Stanley to Launceston

We left Stanley and headed South East to the city of Launceston.  Beautiful city!  Amazing architecture. A great number of the buildings and homes were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's and remain just as beautiful today as they did the day they were built. 

Really, look at that house!  Beautiful.  I would have loved to have been able to see the inside.  I was told that it was really something else.  This picture was taken from a boat on the Tamar River Cruise we took.  The night before the cruise we went to a restaurant called the Jail House Grill and just as Elvis said it rocked.  The time had come for a good steak and the Jail House Grill served up the best steak we've had in Australia. 

I should mention that on the trip from Stanley, we made a number of stops to see various things along the way.  The best stop was at the Ashgrove Cheese Factory, because as everyone knows, wine goes better with cheese!  They had some really interesting thins such as wild wasabi, a different kind of blue cheese called Bennett's Blue as well as the standby cheddar. We picked up a variety and really have been enjoying them along with our steadily increasing collection of wines from Tasmania!

The cruise down the Tamar River wasn't as good as our previous cruise on the Gordon River, but just the same it offered some interesting sites along the route.  First of all was a short trip toward the Gordon River Gorge and under the Kings Bridge.  The Kings Bridge was originally built in the UK and shipped to Tasmania and floated on pontoons to connect the suburbs of Trevallyn and Riverside to the city of Launceston.  This was in 1864.  It was a single lane bridge and soon became too crowed, so the local foundry of Salisbury Engineering made a duplicate adjacent span that was put into place in 1904.

The house in the background was the caretaker's cottage.

We then went under the bridge and towards the Cataract Gorge.  There is a walkway to the Gorge, but we simply didn't have enough time to take that tour. 

From there we turned around and headed up the Tamar to the Batman Bridge.  Along the way we saw a number of very interesting sights.  The first was a complex that was once a flour mill, built in the 1830's.  It was refurbished in the early 2000's and is now a restaurant and shopping complex.

Ritchie's Mill on the Tamar River near the Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania.

Although the vineyards of the Tamar Valley are generally found West of Launceston, there are some along the Tamar as can be seen below.

The Batman Bridge spans the Tamar River on the Batman Highway connecting the East and West Tamar Highways.  I wondered about the name, but found out that it wasn't named after the comic book hero but rather after John Batman a Launceston businessman and co-founder of Melbourne!  The west bank of the bridge supports 78% of the bridge's weight and is built on dolerite rock.  The east bank is mostly clay and cannot support the weight, therefore it is supported by four piers built on piles driven up to 18 metres (59 ft) into the clay.

The cruise lasted for about 4 hours and we had a wine and beer tasting and a nice lunch aboard the Tamar Odyssey.

Tomorrow we head for the seaside village of St. Helens and hopefully along the way we will stop at a vineyard or two and do some tasting!

Cradle Mountain to Stanley

The next leg of the journey takes us up the West Coast of Tasmania to the quaint seaside village of Stanley on the very North West Coast.  The most distinctive landmark in Stanley is the volcanic plug known as "the Nut".  It's basically a butte that rises up 143 metres or some 470 feet from the ocean.  You can either climb up the walkway or take a chir lift to the top and then walk around the top of the butte.  We chose to take the chair lift then walk around the top and enjoy the view along the way.  The walk took about 30 minutes so I guess the distance to be about 2.5 to 3.5 km between 1.5 and 2 miles. 

                              "The Nut" with the village of  Stanley, Tasmania in the foreground.

                                                                Going up the chair lift.

                                                           Ocean view from atop "the Nut".

                                            The harbour at Stanley, view from atop "the Nut."

We had fantastic accommodations at a place known as Gardenia House.  It's a house located near the base of "the Nut".  It had 2 fireplaces, one gas, one wood; sitting room, dining room, kitchen, family room, bath and beautiful bedroom with king size bed.  By far the best accommodation thus far.

Our part of the house was the door on the left.  It is broken into two flats or can be rented as an entire home to house 6 people!

We went to dinner at the Stanley Hotel and we had a great meal and discovered another great Tasmanian Wine, a Devil's Corner Pinot Noir.

                                                                   The Stanley Hotel.


All-in-all, Stanley is a beautiful village and we really enjoyed the stay there.  Now it's off to Launceston, (pronounced Lawnceston.)

Night with the Animals Tour

As I said earlier, we signed up for a Night with the Animals Tour and a trip to Devils@Cradle interpretative centre.  The theme is that because the majority of the wildlife around this area of Tasmania are nocturnal, you have to go out after dark to see them.  A large bus picks you up at your accommodation and then heads out to see the creatures of the night.

The bus has spotlights mounted on either side and one on the roof along with an amber hand-held light for spotting the animals.  I wasn't sure what to expect on this tour, but thought it might be really something to see.  It was next to impossible to take photos, because if you use a flash, it scares the animals away, and you are shooting through the windows of the bus, which are tinted.  I tried, but my little Canon wasn't up to the task.

