Bonnie Brae Retreat

The Bark Mill is the perfect destination to stop along the East Coast, providing a diverse range of hospitality options in one venue. A scenic 1.5 hour drive from Hobart or Launceston, Swansea is close to wineries and magnificent scenery across Great Oyster Bay to the Freycinet peninsula. Swansea is the perfect location as a central spot for visiting the region. The bakery offers a deli-style dine-in menu and cakes and tarts, even our coffee is local. Wood-fired pizzas from the iconic water tank pizza oven are available for lunch and dinner. The bakery outdoor space includes a children's playground. The bar and grill, open for lunch and dinner, specialises in Tasmanian caught seafood, not your deep-fried seafood basket! The steaks are all Tasmanian and cooked to your liking on the char grill and of course all the traditional pub grub favourites. Live music on selected weekends through summer and winter. The bottle shop has a diverse range of beverages both local Tasmanian and mainstream favourites. A wide range of East Coast and Tasmanian wines are showcased on our Tasmanian wine wall. Large car park and coach parking facilities close to the entrance of the building and clean restrooms.

The East Coast Anglican church is located in the town of Swansea on Tasmania's East Coast. Offering a weekly church service at both Swansea and Triabunna and a less regular church option at Woodsdale and Bicheno. Please stay around afterwards to chat and enjoy a cuppa. The church congregation is made up of a diverse bunch of people who openly welcome visitors to the church. Singing, praying and bible reading occur as part of the regular service. Feel free to join in or just observe. Please see the link to the website for church times.

Swansea can quite rightly lay claim to being the Bream fishing capital of Tasmania. The nearby Swan River literally teems with Southern Black Bream, a renowned species that is valued highly, especially in recent years, for its sports fishing attributes. But as the knowledgeable angler knows there is far more to attract the visiting fisherman to the seaside town than just Bream. The waters of Great Oyster Bay hold many, many species of fish. The more common species encountered in the bay are Sand and Tiger Flathead, Sand Whiting, Australian Salmon, Barracouta, Arrow and Calamari Squid, Gummy and School Shark, Jackass Morwong and plenty of Wrasse. Further out in the waters around Schouten Island and beyond pelagics, including Albacore, Striped, Southern Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna are possibilities. Mako Sharks are also quite common offshore for those wishing to target them. Deep sea fishers will be able to locate stocks of Striped Trumpeter, Blue Eye Trevalla and Gemfish with a little research.