Latest news with #Bennetts
The Age
20-05-2025
- The Age
Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, things to do: Seven highlights
It's one road in and one road out of Freycinet National Park, and that road will take you straight past Freycinet Marine Farm. Owned by Julia and Giles Fisher, this no-frills, order-at-the-counter affair serves up homegrown Pacific oysters, overflowing bowls of exceptional Tasmanian blue mussels and bright orange prawns on plastic trays. The seating is rustic, the service is quick and the oysters – creamy, succulent and lightly oceanic – are unforgettable. See 4 Seal sightings and noisy Nuggets Meet the locals … Australian fur seals congregate along the coast. Credit: Tourism Tasmania/Bodhi Images Once you've done the very comfortable walk up to Cape Tourville (pausing to look down at the whale size scale on the sealed path), cast your eyes off to the horizon until you find The Nuggets, a group of small granite formations, some just 300 metres from the cliffside. If you're lucky, you'll spot Freycinet's happiest, laziest residents: seals who stake claim to these rocks for all-day tanning and napping. Their more lively (and loud!) antics are worth a watch. 5 Scoops and seabound excursions Hit the water with Wineglass Bay Cruises. Credit: Tourism Australia Technically just before you start your journey into Freycinet National Park, the community of Coles Bay enjoys uninterrupted views of the park's best features and shares the area's pristine waterways (and local wildlife). It's also packed with exceptional Airbnbs and the well-appointed, family-friendly BIG4 Iluka on Freycinet Holiday Park ( Wander the level foreshore track and pause at local favourite Ice Creamery & Co ( for a boysenberry scoop, before booking tickets for a day on the water with Wineglass Bay Cruises ( to explore coves via catamaran on a leisurely four-hour, fully catered trip. 6 Scenery from beyond the tracks Kayak the region's many sparkling bays on a tour with Freycinet Adventures. Credit: Tourism Australia BYO standup paddleboards or kayaks and set out for a paddle in Freycinet's many sparkling bays. If you're not bringing your own equipment, Coles Bay's Freycinet Adventures ( does a three-hour family-friendly kayaking tour and Freycinet Paddle Boards Outdoor Hire ( hires paddleboards, surfboards, boogie boards, fishing rods, camping gear and more. Freycinet's waterways make for idyllic snorkelling (especially the sheltered Sleepy Bay pocket) and the Freycinet Walk and Cycle Track is a gentle cycle through bushland and eucalypt forest not visible by car. The Freycinet National Park Visitor Centre runs guided walking tours. Credit: Tourism Australia Loading Freycinet is home to hundreds of species of bird, mammal, insect and off-the-coastline marine life. Forty-three species are native and seven are endemic to Tasmania, so if you spot red-necked wallabies (Bennetts), eastern quolls or red-bellied pademelons, you're meeting the locals. The park is home to 600 native species of plants, too, including 50 plant species endemic to the state. If you're visiting in December and January, head to the visitor centre for a guided tour, part of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Discovery Ranger program. The writer travelled at her own expense.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
There's more to this national park than its famed white-sand bay
It's one road in and one road out of Freycinet National Park, and that road will take you straight past Freycinet Marine Farm. Owned by Julia and Giles Fisher, this no-frills, order-at-the-counter affair serves up homegrown Pacific oysters, overflowing bowls of exceptional Tasmanian blue mussels and bright orange prawns on plastic trays. The seating is rustic, the service is quick and the oysters – creamy, succulent and lightly oceanic – are unforgettable. See 4 Seal sightings and noisy Nuggets Once you've done the very comfortable walk up to Cape Tourville (pausing to look down at the whale size scale on the sealed path), cast your eyes off to the horizon until you find The Nuggets, a group of small granite formations, some just 300 metres from the cliffside. If you're lucky, you'll spot Freycinet's happiest, laziest residents: seals who stake claim to these rocks for all-day tanning and napping. Their more lively (and loud!) antics are worth a watch. 5 Scoops and seabound excursions Technically just before you start your journey into Freycinet National Park, the community of Coles Bay enjoys uninterrupted views of the park's best features and shares the area's pristine waterways (and local wildlife). It's also packed with exceptional Airbnbs and the well-appointed, family-friendly BIG4 Iluka on Freycinet Holiday Park ( Wander the level foreshore track and pause at local favourite Ice Creamery & Co ( for a boysenberry scoop, before booking tickets for a day on the water with Wineglass Bay Cruises ( to explore coves via catamaran on a leisurely four-hour, fully catered trip. 6 Scenery from beyond the tracks BYO standup paddleboards or kayaks and set out for a paddle in Freycinet's many sparkling bays. If you're not bringing your own equipment, Coles Bay's Freycinet Adventures ( does a three-hour family-friendly kayaking tour and Freycinet Paddle Boards Outdoor Hire ( hires paddleboards, surfboards, boogie boards, fishing rods, camping gear and more. Freycinet's waterways make for idyllic snorkelling (especially the sheltered Sleepy Bay pocket) and the Freycinet Walk and Cycle Track is a gentle cycle through bushland and eucalypt forest not visible by car. 7 Locals exposure Loading Freycinet is home to hundreds of species of bird, mammal, insect and off-the-coastline marine life. Forty-three species are native and seven are endemic to Tasmania, so if you spot red-necked wallabies (Bennetts), eastern quolls or red-bellied pademelons, you're meeting the locals. The park is home to 600 native species of plants, too, including 50 plant species endemic to the state. If you're visiting in December and January, head to the visitor centre for a guided tour, part of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Discovery Ranger program.
