Farewell Launceston.

Another king bed to sleep in, I do like the Kings.  I’d be tempted to get one, but you have to buy everything new, Dona, sheets, pillows etc.

A delicious breakfast where they were serving amongst other things, my favorite Bircher muesli.

A very different fruit “bowl”was housing the fresh fruit.

After packing up and checking out we went down to the CBD and wandered around the shops for a while and then went to the famous Silo Hotel so TRO could have a peek.   It’s really quite amazing, but apparently was something like $7 million over budget when it was built.

Our flight home was full, and we were glad we had only an hour in such a small plane with cramped seating.     A great holiday, and we would love to return to Tasmania in the future.

Eleven double yolkers

We woke up this morning to hear talk of double yolked eggs, so jumped up quickly to find there were eleven out of the twelve eggs in the carton.  None of us had ever heard of such a thing before.   They were quickly turned into scrambled eggs for breakfast.

A very leisurely morning was enjoyed by all, before having lunch of all the leftovers from dinner at the party.  Adams cake was wonderful, three layers, all different cakes.   There was Black Forest cake, cookies and cream cake, and mud cake with raspberry filling.  It made a great dessert!

Farewell Launceston and hello Riverview.

A leisurely start to the morning, and lingering over breakfast with Blair and Julie, just enjoying the chatting and the company.   Julie took me to her over the road Neighbour, who welcomed us to look and photograph the view from her back porch.    Talk about million dollar views....

We are sad to leave, but need to go to our next venue for Adam’s 50th birthday celebration.   We were expecting to drive past the raspberry farm at Elizabeth Town, but our iPhone map did not take us that way, much to our disappointment.  Instead we were forced to have Maccas for lunch at Devonport.

Once we arrived at Riverbend, a Christian camp just out of Smithton, that Adam and his wife Wendy manage, we were shown our very comfortable accommodation.   We were sharing a large house with the senior and some junior Boags.

The celebration for Adam was great, a sit down meal in the very large dining room of the facility, and then back at the home he and the family live in.     This camp has been going for fifty years, and there had already been about ten groups in this year.   Adam and Wendy are kept busy, as they both clean at  a local school as well.

A not too late night  in a  comfy bed  in a warm house.

 warm house.

Last day in Launceston Part 2

This blog is so tricky to use, it’s continuing to drive me crazy.   I’m going to put all photos at the bottom , and you will just have to work out what they are I’m afraid.

The Gorge we visited yesterday was flooded in 2016, and one of the photos (from ABC ) will show the water outside the cafe in which we enjoyed coffee.  We guesstimate it was about 40 feet above the normal water level.   The flood was very destructive as you can imagine, and a great new children’s playground has been constructed to replace the old one.

After lunch TRO and Blair enjoyed a tour of the Boag’s brewery, while Julie and I went to Pennyroyal, and had a look around.
This is an adventure Park with a variety of  activities to enjoy.  I was a little tempted by the zip line, but managed to resist.

https://pennyroyallaunceston.com.au/

Coffee break at the Silo Hotel, which is a unique hotel that was originally four grain silos.    It’s very luxurious, and you can eat a meal there without being a guest, or enjoy a coffee as we did.

Dinner was at the casino, a very delicious Thai beef salad for me.  

A busy day for us all, so an early night was in order.

Last day in Launceston Part 1

Our last full day in Launceston began with a leisurely breakfast. Julie introduced us to steel cut oats which we had never heard of.   She cooks them up as you do for rolled oats, and eats them for breakfast.

We worked out some plans for the day, and  then set off.  Seaport was our first call, where the south and north Esk rivers meet to become the Tamar.   From the new bridge there , we could see the newly opened Silo Hotel.

On to Cararact Gorge.....a little  info from the website

Launceston Cataract Gorge & First Basin 

Launceston's own piece of wilderness just 15 minutes walk from the city centre. 

Here you'll find walking and hiking trails, the world's longest single span chairlift, swimming pool, 

restaurant, kiosk, cafe peacocks and wildlife, beautiful gardens, suspension bridge, inclinator

for easy access, Interpretation Centre and panoramic lookouts with spectacular views.

We rode the chairlift , the longest single span.
The weather was quite cold, and the wind especially so, but we enjoyed the ride across to other side.   The chairlift goes through a bank of rhododendrons , which would be magnificent when they are in flower .

Back to Launceston

Time to head back to Launceston today!  Schouten House is a bed and breakfast, so after a less than good sleep, we prepared ourselves for the day and braved the stairs to the guest dining room.   This is directly opposite the guest lounge room, just inside the front entrance hall.

Breakfast was DELICIOUS!    Baked oatmeal with poached apples, yoghurt and honey , followed by a Sarnie, a Scottish breakfast bap filled with Bacon, mushrooms, spinach,  cheese and egg, topped off with home made chutney.   Brewed coffee and home made bread toasted with homemade strawberry jam...yummy.   TRO had bacon and eggs in place of the Sarnie. 

