7 Hobart End-of-Year Work Party Ideas That Aren't Just Dinner
Another year survived. Emails sent. Meetings attended. Someone has definitely replied-all when they shouldn't have. (Was it you??)
So, surely your end-of-year celebration deserves to be a little more exciting than sitting around a table talking to the same people you sit next to all year?
Hobart is actually a brilliant place for an end-of-year team day. Skip the boring dinner that no one actually wants to go to. You can be at a winery, on the water, hitting golf balls all without stressing about if the CEO will approve the budget!
Whether you're organising something for a team of eight or an entire workplace, here are seven Hobart end-of-year work party ideas that involve actually doing something….and may result in some fabulous content for the business social media!
1.Get Out Of Hobart For a Wine Day
Tasmania. Wine. Long lunch.
It's not exactly a hard sell.
The Coal River Valley is close enough to Hobart to make an easy day trip, with cellar doors, local produce and plenty of places to settle in for lunch.
The trick? Don't try to visit every winery in southern Tasmania before 4pm.
Choose a couple of great stops, add a long lunch and give everyone enough time to actually enjoy themselves.
And please organise transport.
Nobody wants Karen from accounts nursing one sparkling all afternoon because she drew the designated-driver short straw.
For smaller teams, a private wine tour can be built around the group. Larger teams can do the same thing with a private bus or coach, so everyone gets to come along for the ride.
A wine tour is ALWAYS a good idea!
TAKE IT TO THE RANGE!
Nothing like a bit of healthy competition between colleagues!
2. Add A Little Friendly Competition
Nothing reveals your colleagues' true personalities quite like giving them something completely meaningless to compete over.
Golf is a great option because you don't necessarily need an entire team of experienced golfers.
A driving range or casual golf activity can work as the first stop of the day before moving on to lunch, drinks or another experience.
You could also look at city challenges, team games or other competitive activities around Hobart.
Just be prepared to discover that your very quiet colleague from payroll is, in fact, terrifyingly competitive.
3. Have A Long Lunch — But Make It Part of the Day
I'm absolutely not anti-lunch.
I'm anti “the entire end-of-year event is sitting at a table for three hours.”
There is a difference.
Book the beautiful lunch. Order the wine. Eat the dessert.
But add something either side of it.
You might start with an activity in Hobart, head out to a winery for lunch and finish somewhere completely different for one last drink.
Suddenly you've created a day everyone experiences together rather than simply a restaurant reservation.
4. Get out on the water
One of Hobart's best features is sitting right in front of us: the River Derwent.
A sailing experience, private boat trip or waterfront activity gives a work group something completely different to do without necessarily travelling far from the city.
The Derwent Sailing Squadron, for example, offers corporate groups the option of combining events with an afternoon sail.
It's especially good if you have colleagues visiting from interstate because they get an experience that actually feels like Tasmania — not something they could have done in any Australian city.
5. Do something outdoors
If your team would rather be outside than anywhere near another function room, use the fact that Hobart has ridiculous amounts of nature on its doorstep.
Depending on your group, that could mean walking, mountain biking, kayaking or something considerably more adventurous.
There are Hobart operators like Tree Climb lets you climb, swing and zipline through the treetops just 10 minutes from the city. Tasmanian Mountain Bike Adventures offers private Bike or Hike experiences on kunanyi/Mt Wellington — handy when half the office wants an adventure and the other half most definitely does not. Or, for the properly adventurous, Aardvark Adventures offers everything from kayaking and abseiling to caving and white-water rafting.
You don't have to launch your finance manager down a river, obviously.
But it's an option.
6. Turn Hobart into the activity
You don't have to leave the city to do something fun with your team.
Turn Hobart itself into the playground.
Corporate Challenge Events runs Great Race and City Scramble-style experiences around Hobart, where teams race through the city completing challenges and solving clues.
If you'd rather take the competition indoors, Evolo Room Escape has corporate escape-room experiences where teams can go head-to-head and find out who is surprisingly useful under pressure.
Or forget the competition altogether and put everyone in headphones.
Off The Leash Silent Disco Walking Tours take your team through the streets of Hobart with music, dancing and a fairly rapid disappearance of everyone's dignity.
No strategy. No trust exercises. No awkward icebreakers.
Just a group of colleagues dancing through Hobart where nobody else can hear the music.
And yes, it's every bit as ridiculous as it sounds.
A Silent Disco Walking Tour is always a great way to see who the is actually the most fun in the office!
7. Build your own completely random Hobart day
This is actually my favourite option.
Stop thinking of your end-of-year event as one venue.
Think of it as a day.
You could do:
Golf → winery → long lunch
or
Activity → lunch → wine tasting
or
Winery → long lunch → Hobart → silent disco
or something completely different.
One of the best things about Hobart is how quickly you can move between the city, wineries, countryside and experiences.
And your team probably isn't identical.
Some people love wine. Some don't drink. Some want an activity. Some mostly want lunch. And there is always one person who would rather die than participate in “mandatory team building”.
A good group day doesn't need everyone to love every single component.
It just needs enough variety that everyone gets something out of it.
The best end-of-year work party might not feel like a work party at all
That's really the goal, isn't it?
You don't necessarily need speeches, matching shirts, organised games and a function room.
You need somewhere people can relax, have a laugh and spend time together without talking about work for once.
And if organising transport, venues, timings, lunch and activities sounds suspiciously like another job that's just landed on your desk — that's where I can help.
Off The Leash Tours creates private, personalised group days around Hobart and southern Tasmania, including end-of-year staff events.
Rather than choosing from a fixed itinerary, we can put together a day around your group, budget and the sort of experience you're after.
Wine. Golf. Food. Sightseeing. Games. Silent disco. Something slightly ridiculous.
I'm open to ideas.
You bring the team. I'll help work out the fun bit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some fun end-of-year work party ideas in Hobart?
Wine tours, long lunches, golf, sailing, outdoor adventures, city challenges and private group experiences are all options around Hobart. Combining two or three activities can make the day feel more like an experience than a traditional work function.
What can a small work team do in Hobart?
Small teams have plenty of options, including private tours, winery days, food and drink experiences, golf, outdoor activities and walking experiences around the city. Smaller groups also have the advantage of being able to create a more flexible itinerary.
What can larger corporate groups do in Hobart?
Larger groups can use private buses or coaches to combine several Hobart and southern Tasmania experiences in one day. Depending on group size, this could include wineries, lunch venues, sightseeing, team activities and private experiences.
Do end-of-year staff events have to include alcohol?
Definitely not. Hobart has outdoor adventures, golf, sightseeing, food experiences, team challenges, walking activities and plenty of other options that don't revolve around drinking.
Can Off The Leash Tours organise an end-of-year staff day?
Yes. Off The Leash Tours can create customised private group days around Hobart and southern Tasmania, including transport, itinerary planning, venue coordination and activities. The day can be designed around your group size, interests and budget.