In any case, the tour was so-so.  I mean what we basically did was drive down the main street heading into the park and look on either side of the road for sightings of Wallabies, Wombats, Echindas, Possums, Quolls and of course, the Devils.  We saw Wallabies and Wombats and that was about it.

Generally speaking, my experience with tours is that the guide makes the tour.  I don't know how many of you may have ever seen the English comedy "On the Buses", but if you have then you will remember the Shop Steward.  I can't remember his name, but he was the tall skinny bloke who, when he spoke, was about as boring as you can imagine.  He was Cliff Claven from Cheers, with an English accent.  Anyway, this tour guide made both these guys seem interesting.  I mean he knew what he was talking about and he really tried to get his point across well, but it just didn't work.

On the other hand, when we went to the Devils@Cradle, the whole evening changed.  The guide was interesting and knew his stuff.  The animals that we saw there were magnificent.  First of all, I have to tell you that when the Tasmanian Devil makes noise, it really makes noise.  And the noise it makes is incredibly similar to the Mel Blanc characterization of it in the Bugs Bunny, Warner Brothers cartoons.  I kept expecting Bugs to hop out of a hole with a carrot in his mouth asking, "Nannn.....What's up Doc?"

On the serious side though, if you are reading this, then click on http://www.devilsatcradle.com/ and go through the website for fascinating information about the Devils and the Quolls.  I was astounded by these creatures and their current plight.  If something isn't done to help out the species, they will cease to exist. 

Again, I don't have any pictures because it was difficult to get any kind of decent shot without a flash at night.  In any case there are lots of pictures on the Devils@cradle website above.  We are off to the seaside city of Stanley on the North West coast of Tasmania to see the "Nut".  Talk with you again soon.

Strahan to Cradle Mountain

Okay, today we drove from Strahan to Cradle Mountain.  The road was better than the trip from Hobart to Strahan, but still very curvy and narrow and I'm still driving on the left side of the road!  We thought we had quite a bit of time, so we were going to stop along the route and visit some of the sights.

Just under an hour out of Strahan we come to the thriving metropolis of Zeehan.  I've heard that this town has a museum and some very interesting railway and mining history.  Soooo....we took a side trip.  I swear, if I had a cannon and shot a cannon ball down the main street of town, it wouldn't have touched a thing!  I reckon (that's Aussie for I think) that the town was devastated by Zombies.  Nothing, nada, nichts, I'm telling ya...no people no cars nothing.  Saturday morning and the place was closed.  (Wish I'd been there on Friday night.)

On to the mountain.  We've got a quant little cabin in the middle of the woods.  Park the car outside the cabin, come out in an hour and there are spider webs on the car!  Unreal. 

We headed over to the park entrance and registered the took a shuttle bus to Dove Lake for a view of the Lake and Cradle Mountain.

The lake is, obviously, Dove Lake and the mountain in the background is Cradle Mountain.  The person who discovered this area looked at the mountain and said it reminded him of a lumber cradle, but then went on to say that the cradle (the area between the two peaks in the background) looks like it has a baby in it.  If you look very carefully you'll notice the baby's head on the left and the body laying in the cradle.  (Maybe you had to be there!?!)

We walked around the lake for awhile and then headed back to the park entrance.  We then went to the Cradle Mountain Lodge for afternoon tea..........well I had a beer but Noreen had tea!

Just down from the old lodge is a beautiful stream.

We've signed up for an evening tour.  The tour is around the park and to the Devils@Cradle interpretive centre where I will finally come face to face with the devil....the Tasmanian Devil that is.  I just want to know why for they buried him in the cold, cold ground.  (You have to be a Bugs Bunny fan to understand that somewhat obscure reference.)  I'll get back to you later with more on the tour, hopefully with some pics.

Hobart to Strahan

We arrived in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on Wednesday the 23rd of March.  We had to take three different flights leaving on the first one from Geoff and Tam's place in Rockhampton, Queensland at 0740 in the morning.  We flew to Brisbane in Queensland and then to Sydney in New South Wales and finally to Hobart in Tasmania, arriving at 1645.  Picked up the rental car and used the GPS to lead us to our motel for the night. 

We decided to go out for dinner and walked along shops and cafes located in Salmanca Place.  Looking at the menus and not really having anything in mind as to what we wanted to eat, we decided on an Italian Restaurant, surprise, surprise.  But the great part of this Italian Restaurant was that it wasn't typical Italian fare. 

The Maldini Italian Cafe Restaurant is said to have

“Intelligent, well-crafted Italian cuisine, focusing on Tasmanian ingredients”

The Australian
October 2009

Well, we couldn't agree more!  We started off sharing an appetizer of  local Tasmanian mussels, scallops & prawns poached in a white wine, garlic & chili broth, along with some wonderful homemade bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Wonderful start!  We were dipping the bread into the white wine, garlic and chili broth!