The Age
19-05-2025
- The Age
There's more to this national park than its famed white-sand bay
It's one road in and one road out of Freycinet National Park, and that road will take you straight past Freycinet Marine Farm. Owned by Julia and Giles Fisher, this no-frills, order-at-the-counter affair serves up homegrown Pacific oysters, overflowing bowls of exceptional Tasmanian blue mussels and bright orange prawns on plastic trays. The seating is rustic, the service is quick and the oysters – creamy, succulent and lightly oceanic – are unforgettable. See 4 Seal sightings and noisy Nuggets Once you've done the very comfortable walk up to Cape Tourville (pausing to look down at the whale size scale on the sealed path), cast your eyes off to the horizon until you find The Nuggets, a group of small granite formations, some just 300 metres from the cliffside. If you're lucky, you'll spot Freycinet's happiest, laziest residents: seals who stake claim to these rocks for all-day tanning and napping. Their more lively (and loud!) antics are worth a watch. 5 Scoops and seabound excursions Technically just before you start your journey into Freycinet National Park, the community of Coles Bay enjoys uninterrupted views of the park's best features and shares the area's pristine waterways (and local wildlife). It's also packed with exceptional Airbnbs and the well-appointed, family-friendly BIG4 Iluka on Freycinet Holiday Park ( Wander the level foreshore track and pause at local favourite Ice Creamery & Co ( for a boysenberry scoop, before booking tickets for a day on the water with Wineglass Bay Cruises ( to explore coves via catamaran on a leisurely four-hour, fully catered trip. 6 Scenery from beyond the tracks BYO standup paddleboards or kayaks and set out for a paddle in Freycinet's many sparkling bays. If you're not bringing your own equipment, Coles Bay's Freycinet Adventures ( does a three-hour family-friendly kayaking tour and Freycinet Paddle Boards Outdoor Hire ( hires paddleboards, surfboards, boogie boards, fishing rods, camping gear and more. Freycinet's waterways make for idyllic snorkelling (especially the sheltered Sleepy Bay pocket) and the Freycinet Walk and Cycle Track is a gentle cycle through bushland and eucalypt forest not visible by car. 7 Locals exposure Loading Freycinet is home to hundreds of species of bird, mammal, insect and off-the-coastline marine life. Forty-three species are native and seven are endemic to Tasmania, so if you spot red-necked wallabies (Bennetts), eastern quolls or red-bellied pademelons, you're meeting the locals. The park is home to 600 native species of plants, too, including 50 plant species endemic to the state. If you're visiting in December and January, head to the visitor centre for a guided tour, part of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Discovery Ranger program.
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
City to Country: Barleycove or Sandymount, Kilgarvan or Kilmacrennan
Pretty and redbrick on the outside and attractively modern on the inside, No 21 Seafort Villas, Sandymount in Dublin 4 is newly arrived on the market with a guide of €675,000. A two bed-mid terrace house in a row of gable fronted 1920s built cottages, it has just 64 sq metres of accommodation - but the previous owners who remodelled and extended it maximised the use of all available space. The ground floor is entirely given over to a long open plan kitchen/dining/sitting room which has a kitchen area with sleek white high gloss handleless units at the front and a living space at the rear with almost full wall width and height set of sliding patio doors. The upstairs has a modern tiled bathroom and two bedrooms – including one at the front and an extended one at the rear with a large window and an en suite. Ger O'Callaghan of Bennetts auctioneers says the location, in the heart of Sandymount in Dublin 4, is a huge selling point. 'It's close to shops, boutiques, restaurants and Sandymount Green and is within strolling distance of both Sandymount Dart station and beach.' Interestingly the most recent sale in Seafort Villas is of this one, which was bought by current owners for €710,000 in May last year. VERDICT: Attractively renovated properties in this part of Dublin are always in high demand. Barleycove, West Cork €595,000 Size 111 sq m ( 1,200 sq ft) Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 BER C1 An elevated site with views of the Atlantic, the rugged hills and coastline of Mizen and the sand dunes of Barleycove Beach makes this renovated West Cork farmhouse very desirable as a holiday home. 