A tiny Tasmania town has transformed from sleepy to buzzing

There’s a small stretch of Bicheno, on Tasmania’s east coast, known as The Gulch. It’s actually a natural breakwater, where a strip of rock they call Governor Island shelters the shores from the surf of the Tasman Sea.

Governor Island hosts Tasmania’s largest colony of crested terns, who settle in and safely breed there between August and March. Just across the water from the terns, and the occasional lazy-looking seal, The Gulch hosts the spirit, or maybe the spirits, of the town.

In what was once an oyster hatchery is now something that looks like an oversized science project, with gleaming pipes and shiny vats and timber casks aplenty. This is the home of Waubs Harbour Whisky, the venture of brothers Rob and Tim Polmear and Tim’s partner, Bec.

“When Tim and Rob and I started looking at making our own whisky, we really wanted to make a maritime whisky,” Bec Polmear says. “Back in 2017-18, there wasn’t a Tasmanian maritime whisky as such, yet it had been proven in Scotland that whiskies matured by the ocean are full of character.

“So we wanted to bring that to life in Tasmania and our climate is perfect for it. This building had been vacant for a few years so we approached them and said, ‘What are you doing with this building? It’s right on the ocean, it’s incredible.’

“So we bought that off them in 2018 and spent the next few years renovating, and building and installing all the new equipment. Fast forward to – what, eight years on now – and we get to make whisky and share it with guests every day. It’s pretty awesome.”

There’s a lot of local content – the stills are Tasmanian-made and the grain comes from Oatlands, but the casks the whisky matures in travels a bit further – bourbon barrels from the US and from mainland Australia, former sherry and tawny port barrels. “All the colour and a fair amount of the flavour comes from the cask,” Bec Polmear says. “That’s why we use different casks in different releases, it brings these beautiful different influences to our spirit.”

There are ever more spirits at work. Elsewhere in Bicheno, author and journalist Hilary Burden runs a tiny distillery to create the fragrances of Undersong Perfumery.

By her own admission, this was an accidental adventure. She had a background in women’s magazines and had explored the scent scene, particularly in its French stronghold. “Why couldn’t we create a southern hemisphere perfume?” she thought.

So she set about creating some, distilling aromatics gathered in Tasmania and creating a “library of botanical waters”. So far, there are two fragrances – Gondwana and Spring – with a third on the way for summer.

And then there’s the spirit in the sky. They call themselves “Beamers”, an all-volunteer community group behind a laser light show to stir up some off-season activity in the town.

It runs each night in a local park in the winter school holidays, they create two different shows, to run on alternate nights “so you can come two nights running and see a different show, but people come anyway,” says Beamer Karen Phillips.

It works – their studies show about 12,000 people attend the shows, adding about $1 million to local economic activity.

It’s a sophisticated production – created by Genius Laser Technology, known for lighting up the Sydney Opera House, among other venues.

What if it’s raining? “Even better”, says Phillips, “we get impact from the smoke machines, but with rain it’s a whole other light show.”

Remember the whisky casks? This town is full of connections. Brewer Tom Spyker, of the Bicheno Beer Co, has a range of regular brews but also collaborates with Waubs Harbour Whisky, taking a whisky barrel and filling it with his Imperial Stout.

“So their stout has been whisky-influenced,” Bec Polmear says, “and then they’ll empty their stout and give the barrel back to us, and we’ll mature whisky in that again. So then our whisky has had the stout influence.”

The Beer Co opened its brewery to customers earlier this year, with open fires and open spaces and a food van, in behind Bicheno’s main shopping strip.

And close to the Beer Co is the restaurant, Le Coq Bicheno, where French-born chef Tristan Punelle applies the techniques of his country of origin to the wonderful fresh produce of his adopted home, Tasmania.

What’s it like living here? “We’ve been here for about eight years now, and it has changed so much,” says Bec Polmear. “There are so many young families, so many new people coming in with energy and creating cool businesses and cafes and beautiful food and produce and wines.”

Outside the hectic summer, it is still a small seaside town at heart. “The people who live here are very like-minded, love the outdoors. We go fishing, we go to the beach, we go bushwalking – all the simple luxuries of life. It’s a pretty good life really – a beautiful community and everyone has been incredibly supportive. We love it.”

The details

Ferry/drive
Bicheno is about a three-hour drive from Devonport, where the Spirit of Tasmania car and passenger ferries land. See spiritoftasmania.com.au

Scent
Undersong fragrances are available at Little Bay Collective, 69 Burgess Street (8.30am to 2pm Wednesday to Sunday, it’s also a stop for excellent pastries). For other stockists and olfactory tours to see native botanicals in their natural environment, view a live distillation and learn about perfume, see undersong.com.au

Eat + drink
Waubs Harbour Whisky tour and tasting ($70) or tasting only ($40) Monday to Saturday; bookings essential. See waubsharbourwhisky.com
Bicheno Beer Co is at 57D Burgess Street (down the lane beside the bakery) it opens on Friday and Saturday from 2pm to 9pm and Sunday 12pm to 5pm. See bichenobeer.com.au
Le Coq Bicheno is at 57A Burgess Street and opens for dinner Tuesday to Saturday. See lecoqbicheno.com

Beams
Bicheno Beams is a winter event held at Bicheno Lions Park; entry is free. In 2026, it’ll run from 6.30pm nightly from Saturday, June 27 to Saturday, July 18. See bichenobeams.com

The writer was a guest of the Bicheno Community Development Association, the Spirit of Tasmania and Tourism Tasmania. See discovertasmania.com.au

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