Launceston – Travels with Ali

Touring Tasmania – River Tamar Wineries

It was Maddy’s Birthday today and a day out at the River Tamar Wineries was on the itinerary. After letting them have a bit of a lie in from their late night, we set off around 11 am. We took the West Tamar Highway and our first stop was Grindelwald. From the name you can would be correct in thinking it was modelled on a Swiss village. Built in 1989 by Roelf Vos, a Dutch immigrant to Tasmania, for his wife after they visited Switzerland. The story is that she loved Switzerland so much the he built a village just for her!

As you can see the weather has cleared up beautifully.

There is a hotel here and a few activities for kids around. It’s very quaint but I don’t think I could spend a night here.

Our next stop was Marion’s Vineyard, established in 1979 by a Cypriot and Californinan couple with stunning views across the Tamar. There is no restaurant here but there is a beautiful area to enjoy a bottle of wine and a cheese platter. As we had reservations for lunch elsewhere we just did the wine tasting. If you buy a bottle the tasting is free. We had acquired quite a taste for Tasmanian wine so we did buy a few bottles between us.

It was such an interesting winery with lots of quirky decor in a taverna type setting.

This painting was on the wall inside the bar area and I just loved it. Can you recognise all these characters? Hubby knew them all of course, Laurence and Maddy had no idea, I knew most.

A stained glass image of the barn at night. The barn is pictured in the featured image.

The essential rusty tool exhibit, all Australian wineries have one!

From here we drove to our lunch venue, Timbre Kitchen, located in Velo Wines. When our waitress handed us the menu we wanted to order nearly everything on it! It all looked so delicious and of course once again I forgot to take photos of the food.

After a most enjoyable lunch, there was still enough time left to visit another winery for some more tasting! With so many wineries to choose from it was hard to pick just one. In the end we opted for The Swinging Gate. We were lucky to get a table as it was very popular with the wine tours, bookings are recommended. This time we were served at the table for different tastings and given a sheet of paper to mark down our verdicts.

I thought the “waste not want not” attitude to various items of furniture was a great idea, hence the doors on the wall.

A view from The Swinging Gate of Domescape Glamping in the Vines.

And really that was all we had time for, most of the wineries close at 4pm. A relaxing drive back to Launceston and tonight was our last night in Tasmania.

Mud Bar, Launceston Seaport
Launceston Seaport

Touring Tasmania – Cataract Gorge, Launceston

Our luck ran out today weatherwise, but that didn’t mean we were going to alter our plans for a trip to Cataract Gorge. We were looking forward to riding on the famous chairlift, built in 1972, it has a total span of 457 m (1,499 ft).

The first stop on today’s itinerary was the Queen Victoria Art Museum. When we visited there was a wonderful exhibition called Skin by Garry Greenwood. This featured stunning leather artworks with an array of masks, sculptures and musical instruments. A permanent feature at this museum is The First Tasmanians exhibition. I found this very interesting and learnt so much about survival and how they lived their day to day life.

From here we made our way to Cataract Gorge, stopping at Penny Royal Adventures for a quick look around. By now the rain had set in, poor Maddy found out her raincoat was not waterproof!

Penny Royal Adventures is a great place for kids, there were a couple of rides and of course the suspension bridge. I thought at first this was the bridge that I saw mentioned at Cataract Gorge! I really wasn’t that keen to try it. We saw a family walking along it with helmets on. From here we walked around to the Zig Zag trail and started our walk along the Gorge.

It is believed that the final formation of Cataract Gorge began with the last ice age, approximately 3 to 4 million years ago. The rock formations are commonly believed to be from volcanic activity.

On a good day there would be so much to do, explore the gardens and look at the beautiful peacocks strutting about, search for wallabies in the bush and maybe have a swim in the massive open air swimming pool. We did see a few bedraggled peacocks and glimpses of wallabies through the rocks. It was mostly just a case of putting one foot forward and marching on.

We finally reached the Alexandra suspension bridge after around 40 minutes and the weather showed no signs of improving. The bridge was built in 1904 and named after Queen Alexandra and is 220 ft long.

It is kind of shaky! We didn’t venture all the way across, I think we had lost our bearings somewhere along the way and wanted to make our way to the chairlift. Hubby was against the chairlift and said it would be totally miserable and wanted to walk back the same way. By this time Maddy had already set off in search of it! It was three against one and so the chairlift it was.

The Bandstand built for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

I only managed one photo on the chairlift of Laurence and Maddy in front of us! I have to say it was not the most enjoyable ride I’ve ever taken. When we “disembarked” we ordered an uber to take us to the pub we had seen just past the Penny Royal, Kings Bridge Pub. Here we had a well deserved lunch, a few drinks and a couple of games of pool.

The pub was a great find with very traditional old English decor, what more could you ask for on a rainy day.

