Travelways

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Make a Point of relaxing

Waves crash into the southern flank of the launch channel at Eddystone Point. Out to sea, a fishing boat slips in and out of sight as it rides the peaks and troughs. The south-easterly is making unprotected waters uncomfortable but the natural channel leading out from the boat ramp at Eddystone is calm, guarded either side by carrot-topped granite boulders. It's the warm Tuesday afternoon of last week and for a brief time our carload of four is the only human presence at Eddystone. As we don masks and swim fins, a tourist arrives and asks about the quality of snorkelling. We are about to find out.   The site is an instant hit with the kids _ my daughter and her friend, both 16, and the boy, 12. Underwater, there's a mix of  sandy bottom, rock walls and rich kelp supporting myriad life-forms. Banded morwong, magpie perch and wrasse are among the usual reef-dwelling suspects. We are even treated to a swim-by of schools of mullet and bastard trumpeter. I burrow into weed and spot an undersized crayfish as the kids hit the jackpot. There, on the sea floor in the middle of the channel, is a huge stingray, part covered in sand and seaweed. It's enormous, with a tail the thickness of a man's arm. The kids tread water above it and celebrate their sighting. A bit closer to shore, the girls find a boulder above sandy bottom and spend their time jumping in and out of the water. It's the sort of fun that a holiday on Tasmania's far north-eastern tip offers. We are a 25-minute drive from our base at Icena, near Musselroe Bay, and return for a chat with  owners Lynton and Lisa Manley, who have developed the former sheep station into a range of self-contained houses and cottages. The Manleys felt there was a need for more accommodation in the far North-East, so that those who draw the line at camping could have a comfortable base from which to explore the reserves and national parks. Nearby Eddystone is the most northerly point of the Bay of Fires, which has seen an explosion of interest since Lonely Planet named it one of the world's hottest destinations two years ago. To fill an accommodation need, Icena has been reinvented with three self-contained four-bedroom houses, a cottage and shearers' quarters.   Our conversation about activities in the area turns to "sundowners'' - meaning to savour a wildlife-laced sunset, perhaps with a cold drink, in the tradition of African safaris. We take a tour of the property and meet a family of regular visitors from Launceston, who spend the days fishing and enjoying the beach and retire to the comfort of the four-bedroom billabong house for evening barbecues. It seems idyllic. Inspired by the sundowner concept, we take the five-minute journey to Mount William National Park and head down Forester Kangaroo Drive. No prizes for guessing what we see down this road at nightfall. Dozens and dozens of 'em. Suddenly there's a commotion in the car: the driver's the last one to see a big wombat in the headlights but we brake in time to watch the squat marsupial sprint along the gravel road and disappear into the bush. We retire to platypus house. The television is switched on but a card game holds sway. We have to leave next morning but head to bed planning an early morning walk up Mount William. And a longer stay in the far North-East.