'I started 2025 with a three-day hike in Tasmania. Here's what I wasn't expecting.'

Thanks to our brand partner, Tasmanian Walking Company

Writer and activist Rebecca Solnit once said, "Thinking is generally thought of as doing nothing in a production-oriented culture, and doing nothing is hard to do. It's best done by disguising it as doing something, and the something closest to doing nothing is walking."

One of the best thinkers I know is my mum. And all that woman does is bloody walk.

So, as we neared the end of 2024, I found myself fantasising about setting my phone on fire, auto-replying to all my emails with "GO AWAY" and deleting the passive-aggressive app that reminds me of what's left on my to-do list. And then I thought, you know what I need? A walk.

And you know who'd love to come? The owner of the most defined calves in Australia, my mum.

For the last 18 months, my mother has been helping with childcare. Not just with my baby, but with my twin sisters'. What a treat, we thought. A girls' trip, just the three of us. But we had some conditions.

Ahem. 

• I'm not carrying a tent on my back — no one can make me.

• I'm sleeping in a bed. A proper one. With sheets and a pillow. 

• A hot shower. Obviously.

• Food. Someone else is making it. 

• Wine. Would also be lovely. 

You see, just because I felt like a walk doesn't mean I'm not an exceptionally lazy person.

My sister and I have a whole community of lazy girls who write in with their stories of times they shocked themselves with their own laziness. That's where the Tasmanian Walking Company comes in.

With 38 years in the business, these guys are the experts known for providing eco-certified, award-winning multi-day guided walks all across Australia.

We booked to go on their Bruny Island Long Weekend trip. Three days of walking, two nights in their private eco camp. A lazy girl hike, if you will. Here's how it went. 

We stayed the night in Hobart before meeting our group at a cafe for introductions, but most importantly, coffee. There were nine of us — the eldest was in her 80s, the youngest in her early 30s and two guides.

We set off on a private boat to the island. I liked the guides immediately when they stopped to point out the high school Princess Mary went to. These, I thought, are my people. 

Image: Supplied.

Once we arrived, we were each given very fancy lunchboxes before embarking on our first walk along the east coast of Bruny Island. In our backpacks was just a water bottle, sunscreen and lunch, with the bus carrying the rest of our stuff.

A friend told me before we left that you'll never breathe air as fresh as on Bruny, and I immediately knew what she meant.

The landscape was wild and rugged, and Clare and I spent most of the walk discussing a) how outdoorsy we were and b) how we were living off the land (we ate a single berry picked by our guide). 

What we actually had for lunch was quiche, a cookie and a ridiculously good salad, with hot tea and coffee provided. Now that is hiking.

On our way back down we saw a sleeping echidna (vibe) and discussed how much we now had in common with Bear Grylls, before making it to the iconic Cape Queen Elizabeth arch. 

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At this point we should note that the fittest person on the tour, without a doubt, was the woman in her 80s. There was not a place in the world she hadn't hiked, and speaking to her was more interesting than any podcast interview I've listened to. 

Once we'd completed the day's walking, which was about 12 kilometres, it was important we went foraging for dinner. And by that I mean, our guides drove us to Great Bay and shucked oysters literally straight out of the water. Somehow we also manifested lemons and again, we were struck by how much we had in common with Bear Grylls. 

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By the time we got to camp it was nearly sunset, and it looked like something out of a fairytale. There were a dozen pademelons, an animal I'd never heard of before, hopping around the campsite, showing us to the hot showers, the curated dining and lounge area and our "tents".

My kind of sleeping bag is a bed with white linen sheets and a pillow. Perfection. 

Image: Supplied.

The dining house was warmed by a fire, and we drank champagne with a cheeseboard before starting on our three course dinner. This wasn't… sausages, burnt marshmallows or baked beans. Oh no. The menu looked more like this.

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I can't speak highly enough of the food — it was restaurant quality, and the wine, just like the food, is all sourced locally.

Any waste (there was virtually none) was composted, which was just another way in which the Tasmanian Walking Company (literally an award-winning eco-tourism business) offered the most sustainable and eco-friendly trip possible.

Then, it was bedtime. And all three of us slept better than we had in months… maybe years. We were awoken by some knocking on the side of our tent by a particularly friendly pademelon, but I politely declined to get up yet, and rolled over and got a few more hours' sleep before emerging for a hot breakfast. 

Day two was set to be five to six hours of walking, along East Cloudy Head which looks out onto the Southern Ocean. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful walk I've ever done.

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And if you think the three of us would run out of things to talk about over a 14 kilometre walk, you would be very, very wrong.

We asked the guides about snakes and the history of the island and if we're allowed to eat this tomato looking thing (no). The sun came out and everyone swam at Cloudy Bay Beach after hours of hiking, and then we, for a little bit, fell asleep on the sand afterwards.

You know who didn't fall asleep? The woman in her 80s. She was ploughing back along the beach. 

Back at camp, we had our champagnes in the shower, because we are very outdoorsy and adventurous. It literally looked like something out of a meditation app.

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The whole point of their tours is to make our footprints light on the natural environment, and that was felt in every decision they made. 

The communal spaces, including the dining area, are all designed to be completely off-grid and to have as little impact on the surrounding environment as possible.

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Day three started with bacon, eggs, mushrooms and veggies, better than you'd get in a cafe. We farewelled our new friends, the pademelons and made our way to the highest point on Bruny Island, Mount Mangana, through a rainforest.

I expected on day three of a hike I'd be sore and whinging, but we all actually felt… great. The walks, through varied terrain, were satisfying but never uncomfortable, meaning the trip would be appropriate for most fitness levels. 

By the time we got to The Jetty Cafe, the lunch that marked the end of our long weekend on Bruny Island, it was as though I'd known these 11 people for years. There's something about walking, your head down, phone away, the quiet of a rainforest, that seems to fast track connections.

There had been silence and chatter, and the meditative nature of putting one foot in front of the other had been incredibly calming and restorative. 

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It had been a long time since just Mum, Clare and I had spent quality time together, especially since having our babies. The weekend gave us all space to breathe and reflect, and by the time we got back on the boat to Hobart, we were desperate to be reunited with our little girls. 

Last year, I learned a lot about different types of "rest": physical, creative, spiritual, sensory and mental. And rest rarely just means sleep. Our Bruny Island Long Weekend somehow provided all types of rest, not to mention the lack of work involved in organising it, given everything from food to accommodation was included.

We got off the boat in Hobart refreshed and reinvigorated, ready to go into 2025 with more clarity than we'd had in a long time. 

You know those people who insist that nature and physical activity are really good for you?

Turns out, they might just be onto something.

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Feature Image: Supplied.

The Tasmanian Walking Company invites you to experience an unforgettable Long Weekend on Bruny Island. Nestled off Tasmania's coast, Bruny Island boasts some of the most breathtaking landscapes, native wildlife and is paired with an abundance of fresh, local produce. Led by expert guides and rooted in a commitment to sustainable tourism, our journey is designed to help you reconnect with nature and find your sense of balance. Explore our other remarkable walking adventures across Tasmania's East Coast, the Overland Track, the Great Ocean Walk, the Three Capes Track, and the Larapinta Trail. Unwind, explore, and return feeling refreshed.