Then it was back to the hotel to dry off and a rest for me before heading out for dinner that night. We all decided that it was a fantastic day out despite the weather.

We at at Stello’s Restaurant which was just a short walk from the hotel.

Touring Tasmania – Low Head, Launceston

For the next few days we would be exploring Launceston and some of the surrounding areas. George Town and Low Head were the destinations for today. We travelled along the East Tamar Highway alongside the Tamar River. Low Head is a suburb of George Town and sits right on the peninsula with a lighthouse at the top.

The above photo is of the Windmill Point Tree Sculptures. Depicting the workmen hauling ashore the telegraph cable that linked Tasmania to the North Island. Carved by chainsaw artist Eddie Freeman from macrocarpa trees.

One of the Tamar River Leading Lights

Low Head

Onto Low Head to have a look at the lighthouse and historic site that is up there. There is a carpark just below the lighthouse and after parking we made our way to the top. Constructed in 1837 by convicts, originally made of rubble with a coat of stucco. It was decided to build a lighthouse after a dozen ships were wrecked over the previous years.

Walking down the hill the to the sea, I could see some black and white birds on a rock. It said there were penguins nesting around so I had a look through my Canon Powershot and sure enough there were a “huddle” of penguins on the rocks.

I had to balance the camera on one of the rocks to keep my hands steady, I was very happy that they didn’t come out blurry.

I felt like I’d had a good workout by the time we got back to the top and into the car. Stopping again in George Town for a delicious lunch in a waterside restaurant called The Crazy Duck. We still had a few hours left before Laurence and Maddy were arriving from Melbourne that evening, I looked at the map to see if there was anywhere worth seeing on our return to Launceston. Deciding on Lilydale Falls we drove half an hour east away from the river.

Lilydale Falls

After parking the car we made our to the first waterfall which was around 15 minutes and then saw a path to the much bigger one. It did have a warning for this part of the walk to say there were no handrails and it was quite a way longer. I’m glad we made the effort though, not that it was an effort for hubby only me! There were huge trees and ferns all around and so peaceful. There were a few other people walking the trail but not enough to hold anyone up.

Getting back to the hotel around 5pm, I had just enough time for a rest before Laurence and Maddy arrived and then it was straight out to dinner.

Another walk to the restaurant called Cataract on Paterson. Wonderful lively restaurant with a great menu and friendly staff.

And then it was back to our prison block as hubby called our hotel! Actually it was a very nice hotel “Balmoral on York” but housed in a plain brick utilitarian building. Conveniently located with a super host and great reception staff. There was a cute breakfast room serving continental and cooked breakfasts. The rooms were perfectly fine with extremely comfy beds.

Tomorrow we would be heading to Cataract Gorge which was going to involve lots of walking!

Touring Tasmania – Stanley to Launceston

All too soon we were leaving Stanley, enroute to Launceston. It’s just a 2 hour 30 minute drive, so we had plenty of time to explore the wonderful coast road.

Our first stop was Boat Harbour Beach where we stopped for coffee. We found a beautiful little cafe right on the beach.

There are so many small coves and bays along this route. Next stop was Devonport. This is the port where the “Spirit of the Sea” docks. Sailing from Melbourne twice a day, overnight and in the day. Next time we visit Tasmania this is what hubby would like to do.

Following Penguin Road along the beach there is also a railway line, that is in close proximity with the road. We were lucky enough to see a freight train riding along side of us.

For lunch we settled on a restaurant called Drift, which overlooked the Bass Strait. It was housed in a glass walled timber structure jutting over the beach.

Before driving to our hotel in Launceston we had to make an additional stop at the airport to change our car as the aircon had stopped working! They were expecting us so we were able to make a swap without too much trouble!

Arriving at our hotel at 5 pm, we checked in and then went off for a walk. We definitely took a few wrong turns and it ended up being a very long walk.

Launceston is just so full of old historical buildings that have been renovated or restored and now house businesses and restaurants. It was nice to see whole buildings intact, unlike Perth, WA, where often they just keep the facade.

Customs House was built in 1885 and features beautiful intricate Corinthian columns.

Albert Hall built in 1891 and is still used for events and functions.

Price Memorial Hall built in 1896 and the Independent Church built in 1836, by the Reverend Price, once stood next to it.

Launceston is a riverside town and is very different from Hobart. It’s the second largest city after Hobart. It seemed to me that the streets and roads were much steeper. The Tamar River runs through Launceston where there are many wineries and vineyards along the route.

We ended up at the Seaport where there are many restaurants and bars, and had happy hour in the Mud Bar.

There was a concert being played the weekend we were there, Jimmy Barnes and some other equally famous bands, so we were told everywhere would be booked out. I did make a few restaurant bookings before we arrived though and for our first night we went to Novaris. A very elegant Italian restaurant not too far from our hotel.

Tomorrow we will pick up Laurence and Maddy who are joining us for the rest of our stay in Tasmania.