Corinna Wilderness Resort

There’s a magic moment experienced by every visitor to Corinna. After driving along narrowing gravel roads through rapidly encroaching bush without a soul anywhere in sight, you round a bend to find a tiny, picturesque settlement in the middle of a rainforest, on the banks of a wide, languid river.

Every building in this clearing is part of Corinna Wilderness Resort. The place feels more Amazonian village than Australian town, with the Pieman River washing over its feet and the “Fatman” barge – the only way to get there from the south – adding to the isolation and retaining the town’s frontier feel.

The resort has 20 self-contained cabins ranging from one bedroom to the multi-family Old Pub cabin, which sleeps up to eight. This rustic relic is now decked out in comfort, with gas cooking and a spacious kitchen and bathroom. But it still retains its atmosphere of yesteryear, with original sagging ceiling and creaking floorboards.

The Tanin Restaurant and Arhberg Bar (inside the Tarkine Hotel) also serve as booking office for kayaking the Pieman. Visitors can hire single and double kayaks for a self-guided, sedate and safe adventure down to the Savage River. There’s also the cruise aboard the historic Arcadia II to the river mouth at Pieman Heads, which runs daily at 10am. The restaurant serves city-quality meals plus Tasmanian beers and wine.