We packed up and set off again, this time visiting the anchor memorial that commemorates the sinking of the Resolution. 

So sad to think of a Mum and  Dad losing all their six children, but such resilience to press on with life and have another five.     It’s not that far from Swansea to Launceston, and we were here by around midday.   Julie and Blair gave us a warm welcome, and a delicious soup and toast lunch.  we spent a nice quiet and relaxing afternoon afternoon , watching football and reading, chatting etc.   

After breakfast, packing up our things, and having a chat to the owners of our accommodation (incidentally, it’s on the market for $895,000) we set off to visit the information center to get a map or two.
The very helpful lady pointed us on the way, and told us that as we were seniors, we would not have to pay the usual $24 for entry to the National Parks.

Our first stop was the

where we enjoyed our morning coffee.   Moving onto Coles Bay where the views are lovely and there is more red lichen on the rocks.    We drove into the Freycinet National Park, where the visitors center was extremely busy with lots of young fit people buying passes.   Most of them seemed to be prepared to do the 45 minute one-way walk to the lookout overlooking Wine Glass Bay, but that was beyond us.  We were content to do the Cape Tourville Walk, which was much shorter , and rewarded us with some magnificent views.

We drove onto Swansea, and found our accommodation for the night, Schouten House.  This is a traditional bed and breakfast, built in 1844, and listed as a building of historical significance with the National Trust and Tasmanian Heritage Register.  It was one of the first built in Swansea, originally as an inn.  Our room is on the first floor, and the stairs are steep and narrow and not easy to negotiate.  

After settling in, we went to the town and enjoyed both the military museum and the historical museum. Whilst we were there , I found this information about Thomas Large, who actually had been living at  Schouten  House prior prior to this tragedy. 

Dinner was the seafood chowder we had seen on lots of menus, it was delicious, and the restaurant by the name of Saltshakers that we ate at,  was so busy they were turning away customers.   

Blogger driving me crazy

Its driving me nutty, it’s so hard to use!  There was an app, but they have deleted it, so I’m using the webpage which  is definitely user unfriendly.   That may be because I’m putting photos in, they seem to be the stumbling block.

To continue.....after our lobster lunch, we checked into our studio apartment , one bedroom, with a kitchen, lounge etc.  it was very comfortable, and came with electric blankets on the bed.  I had a little Nanna nap before we set off again.  

Then we headed off to the local blow hole, where again, there are lots of rocks covered with the red/orange lichen.   The blow hole blew for us, although not as lot as the tide was low. 

We decided to eat at out unit, so purchased some ravioli at the local IGA, and went back for the night.

Expensive Cherries

A crisp morning in St Helens, with the promise of good weather.  After breakfast we made our way down to the town, and enjoyed coffee overlooking the bay.

We headed off towards Bicheno, our next overnight stop.     We visited a fruit farm along the way, but it was too late in the season to enjoy any of their fruit.  On chatting with the owner, we discovered that some cherry farmers in Tasmania sell their cherries for $150-200 per KG to Asia!   I think I paid $15 a KG in Harcourt when a friend and myself went self picking in the season.
Our next stop along the way was Shelley Beach, where I was pleased to visit the environmentally friendly composting toilet.   Frank just called it a thunder box.

Shelley beach was a long stretch of beach with a young lad trying to catch a wave, unsuccessfully though.

Once we reached Bicheno, we looked around for a lunch venue, and found the Lobster Shack, where we enjoyed a lobster roll and chips 

Traveling to Tasmania

Although we have taken a few very short trips in the last couple of years, it’s not until now that I have wanted to use this blog again to record our travels, so here goes....

After almost no sleep, due to concern of missing the alarm , I arose at 4.15 to start the day.  A quick cuppa and breakfast, and we were off to the airport to fly to Launceston.
As we flew over the country in Tasmania,  I was struck by how green it looked from the air , after months of seeing nothing but brown in our home town.

Once we we were driving  towards our destination of St Helens, on the East Coast, I began to appreciate just how green and lush everything looked.   The green countryside is as calming and refreshing as the ocean I think.

After lunch at a very busy bakery In Scottsdale, we stopped at a great antique, jewelry, book, curio and clothing store in the middle of nowhere.

After reaching St Helens, and booking into our unit, we set off to the Bay of Fires, so called because of the red lichen on the rocks.  Although the sun was not shining on arrival, it did peek through the clouds enough to enable a couple of nice pics. 

We walked through a playground on our way to one beach, these rules were applicable...the mind boggles, whatever happened to parents having a little common sense? 

Fish and chips for dinner, along with a hamburger.

Testing

    There are new bits and pieces going with Blogger so this simply a test to see how it might be working for me .