self-serve continental breakfasts are set up in a kitchen for guests, but there is no room service. So no cuppa first thing; one is clearly expected to wait until one is ready to socialise! The comments book was full of praise, from guests whose domains were often a comment in themselves, but cheap paper napkins and no decaf. coffee said something too.

Launceston itself feels successful, with many interesting shops; we fell for Petrarch's, a bookshop that would sit well in Paddington or Glebe. Everyone went out of their way to be helpful, although a street-map is desirable to supplement the few signposts. For route maps, the best we found were by Service Tasmania; each covering a quarter of the state.

As for prices, we were happy to find all the above for under $100 per night per head. (Some rates were discounted for late booking). All with en-suites and including full breakfasts at Freycinet Lodge and Warrawee, with continental taken at the others.

And Tasmania?  Just what we hoped it would be. With Port Arthur, Richmond, Freycinet and Launceston as favourite places in retrospect, without venturing to the West at all; so no Cradle Lodge, Franklin River etc. While there's an underlying tension about forestry, it only need surface if that's something you want to understand better. Otherwise, clean air; quiet roads, tall trees, boutique wineries and long white sandy beaches will frame your memories.
If you're into craft, the many galleries and particularly the Design Centre in Launceston will bowl you over. And if you're a gardener with a hankering for real seasons, Tasmania with its roses and rhododendrons is right there - a European climate on your doorstep!
 
Hugh Sheppard
23rd November 2004