Another favourite spot is the former goldmining town of Corinna in Tasmania’s north-west, accessed by barge across the Pieman River.

“The place is spectacular,” she gushes. “Corinna is like a one-pub town – not even a town, it’s one pub with all these old huts – and if there’s anywhere in Tasmania where the Tasmanian tiger exists, it is around there. You just feel enveloped by Tasmanian wildlife and wilderness.”

Similarly, Binalong Bay on the north-east coast is another spot where Maddie says the family are simply happy.

“It’s one of the most delightful parts of the world,” she says. “The kids look at rock pools and jump on rocks and discover shark eggs, and you see these amazing sunsets and sunrises. 

“I think just by virtue of having no reception, you look up and out and are more observant.”

Daniel Sih is an award-winning author of books including Raising Tech-Healthy Humans, a TEDx speaker and a productivity expert. He co-hosts the Spacemakers podcast and, along with his wife Kylie, is raising three teenagers in southern Tasmania.

Like many of us, he spends most of his working hours interacting with technology in various ways and says that holidays should give us a break.

“We are on the internet for, on average, 9.4 hours a day: that’s an enormous neuroplastic load on the brain,” he says.

Disconnecting from screens and devices regularly is good for our brains, he says. It’s also good for strengthening connections with people we love.

“The three benefits I see with unplugging are deep rest, deep thought and deeper relationships.  I’m not anti-tech, but I think it’s super important and helpful to be able to reconnect.

“We talk about disconnecting to reconnect with people face to face, where we’re fully present, where we are listening and making eye contact, even being a bit bored together. I think disconnecting allows you to slow down, rest together and communicate.”

“We talk about disconnecting to reconnect with people face to face, where we’re fully present, where we are listening and making eye contact, even being a bit bored together. I think disconnecting allows you to slow down, rest together and communicate.”

When it comes to the impact of excessive tech use on children, teenagers and families, Daniel says kids are missing out on valuable experiences: “Riding bikes, climbing trees, playing music, spending time with friends, playing board games, doing jobs, creative arts – it all basically reduces in exchange for the phone.”

Tasmania is an ideal travel destination for those wanting to escape the relentlessness of digital life, but Daniel says it’s getting harder to find places with absolutely no coverage or access. His family holidays twice a year at Piccaninny Point above Bicheno, which used to have no coverage – until a tower was built.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t have internet-free or internet-reduced holidays,” he says. “I just leave my phone in my car. If we go bushwalking together, I’ll turn it off and I’ll keep it in the bag, just in case I need reception for safety. If I’m going to the shops, I’ll use my phone to purchase stuff, but then I’ll put my phone away in the car again.”

It requires a certain level of self-discipline to keep phone use to a minimum, he says – but it’s worth doing.

“I think as families go away and unplug, we’re broadening the experiences of our family’s life again. And why bother going on holidays if you’re not going to do that?”