Road test: Hyundai Tucson Hybrid

One of the best things about living in Hobart is the proximity to so many wonderful family-friendly beaches, with almost every one of them being a short drive along some picturesque and uncrowded bit of coast.

It’s ideal for family day trips – it’s possible to explore a bunch of different spots in a leisurely half-day and make it home well before dark. On a bright and fresh Saturday morning we’re doing just that after packing all the essentials into the Hyundai Tucson, a medium-sized hybrid SUV really targeting the family market.

Two things immediately stand out in the Tucson entry-level N Line hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) we’re test-driving for the day: it’s roomy. Like little-legs-couldn’t-kick-our-seatbacks kind of roomy, and the boot space is huge. Plus it has a series of small but significant safety features that make for smoother transitions, such as when using phones to navigate or play music or podcasts.

The long, clear display screen running from the centre of the dash right through to behind the steering wheel is simple and easy to read, even with the sun shining in, and the ability to operate the basics of the stereo system from buttons on the steering wheel itself means you never need to take your eye off the road, your hand off the wheel or your attention from the drive. It might seem tiny, but it makes such a difference when your concentration is already split between the road before you and the busy back seat.

We have a quick potter around the Hobart docks before taking off to the north, crossing the Tasman Bridge as the Mona Roma ferry makes its way up the River Derwent. We do some plane-spotting as we pass the airport then on through Midway Point, before turning off at Sorell to head east to Dodges Ferry and Carlton then Dunalley.

When we arrive in Dodges it almost feels like we’ve entered an advertisement for the perfect family-friendly suburb: it’s buzzing in a Tassie-casual kind of way, with unaccompanied kids on bikes getting themselves ice-cream then onto the beach, living the life. We follow their lead and try Beach Bums, a one-year-old cafe opened by the same crew who dreamt up the iconic mountain cafe Lost Freight at The Springs on kunanyi/Mt Wellington.

Beach Bums, right opposite Park Beach, has a similar vibe to Lost Freight in that the coffee is excellent and the snacks delicious, though all are served with a beachier tone and a decidedly lower chance of snow. For kids and grown-up-kids alike, it’s important to note that it sells scoops of the best ice-cream in Tasmania: Van Diemens Land Creamery (that’s the one served at ‘the ice-cream boat’ at Constitution Dock).

It’s a little too early for ice-cream so we order great coffee, the best brewed soy chai I’ve had in Hobart in years, seriously good carrot cake that I will be thinking about for quite some time and cinnamon stars we recognise as coming from New Town’s brilliant Jean-Pascal Patisserie. Next time we’ll try the gluten-free fish and chips.

Park Beach is going off for the surfers, and after a little explore there we wind our way behind the beach and houses to the Carlton River wetlands, where it feels like another, quieter world behind the sand dunes with native scrub like flowering banksia, and bird life.

It’s nearly time for lunch so we take off again, really enjoying winding along Fulham Road with some pretty special river and coastal views on the way to Dunalley. The Tucson takes the corners smoothly, sending an alert anytime it notices a speed limit change or if the car verges a little too close to the white lines on either side of the lane. With so many safety features there is some beeping to get used to, but if it gets too obnoxious it’s possible to disable it with a long press of the steering wheel’s audio mute button.

The wind picks up a little as we drive through Dunalley’s mix of sweet old fisherman’s cottages and brand-new buildings that replace those lost in the devastating 2013 fires. We stop alongside the photogenic shallows of Dunalley Beach for a runaround, a kick of the ball and a picnic on the grass.