Tasmania

Monday (8th January) we arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, collected a hire car from the airport, ‘our friends’ at Bargain Car Rentals again, cheap and an easy pick up process. We had a short drive to Deloraine and stayed at the Empire Hotel in the Platypus room. We enjoyed a meal in the hotel bar while chatting with a couple of fellas from Colorado, who were planning a hike to Cradle Mountain the next day, and compared travel stories.

Tuesday, we headed towards Liffey falls for a walk, we ended up at the campsite end of the falls walk, rather than the car park closer to the falls, so we had a longer walk than originally planned. It was a great walk through the shady forest, with very few people until we got closer to the falls, similarly the return journey walk just as peaceful.

That night, after a scenic drive, we stayed at Great Lakes Hotel in Miena, we had a fisherman’s cabin which was nicely appointed in a camping style. We had shared bathroom facilities, and the cabin was equipped with a kettle, toaster and supplies for a light breakfast.

Wednesday, we visited ‘The Wall in the Wilderness” a long wooden carved wall, which we visited on our last time in Tasmania, it is now 100 metres long, it depicts the history of Tasmania and is very realistic, it looks like you could lift items off the wall, the people and animals are amazingly lifelike. Sections of the wall are left as carving in progress, from the drawing of the image to the chisel work and final sanded image. This makes it more impressive when you see the amount of work that goes into each section.

We then had a long drive, with spectacular views, around the Cradle Mountain national park to Ulverstone on the north coast. Where we stayed for 2 nights.

That evening we had a walk around the town, followed by a takeaway a pizza from Herby’s, then a ride on the swings at the local park on the way back to the hotel! It did say adults and kids allowed!

Thursday, we drove west along the north coast towards Stanley, sticking as close to the coast as the roads would allow, ranging from the National Highway 1 to unmade tracks, a scenic drive. Stanley is an old town and has featured in a couple of films, including “the Light Between Oceans”. We shared a seafood lunch in the park, as recommended by friends, watched by a crowd of gulls! They watched in vain!

On the drive back we stopped at Boat Harbour Beach, had a walk along the beach and a dip in the sea, beautiful blue clear waters. we also stopped off in Penguin. Obviously named after the visiting penguins, but we didn’t see any as they come ashore at dusk.

Friday, we headed back towards Launceston, via Frankford, Exeter and the Tamar Valley conservation area. We had to return the hire car back to the airport by 4.30pm, however we were making good time, so we actually drove past Launceston to the Woolmar Estate, a world heritage site for its connection with ‘transported convicts’. The house had been lived in by 6 generations of Thomas Archers, until the death of the 6th one, with no heir, in 1994, when the Estate passed into a trust.

Rog then dropped Nic, and all the luggage, at the ‘Balmoral on York’ hotel, before returning the car to the airport and getting the bus back to town.

We started the birthday celebrations early, Nic had booked a table at Pachinko, a Japanese fusion restaurant. On the menu they had an item called “Feed Me” which was a selection of things on the menu, and a couple of specials, a lovely way to try lots of different dishes, we also had Sake ! All very yummy.

Saturday, we walked into Cataract Gorge on the edge of Launceston up the ‘zig zag’ path, an enjoyable walk, with a bit of wildlife, birds, lizards and a wallaby, who sat on the path just ahead of us. At the end of the Gorge there is a suspension bridge, a swimming pool, a cafe and the longest single span chair lift in the world (we didn’t use it). Unfortunately one of the paths was closed due to a landslide, so after a circular walk around the gorge, and seeing one of the resident Peacocks, we retraced our steps along the zig zag path.

In the evening we had drinks at Bar Two, then dinner at Bistro on Brisbane, a French inspired Australian restaurant, we had a lovely meal to celebrate Rog’s birthday.

Sunday, after a slow start, we walked around the port area and the River Esk, had lunch and sampled the beers at Du Cane brewery.

Finished the day off with a burger at ‘Burger got Soul’ Rog had a chicken and peanut butter burger, very interesting.