Noreen ordered the Spaghetti alla marinara – mussels, prawns, fish and calamari in a garlic & white wine sauce.  I ordered off the daily special list. I had baked squid stuffed with prawns and shallots and a garlic, chili risotto and garnished with rocket (arugula) in a marinara sauce.  We topped off the meal with a bottle of  Tasmanian wine; Pipers Brook Estate Pino Gris 2008.  All I can say is that if you ever get the chance, eat at this Cafe!  The food was wonderful, the service great and the ambiance with the historic stone fronted warehouse look beyond belief.  We're looking to go to the Pipers Brook Vineyard in our tour because the wine was so good.

The next day we got up and started the 300 + kilometer drive to Strahan.  (By the way, the correct pronunciation of the name of the city is Strawn.)  This is a beautiful seaside village located on the west coast of Tasmania.  The drive from Hobart to Strahan is anything but beautiful!  I've never in my life seen more switch backs on a road.  Unbelievable!  When these people tell you that the speed limit is reduced to a certain speed, I guarantee it isn't a suggestion!  Slow down for the curve and hope that you can keep control through the entire curve.  The weather didn't help either.  It was raining and raining and raining.  Wet, curvy roads and driving on the left side of the road to boot.  No wonder I called this an adventure!  (To be really honest, I loved it!  It really was fun and I didn't worry for a minute about falling asleep.)

The scenery along the route looked vaguely familiar to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.  In fact this entire state reminds me of BC.  When I told the proprietor of the cottage we have in Strahan about my views, she told me that another Canadian told her that if there were beavers and pine beetle damage to the trees here, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.  Well they may not have beavers, but they do have the platypus and of course, the Tasmanian Devil.  I haven't seen the Devil as yet, but there was a platypus sighting on the Gordon River Cruise we took today.

We got up at the break of dawn and headed to the harbour for an exciting day of cruising in the Lady Jane Franklin II, a 32 metre catamaran that was built in Hobart especially for use in the natural environment that is the World Heritage Rain Forest area. 

The ship is beautiful.  Again the weather wasn't co-operating.  It was windy and the sea was rough, but the Lady Jane ran smooth out to the entrance of the Macquarie Harbour, known as Hell's Gate.  Again, there is a similarity to BC.  But the name Hell's Gate here has a different meaning than the one in BC.  The BC Hell's Gate refers to the rough waters that run down the Fraser River and it's an area used for running the rapids.  This Hell's Gate was named by the prisoners who populated the penal island named Sarah Island, just off the shores of Strahan.  They said that the entrance to the harbour was the Gates of Hell, because Sarah Island was Hell.  More about that in a moment.

The entrance to Macquarie Harbour is incredibly narrow.  In fact, it is so narrow and shallow that ships had great problems in getting through it to the Harbour.



You can see that the entrance is very narrow.  The channel was dredged and a breakwater was built to allow larger ships to navigate the entrance to what is a harbour that is quite a bit larger than than the harbour at Sydney.

In any case, we traveled out of the harbour into the open seas of the Southern Ocean, then turned around and headed back into the harbour and toward our first stop at Heritage Landing.  At Heritage Landing, we disembarked and walked along the elevated walkway through this rain forest.  The walk itself was short, only about 1/2 a kilometer, but the scenery fantastic.  There is a tree there that is over 2000 years old.  It has fallen down, but it is still rooted and alive! 

What followed was lunch.  It was a buffet lunch, very typical lunch and nothing to write home about, but I just did.  Anyway the highlight was the salmon.  They served locally caught and smoked Atlantic salmon and it was great.  On that issue, they farm salmon and rainbow trout in the waters of Mcquarie Harbour.  What happens here is that fresh water and salt water are mixed.  The fresh water is lighter than salt water and floats atop the salt water.  The fish farms use this to farm fish that can live in both environments.  The trout cannot be called rainbow trout so they call them ocean trout.  Again, in BC, we'd call them steelhead trout. 



The structure you see above is a trout/salmon farm area.  The boat is spraying food pellets into the area where the fry are being farmed.  In Australia "tucker" is a word used to mean a place where you can get food.  The boat you see above is refered to as a "Fish Tucker Chucker".  (I thought it was funny.)

After this we headed for Sarah Island.  As many of us know, much of Australia was originally a penal colony.  Tasmania was no exception.  But what do you do with what we would call today a repeat offender or a criminal that commits another crime while in custody?  In the late 1800's, the Australians sent those  uncontrollable criminals to Sarah Island. 

We did a very interesting tour around the island and had a very good guide who brought history to life.  The conditions were amazing. 


Can you imagine hundreds of criminals held on this island?  All I can say about the tour and the facts about Sarah island is that if you ever have the opportunity to visit this part of the world, a visit to this island and the tour is a must!

Well, it's getting late and I have to drive to Cradle Mountain tomorrow.  This is my first attempt at a blog, so bear with me.  Hope you enjoy and see you tomorrow or maybe the next day or the day after that.  Take care..............