'We expect interest from city buyers as well as UK and US ones – we are seeing a lot of American buyers now,'' says Colm Cleary of James Lyons O'Keeffe. Guiding at €595,000, it's a traditional 1900s built property which has been sympathetically upgraded and extended by the current owner who uses it as a holiday home. A characterful two-bed farmhouse, it now has 111 sq meter of living space and a walled patio overlooking Barleycove. During renovations the owner built out the roof to cover a spacious rear extension with a fully glazed wall. This provided space for a tiled kitchen/diner/living room as well as a modern tiled bathroom. In the older part of the cottage there's a traditional style sitting room with timber flooring, a stone fireplace and a staircase leading to the upstairs which has two bedrooms including one en suite. Occupying a sloping site of around an acre, the cottage is accessed through a traditional farm gate on a narrow boreen. Located at Dough within a few hundred metres from the sands of Barleycove beach, it's six km from Goleen village and four km from Crookhaven. VERDICT: The type of scenic coastal West Cork property that would be in demand even if it hadn't been so attractively renovated. Kilgarvan, Co Kerry €385,000 Size 109 sq m (1,177 sq ft) Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 3 BER C1 Since all the hard work has already been done at Fuschia Cottage in Kilgarvan, new owners could spend their time relaxing under the pergola, lounging on the decked terrace or admiring the mountain views from the sunroom. Current owners did a very comprehensive job of renovating the 1960s built three-bed farmhouse style property in 2015. Doing 'everything', Tadhg O'Sullivan of DNG O'Sullivan explains, involved replacing external doors, kitchen units, bathroom fittings and floors as well as fitting a new wastewater system and replumbing. Internally insulated, the house now has a C1 BER. Remodelling and reroofing the sunroom and building a balcony, the very busy owners enclosed sections of their 1.16 acres of gardens with picket fencing and created raised vegetable beds. They also planted a shrub garden and put a seat under the pergola, where hopefully they got to relax. Quoting a guide of €385,000, Mr O'Sullivan says that Fuschia Cottage is traditional, charming, very well modernised and meticulously maintained. Offering 109 sq metres of living space, it has a kitchen/diner, a living room, a sunroom, a guest WC and a utility as well as a bathroom and three bedrooms including one en suite( put in by the owners). The location at Lomanagh, three km from Kilgarvan and 14 km from Kenmare, is tranquil and very picturesque, says Mr O'Sullivan, seeking offers of € 385,000. VERDICT: Idyllic for a retired couple who want to relax and enjoy life but might also be appreciated by a young couple looking for space for a family. Kilmacrennan, Co Donegal €499,000 Size 157 sq m Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 4 BER B2 Less traditional options for rural living include this strikingly stylish architect designed ''upside down'' house at Leiter, Kilmacrennan, ten km from Letterkenny. Built by its owners in 2013, its design includes a spacious first floor living area with large windows framing views of Muckish Mountain in the distance, a decked glass balustraded balcony and a sleek open tread glass staircase. The spacious ( 157 sq metre) five-bed home is on the market with Kiara Rainey of Rainey Estate agents who says it has a luxury, high end finish. 'Fitted with aluclad triple glazed windows and an air to water heat pump, it has a B2 BER rating,' she reveals quoting a guide of €499,000. The ground floor has a small utility, a bathroom and four bedrooms, two en suite, including one used as a gym and another as a home office. The upstairs level has a generously sized kitchen/dining/living room with a vaulted ceiling, a full height stone fireplace with a stove, windows on three sides and a well equipped kitchen with classic style white units. There's also a spacious master bedroom which has a contemporary en suite bathroom with a high end rolltop bath, positioned to offer its user panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. Situated on a site of over half an acre, the house has a decked veranda, a gravelled courtyard and an expanse of lawn. Located ten km from Letterkenny, it's 25 km from Derry. VERDICT: A distinctive, ultra modern country home.
BBC News
17-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
World War Two medals reunited with family after Facebook appeal
A Cornish antique dealer has handed over a set of World War Two medals to the family of the man who earned Bennetts from Wadebridge bought the set online and spotted the name JB Earl on the rim of one medal but had no idea where the mystery soldier came he put a post about the mystery set on a local Facebook page, a friend of the Earl family in St Austell got in Earl, the son of the late Major James Burton Earl, said he was "touched" by the gesture to give the medals to him for free. Major James Burton Earl served in the Territorial Army as a gunner based in Cornwall, he then served in Normandy after D-Day as the Allies pushed through the war, he worked for his wife Beryl's business, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler called Stephens and Pope in St Austell. Medal dealer Mr Bennetts, 61, said he could have sold the medals for around £300 but decided to give them to the Earl family for said: "We shouldn't be making money out of them, they are his father's medals, he served and they belong to the family, so really money isn't an issue."David Earl, 82, from St Austell, said: "I'm so very touched by this gesture... my father had some financial problems later in life and sold the medals, so to have them returned has really touched me." Mr Bennetts bought the medals from a dealer in said: "Most service medals do not have a name but the set included a Territorial Efficiency Medal, they have a service number and a surname to help to identify the recipient."He added: "It's really nice to repatriate these medals during David's lifetime but it's really rare to be able to find the family and return them."
